Posted by kaweah on October 11, 2002, at 19:32:37
In reply to Started Lamictal, posted by catmint on October 10, 2002, at 1:30:28
Amy,
I've been on Lamictal for about a month now. I started at the same dose that you're at now, 12.5mg. According to Dr. Phelps guidelines I stayed at that dose for 2 weeks, then increased it to 18.5mg for a week and I'm now at 25 mg after a month. I've been getting increasing irritability as I increase my dose. I've had to fall back to 12.5 since I went up to 25 a few days ago because of the irritability and anger. My psych doc doens't understand what's going on so I'm on my own to try to figure this out.
I really like Lamictal but this irritablity thing is hard to deal with. The other side effect that I find annoying is the diplopia or double vision that I get along with blurry vision. It makes driving challenging if not dangerous.
I find that it really works well for my depression even at these tiny doses. I also take 600mg of Lithium anf the combination is quite complementary. As I've been increasing my dosage I'm finding a problem with insomnia which is more getting to sleep than anything else. I find the sleep to be interesting, supposedly it increase your REM sleep and I get some very interesting dreams on Lamictal.
A good web site for additional info is;
http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/meds/lamotrigine.htm
Read his handout on dosage
Good luck and take the increases slow.John
poster:kaweah
thread:123026
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021006/msgs/123286.html