Posted by BarbaraCat on November 14, 2003, at 1:22:14
In reply to Re: Lamictal side effects » BarbaraCat, posted by nmk on November 10, 2003, at 11:01:30
>>So, I will continue with the Lam, despite the SEVERE insomnia I am having.
**I've had insomnia my entire life. I take Ambien and that helps alot but I have to stop taper down occasionally since I get tolerant. I've tried all kinds of natural sleep aids and they really don't do anything much unless I'm already ready to knock off and then they add an extra measure of relaxation. Sometimes I take 900 mg of Neurontin and as long as I take it only ocasionally it really mellows me out.
When I'm going through a rough time or feel extra depressed I'll have crappy sleep the night through and wake up every few hours. I feel beat up in the morning like I've been holding my body clenched. Probably because I have.
>>My pdoc is out of town and I had to try whatever will get me some zzzz's.
**I might have asked you this, but have you ever tried Trazodone? It really worked for sleep. I had to give it up though because it can make you feel real woozey in the morning and I was having to get up real early for work. But once I had a shower and was up for 1/2 hour it wore off. I guess I was also starting to have symptoms of fibromyalgia and couldn't afford any extra lethargy or dullness.
>
> I asked Katia this too but do you know if you can decrease the Lam. at a faster rate than when you increase??**The danger is with the rash thing when going up too quickly. There shouldn't be any problems reducing it more quickly than going up but as you know, you might get some rebound depression if you go too low too quickly. I had to decrease Lam by 50mg in two weeks because I was getting awfully itchy and was afraid it was the rash. But it wasn't. Everytime I try to go up past 125mg the itchies start again. Luckily I seem to be holding at that level along with 600mg Lithium (I don't care what anyone says - God bless lithium).
How am I doing? Pretty well, thanks. I had a bump last week and was feeling low and slightly ill. But I'm training myself to just be with feelings that are less than desirable by softening instead of defending against them. As long as I'm in a relatively coherent state of mind I can trust that, like the weather, my feelings will eventually change. I guess I'm practicing tolerating lesser discomfort while I can with a mind towards being ready for greater discomfort when it arises, like being mentally buff. I know I can handle anything that life dishes out, but I don't always remember this when I'm not thinking clearly. Then, everything seems like a disaster - like what to wear or if I should buy the can of chopped vs. whole olives. That one had me sobbing in the aisles of my food co-op. Luckily the manager understood depression and was very sweet to me. But I've always managed to muddle through anyway and I figure I probably always will. If I don't, I don't and so I practice not worrying about it when I'm able. - Barbara
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:238206
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031111/msgs/279617.html