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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Rachel Terese on May 1, 2004, at 20:12:41
Hi- I have been taking lamictal for three weeks for bipolar and am up to 75mg/day. I start 100mg two days from now. I am severly depressed... more so than I have ever been in my life. I can't stop crying and don't want to do anything. I'm completely listless with no motivation. Does this go away? Does anyone have any advice? I also take 1mg Klonopin morning and 1 at night for sleep. I've also noticed as I increase my dosage my insomnia gets worse and worse. Need advice please!!!
Posted by man_oh_man1977 on May 1, 2004, at 20:34:50
In reply to lamictal side effects, posted by Rachel Terese on May 1, 2004, at 20:12:41
Hi Rachel,
I am sorry to hear about you reactions to Lamictal. I find it a completely excellent drug - in the beginning I started from 25 mgs and over the past year am now I am taking 350 mgs. The only noticeable side effect that I have experienced was dizzyness when I was on 400 mgs. I dropped to 375, and then to 350mg. It is very effective for my bp2; it actually seems (from reading this board) that people take much less, but my pdoc seems to think that 400mg - 600mg is an appropriate dosage.
A couple of suggestions: take your klono @ night, not in the AM as well. BTW, how much klono do you take - I find too much of it makes me depressed. Also, take your lamictal toward nightime, as to lessen the sedating effect that you are feeling. Remember, too, that most side effects go away after time... if your pdoc immediatley started you on 75 mgs, that might not have been too smart. I've found increasing by 25 mgs is that safest manner to go in. Finally, you might need an "activating" AD, such as Wellbutrin to perk you up, but be careful - AD's are know to sometimes trigger mania.
Hope this helps, keep us posted,
Man-oh-man
Posted by eugenia on May 1, 2004, at 20:36:29
In reply to lamictal side effects, posted by Rachel Terese on May 1, 2004, at 20:12:41
I got severely depressed and lethargic on Lamictal as well. Tried it twice, because it got such rave reviews and my doctor loves it, but with these meds everybody reacts differently. I went off of it and am begining to get my bearings back. Good luck.
Posted by man_oh_man1977 on May 1, 2004, at 20:51:42
In reply to Re: lamictal side effects, posted by eugenia on May 1, 2004, at 20:36:29
Hmmm,
Everyone, being idividual, do react differently to different meds. If your lethargy and apatheic feelings don't clear up by the time you see doc, maybe you should try something different. If you start to get *really* bad feelings from it, call you doc *immediately*. Don't wanna scare you off w/ this one, but here goes: I was on Lithium for about 7 days, and suddenly everything got very smooth. I was on a relatively low dose (900mgs) but got lithium toxicity poisioning. I still insist, however, that it's a great drug for those who can tolerate it.
Hope you feel better soon,
Man-oh-man
Posted by redmaryjane on May 2, 2004, at 0:01:23
In reply to Re: lamictal side effects, posted by eugenia on May 1, 2004, at 20:36:29
I am now up to 300 mgs. of Lamictal and finding that it's working really well. I felt lethargic as I went up but realized that it also could have been my allergies. Now I feel over that stage. I also take 25 mg. of Paxil CR with it. I use klonopin about twice a day for anxiety and all together the mix seems to be going well. I have noticed very few side effects. I think that things calm down over time.
Good luck.
Posted by sac on May 2, 2004, at 21:40:07
In reply to lamictal side effects, posted by Rachel Terese on May 1, 2004, at 20:12:41
Hi - I am currently on Lamictal 150 mgs. I started slowly with 25 mgs and increased by 25 mgs. I felt worse before I felt better. When I was around 75 mgs. I was feeling pretty depressed and was ready to throw in the towel. My Pdoc encouraged me to give it more time. Slowly, as I increased to 100 is where I started feeling better. 150 seems to be the number for me. 200mg. makes me agitated and less than 150 mgs. will not stop cycling. I would not say that Lamictal has been perfect for me but it's the one mood stabilizer that I have been able to be on the longest. I found that I did feel more depressed in the beginning of treatment and better as I got used to the medication.
> Hi- I have been taking lamictal for three weeks for bipolar and am up to 75mg/day. I start 100mg two days from now. I am severly depressed... more so than I have ever been in my life. I can't stop crying and don't want to do anything. I'm completely listless with no motivation. Does this go away? Does anyone have any advice? I also take 1mg Klonopin morning and 1 at night for sleep. I've also noticed as I increase my dosage my insomnia gets worse and worse. Need advice please!!!
Posted by CareBear04 on May 3, 2004, at 16:42:20
In reply to Re: lamictal side effects, posted by man_oh_man1977 on May 1, 2004, at 20:51:42
man-o-man, can i ask? what was your experience with the lithium toxicity? how severe were your symptoms? how did it come on? did you have to go to the hospital? sorry for all the questions. i'm just trying to get as much info as possible about the drugs i'm taking.
thanks!
Posted by man_oh_man1977 on May 3, 2004, at 20:01:15
In reply to Re: lithium toxicity » man_oh_man1977, posted by CareBear04 on May 3, 2004, at 16:42:20
Hi CareBear04,
> man-o-man, can i ask? what was your experience with the lithium toxicity?
-- not very good, but what can 'ya expect w/ any poisoning!
how severe were your symptoms?
-- pretty severe
how did it come on?
-- my pdoc warned me of the following: tremors, frequent thirst and frequent urination. I started at 150 mgs, eventually raising (once a week at 150 mgs/ week) to 900 mgs. After 300 mgs, the shaking was quite noticable, but I lied to myself and family that it was excessive caffeine, which covered the excessive urination as well. As I increased the dosage, my body was shaking really bad... by then I was up to 750 mgs. The peeing got so bad that I felt like I had to go to the bathroom every half hour or so; one night I wet my bed. I was on 900 mgs and started to get sick to my stomach. After 3 days, I started projectile vomiting, to the point where even water would make me vomit. (That being said, I couldn't hold down my other meds, either, so I was having some serious cold turkey w/d effects. ) We dropped down to 750, the symptoms stayed the same, so I went off of it. Still, tho, it took about a week for it to totally clear out of my system; gatorade really helped b/c lithium is a salt and the potassium in the gatorade worked as some sort of salt replacement.
did you have to go to the hospital?
-- no, thanks to the intervention of my dr. and having stopped lying to myself.
sorry for all the questions.
-- no need to apologise.
i'm just trying to get as much info as possible about the drugs i'm taking.
-- Good! I wouldn't worry too much about the toxicity, but how much are you taking? Is it part of a cocktail? Before things went awry, I felt it to be the best mood stabilizer I've ever taken.
> thanks!
-- you bet! hope this helps,
Man-oh-man
Posted by prodgirl on May 3, 2004, at 23:05:19
In reply to lamictal side effects, posted by Rachel Terese on May 1, 2004, at 20:12:41
I am BPI with really bad spells of Depression. I just started Lamictal, after never having taken a mood stabilizer. I really wish my pdoc would have warned me that I might go into the most severe and intense depression I have felt in years! Going off my AD, then the very slow progression of Lamictal is just really bad for us who suffer from those black depths. Not to mention, it was really a mixed state, but with the bottoms off the scale.
I'm on 200mg, and going to stay there for 4 weeks to see what I do. We think I'll have to go up to 300mg, but waiting for now. We've spoken about adding Topomax, but again, waiting for now. I have been taking 2mg Adavan at night to help me sleep.
I am finding that I had needed to take it on two seperate occasions in the past three weeks. Pdoc says it's not a panic attack, rather, my brain is pissed at me for trying to stablize it. Basically, my brain is rebelling. It is horrible. I left the mall yesterday so confused, had no idea where I was going, couldnt remember where I parked, wandered the parking lot crying, when I got to my car, sat in the AC for 30 min hysterial, feeling as if I was completely loosing my brain. I don't know what the hell it is, but she said it will pass.
Anyone????
> Hi- I have been taking lamictal for three weeks for bipolar and am up to 75mg/day. I start 100mg two days from now. I am severly depressed... more so than I have ever been in my life. I can't stop crying and don't want to do anything. I'm completely listless with no motivation. Does this go away? Does anyone have any advice? I also take 1mg Klonopin morning and 1 at night for sleep. I've also noticed as I increase my dosage my insomnia gets worse and worse. Need advice please!!!
Posted by CareBear04 on May 4, 2004, at 0:54:06
In reply to Re: lithium toxicity ?man_oh_man1977, posted by man_oh_man1977 on May 3, 2004, at 20:01:15
thanks, man-o-man! your answers were really helpful. i'm so sorry you had such a bad experience with lithium. my current dose is 900, probably soon to be raised to 1350 and maybe even higher. i'm on eskalith cr, which comes in 450 tablets, so there's not as much flexibility in making small dose changes. i'm also on zoloft, wellbutrin, inderal, xanax, and ativan. my dr. is hoping that if we increase my lithium level enough, the need for some of the other meds will drop away. i think he wants to keep the level within the therapeutic range, but push it within a narrow range of toxic. that's why i was so interested in your experience. i've been told that lithium toxicity can't happen at therapeutic levels, but from your story, obviously it can. i'm glad you were ok, and thanks again for your story.
to everyone else-- sorry for posting about lithium on a lamictal thread!
cb> Hi CareBear04,
>
> > man-o-man, can i ask? what was your experience with the lithium toxicity?
>
> -- not very good, but what can 'ya expect w/ any poisoning!
>
> how severe were your symptoms?
>
> -- pretty severe
>
> how did it come on?
>
> -- my pdoc warned me of the following: tremors, frequent thirst and frequent urination. I started at 150 mgs, eventually raising (once a week at 150 mgs/ week) to 900 mgs. After 300 mgs, the shaking was quite noticable, but I lied to myself and family that it was excessive caffeine, which covered the excessive urination as well. As I increased the dosage, my body was shaking really bad... by then I was up to 750 mgs. The peeing got so bad that I felt like I had to go to the bathroom every half hour or so; one night I wet my bed. I was on 900 mgs and started to get sick to my stomach. After 3 days, I started projectile vomiting, to the point where even water would make me vomit. (That being said, I couldn't hold down my other meds, either, so I was having some serious cold turkey w/d effects. ) We dropped down to 750, the symptoms stayed the same, so I went off of it. Still, tho, it took about a week for it to totally clear out of my system; gatorade really helped b/c lithium is a salt and the potassium in the gatorade worked as some sort of salt replacement.
>
> did you have to go to the hospital?
>
> -- no, thanks to the intervention of my dr. and having stopped lying to myself.
>
> sorry for all the questions.
>
> -- no need to apologise.
>
> i'm just trying to get as much info as possible about the drugs i'm taking.
>
> -- Good! I wouldn't worry too much about the toxicity, but how much are you taking? Is it part of a cocktail? Before things went awry, I felt it to be the best mood stabilizer I've ever taken.
>
> > thanks!
>
> -- you bet! hope this helps,
>
> Man-oh-man
Posted by man_oh_man1977 on May 4, 2004, at 3:23:39
In reply to Re: lithium toxicity » man_oh_man1977, posted by CareBear04 on May 4, 2004, at 0:54:06
Hey guys,
Like carebear, I am sorry, too that we got on this lithium topic on this lamictal thread.
Hope all are hangin' in there,
Man-oh-man
This is the end of the thread.
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