[intranaut]

Lamictal..FDA approved for epilepsy..experimentally used for bipolar. I'm diagnosed major depressive with all its attributes, et., anxiety, compulsive, but cannot find where an epilepsy drug is used for depression. So, lets get it right. Antidepressants..okay for awhile, then suddenly its gas on the fire. Lamictal has proved to be very beneficial. Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but lets get it right. MD with bipolar characteristis, or the other way around. I could be completely normal. Take my wallet but not my Lamictal.

[CamW]

Intranaut - Several randomized placebo-control clinical trials have now shown that Lamictal™ (lamotrigine) is very effective in many cases of "regular" and treatment-resistant bipolar depression. It is usually added to regular mood stabilizing (like lithium) or the anticonvulsant/mood stabilizers (like valproic acid [Depakene™]; divalproex [Epival™/Depakote™]; and carbamazepine [Tegretol™]). As a note, dosage of Lamictal must be adjusted when added to some mood stabilizers (dose is increased with Tegretol and decreased with Epival and Depakene from dosages normally used).

Lamictal has also been used successfully (although fewer trials have been conducted) with the newer anticonvulsant/mood stabilizers like Neurontin™ (gabapentin) and Topamax™ (topiramate). As a monotherapy for bipolar depression, but it seems to work best when combined with another mood stabilizer (ie. Lamictal works best as an add-on mood stabilizer with potent antidepressant activity).

During the clinical trials for most of the newer anticonvulsants mentioned above, these agents were found to improve the mood of some participants (who suffered from epilepsy. The newer agents (Lamictal, Neurontin, and Topamax) are not approved for use as mood stabilizers (since when has that stopped a psychiatrist?), but they work as mood stabilizers; and if they work, use them.

Dr. Carlos Zarate has postulated that the reason some anticonvulsants work as mood stabilizers may be because both conditions (epilepsy and bipolar disorder) may be due to nerve conduction problems in (or around) the temporal lobe of the brain. By modulating (evening out; or inhibiting spontaneous, erratic nerve firing) the electrical signals through nerves flow more smoothly, and thus relieve &/or decrease, the incidence of seizures in epilepsy and prevent the dramatic mood swings seen in bipolar disorder.

These drugs also seem to slow (or perhaps inhibit) kindling in both of these disorders (perhaps through decreasing the number of seizures or bipolar episodes). Kindling is the process where each successive (seizure or manic/depressive) episode becomes more severe, lasts longer than the previous episode, and periods of "wellness" become shorter. By interrupting kindling, these two disorders may not eventually become debilitating to the sufferer.

Sorry for rambling - Cam

<font color=orange>"Sometimes you may see the light in the strangest places, if you look at it right"
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