[matty1988]

Hey there!
So I've been in a depressive slump for awhile...and it's getting pretty bad. I can't take antidepressants and I had a very bad reaction to Latuda. I'm currently on Lithium and Abilify and was wondering if there were any medications I could take along with my current combo to help with the depression. My pdoc hasn't suggested taking anything else, so I was just looking for suggestions to bring up with him. Thanks for the help!

[99fairies]

Lamictal helps keep me out of depression. I can't take AD's either.

[xRavenx]

High dose Lamictal helps me, and I also can't take antidepressants, including non-SSRIs, such as Wellbutrin, or I get manicky. I do still get depressed, but it helps me manage much better and episodes tend to be shorter when I'm on it.

[Sunflower123]

Good luck in your search for compatible medications.

[Naynay99]

Lamictal is touted as good for BP depression. Idk if it alone will get one out of a bad depression but i think for me it helps prevent it from recurring as much aand cushions the fall so it’s not quite as far a mood drop. Or at least it used to.
I take Wellbutrin with it tho. TBH sometimes I wonder if any of these meds actually do shiit anymore. When I am feeling really good or really bad it all starts to feel like utter bull shiit fake science. But I am scared maybe it is helping and that I would be worse off without them.
Idk. At one time I thought lamictal was a godsend drug, now I’m not so sure. But I hope u and ur doctor find something to help u with the depression sooner rather than later. Take care.

[annielovesbacon]

antidepressants either did nothing for me or they made me suicidal. I started taking lamictal, which my doc told me is a mood stabilizer commonly used for BP patients who swing more toward depressive episodes, and it has helped me tremendously.

[tsrc78]

Lamictal was definitely the best drug for my bipolar depression. I cannot take ANY antidepressant. Two pdocs convinced me to take Wellbutrin, saying it wouldn’t have the same effect as other ADs. It induced my worst, most reckless manic episode in my life, and I will never take an antidepressant again even if prescribed.

Lamictal at lower doses worked well when I was still in the Biploar 2 category (before I started having true manic and mixed episodes). I have to take much higher doses now. I’m not as sure how well it works for my bipolar depression now, though that’s likely because my bigger problems lately are severe rapid cycling and mixed episodes, when it used to be primarily bipolar depression. I was on a combination of Lamictal, Abilify, and Klonopin that worked wonders for me for many years. I didn’t show much improvements with Lithium added to Lamictal, but I know many people thrive on the Lithium/Lamictal combo. I would absolutely bring up Lamictal to your pdoc. It may take a little while to increase up to your ideal level, but it’s definitely worth a try.

[Zigy]

I've gone up from 250mg to 300mg of Lamictal a week ago. I'm still depressed.

[hopeless2015]

I was taking 100 mg trileptal, 100 mg of Lamictal and 220 mg of Latuda and need up up for severe depression. Now I take 200 mg of Lamictal morning and night and 100 mg of seroquel and feel better than I have in a long time

[hopeless2015]

Sorry that was 1200 mg of trileptal and 120 Latuda

[~Christina]

I’m on Lamictal 300mg and Latuda 60 mg

Our bodies adjust and some meds just stop working for no apparent reason, gotta love Bipolar.

[USMCBIPOLAR7]

I am on lithium and ability and this is my first fall/winter off antidepressants. I started using a 10,000 watt lite box and feel great after 20+ years on anti depressants in the fall and winter which sometimes caused manias

I, too, can't take antidepressants. They make me manic, but worse, usually manic with mixed features. Antidepressants just cause me to have major mood instability.

I'd say that my major depression fighters and preventers are Lamictal and Seroquel XR. Actually, my pdoc won't raise my Lamictal above 100 mg, because even Lamictal can be overly activating and destabilizing for me at higher doses. Seroquel XR is the star of my medication cocktail. It is helpful at easing and preventing my anxiety, mania and depression. My recent Seroquel XR doses have ranged from 350-600 mg. My psychiatrist increases and decreases it depending on my mood state and level of sedation. My main non-antipsychotic moodstabilizer is Tegretol XR. I value that medication a lot, too, but won't go into that story. I consider all of my medications side effect friendly. Even Seroquel XR, as long as it's at 500 mg or below. Above that and I get hungry hungry.

Lithium helps me with severe depresssion, but usually leaves me mildly and chronically a tad low. I take Pristiq (an antidepressant) now and it helps. I was skeptical at first because antidepressants at best do nothing at worst make me mixed, but on lithium and clozapine and with a zyprexa PRN it actually helped.