Hi you all...

I know we were (like always) on here talking about quitting meds because we have Others that swear we aren't bipolar, lol

But actually, I would like to lower my dose a bit till I reach the minimum required to stay stabile in hopes of it helping lessen the side effects like slow cognitive reasoning (don't know if that was said right :/). We feel like a constant airhead....always have but not this bad.

We also seem to be more dissociated then normal...almost out of body like.

Anyone get that way on lamictal...or is this my normal?

Thanks.

[Moon Lotus]

At times, I feel like the Lamictal has me SOS (Stuck On Stupid). My dose is 200 mg. The slow down doesn't last, especially when I start to become manic.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

I'm on 300mg and at first it made me very dizzy and short term memory loss. I still forget things sometime but nowhere as bad as I was. I'm a rapid cycler and it's helped me tons.

[pirilin]

I lowered from 200mg gradually to 25mg a day and then quitted. The reason was for better balance to ride my motorcycle and bicycles.
I have better balance, but I'm falling into a mild depression. That was three weeks ago.
It seemed not to be doing anything, but it's the only change I have done. So it was working. My bad.
I don't have a mood stabilizer now. Maybe I need one. Be careful of how fast you lower it. It took 4 months for me.

Yes, thats what I'm talking about. We have the attention and memory of a fruitfly. I dont know if it's all DID....but it has to get better.

Oh I tried to taper iff once....it was horrible...ended curled up in the front of our pick-up truck.

I still need the Prozac so I can't go all the way off.

[5150DirtDiva]

Originally Posted by pirilin

I lowered from 200mg gradually to 25mg a day and then quitted. The reason was for better balance to ride my motorcycle and bicycles.
I have better balance, but I'm falling into a mild depression. That was three weeks ago.
It seemed not to be doing anything, but it's the only change I have done. So it was working. My bad.
I don't have a mood stabilizer now. Maybe I need one. Be careful of how fast you lower it. It took 4 months for me.

Is your balance better now? I race dirt bikes and triathlon and I have not noticed any issues like this.

[5150DirtDiva]

That said I did not have brain fog from it either, I am an engineer so I would certainly notice this side effect. I am currently on 50 mg, before my pregnancy I was only on 100mg though.

[pirilin]

Originally Posted by 5150DirtDiva

Is your balance better now? I race dirt bikes and triathlon and I have not noticed any issues like this.

I feel my balance to be better in the bicycles. The motorcycle I haven't touch.
I've been on it for five years. It can also be the mix with the rest of the meds.

Originally Posted by pirilin

I lowered from 200mg gradually to 25mg a day and then quitted. The reason was for better balance to ride my motorcycle and bicycles.
I have better balance, but I'm falling into a mild depression. That was three weeks ago.
It seemed not to be doing anything, but it's the only change I have done. So it was working. My bad.
I don't have a mood stabilizer now. Maybe I need one. Be careful of how fast you lower it. It took 4 months for me.

Same here, I notice my balance isn't all that great standing because I tend to stumble a lot. Riding a bicycle I'm sitting down so not really all that unbalanced. Hmmmm

[Guiness187055]

I really get very little side effects even when i was at 300mg. I guess i am one od the lucky ones. Depakote thats a whole different story.

Originally Posted by 5150DirtDiva

That said I did not have brain fog from it either, I am an engineer so I would certainly notice this side effect. I am currently on 50 mg, before my pregnancy I was only on 100mg though.

Dont say that!! Lol

I'm always distracted and switching a lot which fragments the memory...but any little bit helps.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

Lamictal made me sleep walk as well. I'd wake up and see that I called people at friggin 3am. No I wasn't drinking. And I'd be in mid sentence and forget what I was going to say. I felt stupid as hell. But it does get better.

[gina_re]

Lamictal made me feel like an idiot. My memory was so bad! I would pay for my groceries and walk off without them. How embarrassing! And I would have random twitches. All that is gone since I asked to be taken off of it.

[5150DirtDiva]

Originally Posted by AlwaysChanging2

Dont say that!! Lol

I'm always distracted and switching a lot which fragments the memory...but any little bit helps.

LOL Oh i switch gears, like that. I am always all over the place. I also get frustrated when someone comes to me with a question or request with waaaaay too much information. I am forgetful too, but I head that means I am a genius or something, LOL But for real, I do experience a lot of things cerebrally, but I would not call it brain fog, I would say my brain is just so fast.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

Originally Posted by gina_re

Lamictal made me feel like an idiot. My memory was so bad! I would pay for my groceries and walk off without them. How embarrassing! And I would have random twitches. All that is gone since I asked to be taken off of it.

Yep exactly! I'd walk up to my bf and just stare at him because I totally forgot what I was going to say. I'm sure he liked that at times lol.

[jacky8807]

Originally Posted by RxQueen875

Yep exactly! I'd walk up to my bf and just stare at him because I totally forgot what I was going to say. I'm sure he liked that at times lol.

[jacky8807]

lamictal was activating as hell for me
horrid drug for my system
nightmares just thinking of it

[kdslf]

My lamictal discontinuation was followed by very dense brain fog and spaceyness like I've never experienced. This week has been better, but it's been weeks and I hope the cognitive density continues to alleviate. I decremented from (250 I believe) over 2 weeks followed by bupropion for 2 weeks. My shrink left a voice mail indicating she "will not be practicing medicine indefinitely" so I had to shuffle some things myself for a short time. I'm not sure 2 weeks was enough time.

I didn't notice any cognitive issues while I was taking it. I was given this med with bupropion by my shrink before I moved. I don't have bipolar (my wife takes Lamictal and a good section of the average pharmacy for BP2, and other assailments) but I was given it for situational depression/dysthymia/whatever. I seem most loyal toADD and anxiety.

If all of the AD's I tried tasted good, I'd at least have enjoyed them, because after 16 years of SSRI's, SNRI's and various sundry anti-depressants, I never had appreciable improvement with my maladies. Now I'm simply taking Adderall. I have diagnosed myself with Enigmatic Disorder 4.7 and am focusing more on my career to right the ship.

[Moreta]

I'm down to 150 mg. this last 50 mg i lowered it by i had horrible anxiety for a month. I used to be on 400 mg. been slowly lowering it for almost 2 years now.

[kdslf]

Originally Posted by Moreta

I'm down to 150 mg. this last 50 mg i lowered it by i had horrible anxiety for a month. I used to be on 400 mg. been slowly lowering it for almost 2 years now.

Hmm. My shrink had me off of 225ish within 2 weeks...Too fast?

Originally Posted by kdslf

Hmm. My shrink had me off of 225ish within 2 weeks...Too fast?

Maybe for you not, maybe?

I always thought that as you increased your dose (10 mg./week), you must do the same in tapering....but if it didn't bother you....

The stuff scares me....if I miss a dose for 2.5 days.....I'm a blubbering mess. I take it more out of fear of withdrawls then actual benefits.

I did 25 mg a week (it is hard to chop up a 150-200 mg horse pill to small 10 mg pieces since Dr. **** doesn't want to help me with all this.