Posted by papillon2 on February 3, 2012, at 6:43:46
In reply to Lamictal Questions, posted by papillon2 on February 1, 2012, at 0:37:13
Thanks everyone, you guys are the best!
It's good to know that you can get a Lamictal level and that the issue is more about the definition of the therapeutic range. My main concern is keeping my Lamictal level constant and at it's previous (higher) level, so I will propose that my blood is tested:
- in last few days of the active pills, which will presumably provide my lowest Lamictal level
- on the last day of the sugar pills which should give me my highest Lamictal level, though I suspect this won't be as high as it would be without any interference from the pill. I might have to stop/start it.Then we'll see how much it is changing, if at all, and adjust my Lamictal dose accordingly. It might take a few months to get right, but I'm happy to be vampired in the meantime.
Re: choice of oral contraceptive. This was prescribed for me by a specialist who said it was most likely to help without worsening my depression/anxiety or interacting with my anti-depressant. The older oral contraceptives, progesterone-only formulations and implants are apparently notorious for this.
As an alternate solution, I first tried supplementing for a few months with Premular (Chasteberry) and high-doses of B vitamins, particularly B6. Premular, paradoxically, seemed to worsen my anxiety. I've kept up the Vitamin B.
Ring the bells that still can ring
forget your perfect offering
there is a crack in everything
that's how the light gets in
~ Leonard Cohen
poster:papillon2
thread:1008965
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120202/msgs/1009139.html