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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by galkeepinon on August 26, 2003, at 0:41:39
Hiya, saw my psychiatrist today and am going up on the Lamictal slowly but surely to 50mg at night now. Can anyone shed some light on experience with depression with this med and taking it with Lexapro or any other SSRI for that matter please? I also take 50mg of Topamax.
I am bipolar and am on week 4 of Lex and so far so good~~looks promising, however I *know* I need the mood stabilizer. I have such a hard time sleeping and still feel *not right* in a way.
Thanks,
galkeepinon
Posted by Peter on August 26, 2003, at 5:32:19
In reply to Starting 50mg Lamictal tonight..., posted by galkeepinon on August 26, 2003, at 0:41:39
> Hiya, saw my psychiatrist today and am going up on the Lamictal slowly but surely to 50mg at night now. Can anyone shed some light on experience with depression with this med and taking it with Lexapro or any other SSRI for that matter please? I also take 50mg of Topamax.
> I am bipolar and am on week 4 of Lex and so far so good~~looks promising, however I *know* I need the mood stabilizer. I have such a hard time sleeping and still feel *not right* in a way.
> Thanks,
> galkeepinon
>>Hi galkeepinon:
I've taken Lamictal with 2 different SSRI's (on 2 different occasions) - zoloft and prozac. The combo in both cases was fine. Of course it depends on the individual. I, for instance, can't tolerate more than a very low dose of SSRI's, as they tend to cause undesirable SE's in me - emotional numbness, hypomanic switching, etc. Others can tolerate higher doses.
I also very slowly titrated the lamictal. I found that its anti-depressant effects began to become noticeable at about the 50 mg dose, but the antimanic effects are not as present until the dose is further raised. I only got up to 100mg lamictal an had to stop it just because I was on so many meds that even my pdoc lost track of what med was helping or harming me! So we had to wean me off of everything to re-assess. But I've heard nothing but wonderful things about lamictal as a mood-stabilizer, especially effective for those with mixed-moods and leaqning toward more depressive, cyclothymic symptoms. I found it not to have the heavy, 'wet blanket' effect that I got from depakote and even neurontin.
Good luck! Sounds like your on a good path.
Peter
Posted by galkeepinon on August 26, 2003, at 22:32:48
In reply to Re: Starting 50mg Lamictal tonight... » galkeepinon, posted by Peter on August 26, 2003, at 5:32:19
Hi Peter, thanks for the response. I was on Lamictal about a year ago with Effexor but it didn't fair too well because Effexor made me somewhat manic. Kind of what you mentioned here: I tend to experience the hypomanic switching if I take too high of doses of SSRI's alsd. I do lean way more towards the depressive side as I once was labeled BP 2. I'm not on many meds but the ones I'm on now seem to be doing pretty good, and I don't take that many. I have really taken this Lamictal slow. I was on 25mg every other day for 2 weeks then 25mg every day for 2 more weeks and now 50mg a day,
Thanks again, I really appreciate your support:-)
Take care.
> >>Hi galkeepinon:
> I've taken Lamictal with 2 different SSRI's (on 2 different occasions) - zoloft and prozac. The combo in both cases was fine. Of course it depends on the individual. I, for instance, can't tolerate more than a very low dose of SSRI's, as they tend to cause undesirable SE's in me - emotional numbness, hypomanic switching, etc. Others can tolerate higher doses.
> I also very slowly titrated the lamictal. I found that its anti-depressant effects began to become noticeable at about the 50 mg dose, but the antimanic effects are not as present until the dose is further raised. I only got up to 100mg lamictal an had to stop it just because I was on so many meds that even my pdoc lost track of what med was helping or harming me! So we had to wean me off of everything to re-assess. But I've heard nothing but wonderful things about lamictal as a mood-stabilizer, especially effective for those with mixed-moods and leaqning toward more depressive, cyclothymic symptoms. I found it not to have the heavy, 'wet blanket' effect that I got from depakote and even neurontin.
> Good luck! Sounds like your on a good path.
> Peter
>
> > Hiya, saw my psychiatrist today and am going up on the Lamictal slowly but surely to 50mg at night now. Can anyone shed some light on experience with depression with this med and taking it with Lexapro or any other SSRI for that matter please? I also take 50mg of Topamax.
> > I am bipolar and am on week 4 of Lex and so far so good~~looks promising, however I *know* I need the mood stabilizer. I have such a hard time sleeping and still feel *not right* in a way.
> > Thanks,
> > galkeepinon
This is the end of the thread.
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