[Musician1980]

Hi everybody,

I was on Lexapro for 10 years from 2006-2016 mostly at 10 mg for migraine and recently had some med changes after an insomnia episode that may have been hypomanic. I've been on 5 mg of Lexapro for most of the past 6 months and started Lamictal 4 weeks ago. 25 mg felt odd at first, and the first day or two on 50 mg may have been strange but things started to get pretty good once I got used to it.

I saw my P-doc's physician assistant on Friday and we both eventually wanted to raise the SSRI back to a more therapeutic level since I've had more head pain at the lower dose. She wanted to make sure I had a stable mood before doing that and was happy to see how much better I was compared to last month and when I first had the episode. She said she could tell, and gestured to my demeanor saying, "I like this."
I asked if I could titrate up to 75 mg of Lamictal before going up to 100 mg since I was getting used to things being pretty decent and didn't want to rock the boat. She was receptive to my concern but wanted me to go up to 100 mg since it's the standard recommended move up from 50 mg. She agreed we could go up to 7.5 on the Lexapro.

Today was my first day on the new doses. I felt much better when I woke up but had some issues throughout the day. I got 9 hours of sleep (I needed it cause I only had 5 on Thursday night), and was super tired during the day. I felt a bit irregular like I didn't go to the bathroom quite enough, which I haven't quite felt or noticed in a while, and the mild headache that I know goes along with that feeling. Also, some feelings of mild irritability and a sense of blandness, like the enchantment & wonder of life was missing.

Since we changed both the Lamictal and Lexapro doses, I can't tell what is attributable to what. I also had taken 0.25 mg of Ativan for sleep on Thursday night and know that the day after, I sometimes feel a bit strange.

My questions are:

1. Is blandness a normal thing to feel when first going up to 100 mg of Lamictal? Will it gradually subside like it did when I first was on 25 and 50?

2. Should I try 75 mg of Lamictal or is 100 mg still a low dose and not that big of a jump?

3. Was it wrong to change Lamictal and Lexapro at the same time or should I have done them separately to observe the changes distinctly? If so, can I still do that after one day of 100 mg Lamictal and one day of 7.5 Lexapro?

4. And does anyone else notice feeling strange the day after taking a benzo for sleep?

Thank you!

-Musician1980

[MusicLover82]

I understand that you want to help decide, but in my opinion, these are decisions your pdoc should be making, not us or you. I never feel strange after taking a benzo unless I've taken too much to try to get out of a really bad anxiety attack. Good luck!

[Musician1980]

Originally Posted by MusicLover82

I understand that you want to help decide, but in my opinion, these are decisions your pdoc should be making, not us or you. I never feel strange after taking a benzo unless I've taken too much to try to get out of a really bad anxiety attack. Good luck!

Thanks, Music Lover!

I'm following the doc's orders, was just curious if anyone else experienced changes like that when going up to 100 mg of Lamictal and if it was silly for me to want to go up slightly on the Lexapro for headaches at the same time as we're titrating Lamictal. I generally like small changes so I can see what's working individually. Hope you're doing well.

Like with any drug changes....their is always a period of adjusting that has to happen. My pdocs increased my Lamictal dosages like 10 mg a week...and so is weaning the same. One time I couldn't jump to 400 because it was too big from 375 (made me spacey). This time we went by 10's and I feel fine.

And you are right....I'd rather do one drug at a time in small doses to keep the ratio intact. Sometimes being stabile is bland because our normal is the topsy turvy!

[Musician1980]

Originally Posted by AlwaysChanging2

Like with any drug changes....their is always a period of adjusting that has to happen. My pdocs increased my Lamictal dosages like 10 mg a week...and so is weaning the same. One time I couldn't jump to 400 because it was too big from 375 (made me spacey). This time we went by 10's and I feel fine.

And you are right....I'd rather do one drug at a time in small doses to keep the ratio intact. Sometimes being stabile is bland because our normal is the topsy turvy!

Thank you for the response! I'm pretty sensitive to changes too, which was why I hoped to go up to 75 first. If the doc says we can scale back to 75 this week, does anyone know if I will be harmed from taking 100 for two days, like a withdrawal effect?

[Gabyunbound]

I'll just address the things I've had experience with.

I've never felt any side effects from Lamictal, which I think is in line with a lot of people here, though it is not always the case. I think you should titrate up according to what your pdoc feels is safest.

As far as benzo's, I take them during the day, not for sleep, but the side effect I've felt is some anhedonia; my pdoc says that they (though she specifically cited klonopin) are infamous for that.

[Musician1980]

Originally Posted by Gabyunbound

I'll just address the things I've had experience with.

I've never felt any side effects from Lamictal, which I think is in line with a lot of people here, though it is not always the case. I think you should titrate up according to what your pdoc feels is safest.

As far as benzo's, I take them during the day, not for sleep, but the side effect I've felt is some anhedonia; my pdoc says that they (though she specifically cited klonopin) are infamous for that.

Thank you for your response. I'm on day 3 of 100 mg. The past two days followed a similar pattern of feeling somewhat bland, suppressed, slightly overmedicated in the morning and then gradually getting better throughout the day. Only side effect I have is numbness in the tips of the fingers on my left hand, each day a new one, index first, then middle, now thumb.

Anhedonia is really unpleasant; I'm sorry you have to experience that.