Posted by SLS on July 17, 2004, at 8:35:20
In reply to Can Neurontin be a useful mood stabilizer???, posted by sac on July 17, 2004, at 7:38:44
Hi Stacy.
> I'm currently on the med merry go round again and I am not feeling too good on Depakote. I have bipolar II and mostly suffer from Depression. Currently on 20 mgs. Prozac and 250 mg Depakote and I feel lousy when I take the Depakote...I feel more depressed and I don't see how this is supposed to help. I stopped Lamictal 2 months ago due to some agitation I was having from it. Currently, I am using Neurontin to sleep at night and was wondering what the consensus is with it being a mood stabilizer. My Pdoc says it's not that effective alone. Anyone have positive experience with Neurontin or Depakote?? Thanks. -Stacey
Depakote makes me feel more depressed too.
I really don't know what to make of Neurontin. I know some doctors who use it routinely to treat bipolar disorder in combination with antidepressants. However, I don't think it does much on its own for depression, and it doesn't make a good mood stabilizer for acute mania. It seems to make a good combination with Lamictal, though. The NIMH did some work on this a few years ago. I guess the big question with Neurontin is whether or not it can act as a prophylactic against manic or depressive episodes. It has, however, shown itself to be effective for some anxiety disorders.
If you were doing well on Lamictal, and have had trouble finding anything else that would work, I would return to it, keep the Neurontin, and treat the agitation.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:367088
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040714/msgs/367095.html