Posted by Adam Donahue on January 7, 2004, at 13:32:31
I was prescribed Lamictal yesterday as a treatment for bipolar II -- particularly the deep depression I was thrown into last week after I abruptly stopped taking Celexa on my pdoc's orders. (Bad move; after a week off Celexa, I became panicked, racy-headed, and very depressed -- never been that depressed. After a week back on the Celexa, I'm finally starting to come out of it.)
My question is, I'm currently taking lithium 150mg bid, 40mg Celexa, and now 25mg Lamictal tritrate up to 200mg. I know the Lamictal takes awhile to kick in -- particularly because you must up the dosage very slowly to prevent rash. So I plan to continue on Celexa 40 mg until I am on both it and Lamictal at full dosage, and then slowly drop the Celexa from my regimine. (Not all at once like I did at Christmas.)
Question: is the lithium strictly necessary? Or will Lamictal alone work as a good enough mood stabilizer? I'd prefer to take /fewer/ medicines ... Definitely more prone to depression than mania -- I've never had a full-blown manic episode, just looooong hypomanic episodes (long: four years, which makes me wonder if I'm hypo at all, but that's another question).
Advice appreciated.
Adam
poster:Adam Donahue
thread:297690
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040105/msgs/297690.html