Posted by Miriamne on October 19, 2005, at 16:07:00
In reply to Interested in Lamictal but nervous!, posted by zefdie on October 19, 2005, at 13:59:14
Yes, it's a difficult process finding the right medication, isn't it? Let me encourage you not to give up on it-- you have to be willing to stick with something long enough to make an accurate judgement, yet willing to try something else if it is truly not helping you.
I've been on Lamictal for several years now, and except for a scare about a skin rash (which turned out to be poison ivy and which I researched on this website!), it has been a good med for me. It seems to stabilize my mood swings without being overly "flattening." I also take Effexor, and recently had to throw a low dose of estrogen/progesterone into the mix for menopausal problems... but that's another story! Overall, the Lamictal has been helpful in combination with my other med(s)for Bipolar II.
I'll be glad to keep in touch via this board to see how you're doing. I've received a lot of help here myself, so I encourage you to keep posting with questions and followups.
Sincerely,
MiriamneI've been reading this thread about Lamictal and in a lot of ways it sounds right for me but I'm still incredibly confused about my diagnosis and my options. I've been on Zoloft for a while and am up to 200 mg; I feel less despondent but very, very unwell, bland and flattened out with all the same troubles yet no motivation. Because of intense negativity, occasional hypomania, a racing mind, and a recurrent depression since childhood, my doctor has diagnosed me as Bipolar II and suggested I add Depakote to the Zoloft.
>
> I've suspected I might be BPII for a long time but the symptoms seem so slippery and even after the diagnosis I'm wary!
>
> I don't know what to do! I'm already sleeping too much and feeling listless. I'm more interested in Lamictal than Depakote but am a very allergy-prone, sun-sensitive person and some of the potential side effects worry me! In so many ways it sounds so much better for me than Depakote, but right now I'm unsure about absolutely everything in my life. All of these drugs (Lithium too) have these big drawbacks. And I have little trouble with hypomania--my mania presents itself as negative, self-damning, endlessly erupting and speedy thoughts in the midst of depression. Any hypomanic weeks feel like a welcome change and my only real troubling behavior is spending. Does Lamictal sound better for me than Depakote? I'm just not sure what's right and I want to research it a bit before calling the doc.
poster:Miriamne
thread:9730
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051017/msgs/568920.html