Posted by linkadge on August 20, 2017, at 18:27:32
In reply to Re: Lithium and lamictal, posted by Markwell on August 20, 2017, at 18:15:47
Lamictal can be effective for depression in some patients with bipolar. It is mainly a sodium channel blocker (like lithium) but has some additional effects on monoamine receptors.
For bipolar depression, you might want to look into folic acid, omega 3, zinc, magnesium, lamictal, Seroquel or abilify. Antidepressants don't always induce mania / rapid cycling. There are some studies suggesting they can actually help stabilize mood in some bipolars.
Selecting a strategy likely depends on your core symptoms (i.e. insomnia, anxiety, apathy etc).
Wellbutrin is an antidepressant with (supposedly) a lower incidence of inducing mania.
Prozac would be an option, but a risk is that (with a longer half life) the induction of mania might be harder to control.
I am currently taking nortriptyline. I find (surprisingly) that it causes much less agitation than amitriptyline.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:1094535
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20161215/msgs/1094538.html