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Lamictal- what AD dose= Zoloft 100 mg/Prozac 20 mg

Posted by 3 Beer Effect on March 23, 2002, at 23:31:20

I have a weird form of Bipolar in that I have never had a manic episode except ones that were SSRI (Zoloft) medication induced. Zoloft 100 mg was the only medicine that lifted me out of my severe depression- I felt happy for the first time in years, but I couldn't sleep, sometimes for days at a time, which impaired my judgement & made me act like a manic idiot, eventally resulting in self destructive behavior, drinking & Xanax (from Thailand), & Benadryl to alleviate insomnia & an arrest for DUI. Celexa 40 mg didn't do much (no mania) but also gave me insomnia. The doctors said that the insomnia was a result of "SSRI induced mania". The only other drug that makes me "manic" seems to be alcohol- but I guess everyone runs around & acts like an idiot after one too many.

Oddly enough, Dexedrine, Adderall, Cocaine, Marijuana, Remeron never made me manic. Effexor XR made me feel like a dying elderly man (i'm only 23). I might just have ADD, since Bipolar II & ADD symptom criteria have a great deal of overlap & SSRIs make ADHD worse.

Right now I am taking Lamictal 100 mg, but its seems like a placebo pill with no perceptible effects except slight drowsiness, & I am starting to lapse back into a severe depression (which feels like falling down a dark bottomless well with no bottom).
So my main problem is severe (don't leave my room) depression w/ social phobia & only have mania from basically one type of medication (SSRIS).

Most importantly--------My main question is what dose of Lamictal is about equivalent in antidepressant potency to Zoloft 100 mg or Prozac 20 mg? (I've never taken Prozac but i've read that Zoloft 100 mg & Prozac 20 mg are about the same in efficacy).

If I could find the right dose of Lamictal to work up to that would be great, but I don't know what that is (besides it would approximate the same 'happy, optimistic' feeling as Zoloft 100 mg. My doctor is not willing to let me increase the Lamictal dose on my own until I can't tolerate it, so increasing the Lamictal will be a long drawn out process. I doubt he will raise it past 150 mg when I see him on Wednesday (25 mg increase every 1 or 2 weeks), even though theoretically he could raise it 25/week which would put me at 200 for the next appointment (I now see the psychiatrist once a month b/c most of these psych meds never seem to work very well). Doesn't each dose increase take a month to work?

What is the point of splitting the dosages as the dose is increased if the half-life is 32.8 hours? Right now at 100 mg I take it at bedtime since it makes me very slightly drowsy- most people said it was a stimulating med oddly enough.

What are the side effects of the higher dose ranges, so far i've had no side effects, or any effect at all for that matter.

Hopefully, Lamictal won't end up being another med that doesn't work for me (I've tried just about everything else- running out of options for an anti-depressant) like Remeron or Neurontin- both which turned me into a somnolent zombie.


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poster:3 Beer Effect thread:99761
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020322/msgs/99761.html