Posted by To John on January 7, 2000, at 18:42:21
In reply to Re: Lamictal for depression?, posted by JohnL on January 7, 2000, at 15:42:09
> > I would like to hear of anyone who has used Lamictal for depression. Effctiveness? Side effects? Dosage? I'm considering this as my last resort. Thanks!
>
> I've taken lamictal up to 150mg. It had no side effects. It didn't have a huge impact on my melancholic anhedonic dyshtymia, but I can see how it might work well for other types of depression. It did however smooth my days out so I had no fear of any real bad days. And it relaxed me in social settings where I would normally be uncomfortable. It did have benefits which are hard to put in words, but it did not treat my primary symptom of anhedonia.
>
> But I'm curious. Why is this a last resort? What is your history? If you don't mind, could you share your previous medications, reasons for discontinuation, etc. ? A lot of sharp minds at this board might be able to figure something out.
>
> In the meantime, Lamictal is certainly working for some people. There was a poster here a few months ago that said it was the only thing in a long list of drugs that helped his depression. It's worth a try. The one drawback I can think of is that it has to be titrated slowly, like 25mg a week, up to a range of 100mg to 500mg. Any faster greatly increases the risk of a dangerous rash requiring immediate discontinuation. So it takes a while to get up in dose. Whether you try Lamictal or not, I'm convinced there is always reason for hope and always something else to try.
>
> JohnLJohn, Have you found anything for the Anhedonia?
poster:To John
thread:18307
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000101/msgs/18325.html