Posted by porkpiehat on July 29, 2016, at 11:31:41
In reply to Re: Time to ditch lamictal finally? » porkpiehat, posted by SLS on July 29, 2016, at 9:24:16
Wow this is quite the comprehensive response!
I only did the lithium for three days. When I felt the underlying agitation from the lamictal diminish (I'm guessing it was an adjustment issue) I stopped the lithium. I think it was only 150 mgs. It was sedating/a little blunting, and I was starting to forget things.
However when I came off I continued to forget things, and lose the ability to navigate websites and finish sentences. These cognitive issues were the big drawback when I started, along with the flu symptoms. I was hoping that was a result of the combination with celexa and it wouldn't happen this time now that I'm off it.
I am very med sensitive and tend to feel manic and impulsive on Prozac/Celexa; and get what I think are dysphoric manias on Zoloft and Buspar. These should point toward Bipolar, no? However the symptoms stop with the med stoppage.
I think the med sensitivity and the personality changes might be splitting/defensive mechanisms from complex trauma, which we know runs parallel to BP symptoms.
With regards to the lamictal dose, I would maybe continue up to 200mgs but I remember the cognitive issues just get worse with higher dosage. The flu feelings and sleep disturbances will also have to go away.
I am a little scared about getting back on a serotonergic AD but I think it will be the only thing to address the obsessive feelings of guilt/persecution/social anxiety, plus give me a little zest for life again.
I did notice when I stopped the Celexa that I felt much calmer in my head, that reading and concentrating became a little easier. Outbursts of anger (after the washout) became less frequent, and I felt much less desparate regarding my state of mind and some situations. I think the reading and concentrating had more to do with the mixture of celexa and lamictal, because I could read fine on 40 mgs of celexa before the lamictal, just no drive to accomplish anything.
The atypicals feel unpredictable to me and I only know how they feel mixed with other things like celexa, lamictal, and (earlier) Serzone.
I felt incredibly dissociated/depersonalized on Risperdal and then super agitated. It was with Serzone.
Seroquel (with celexa and lamictal) made me less obsessive/vigilant/meta over my interpersonal relationships for a while and then just cognitively stupid and tired. With just lamictal I felt really out of it and confused. This is all at 50 mgs or so.
Latuda (with celexa and lamictal) made reading and task avoidance better, but gave me terrible nightmares and felt very emotionally detached.
with just the lamictal I got an immediate seratonin boost on the Latuda, followed by some pretty serious rage and agitation. Metacognitions were less but the nighttime panic/dissociation was bad. this is about 20 mgs, maybe 10?
I am trying to get into grad school. So treating my mood at the expensive of cognitive functioning isn't really an option.
If I'm not truly bi-polar (still a question), do I need to be mucking around with the seizure meds as the only options? I've heard trileptal is good but causes mid-day sedation.
poster:porkpiehat
thread:1090940
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160713/msgs/1090967.html