![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by linkadge on July 22, 2007, at 14:44:54
I get the feeling that lamotrigine is not the best choice if you have hardcore bipolar disorder.
Has anyone had hardcore bipolar (ie not soft bipolar stuff), and done well on lamotrigine as a sole mood stabilizer?
Thanks
Linkadge
Posted by Phillipa on July 22, 2007, at 16:24:30
In reply to Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer??, posted by linkadge on July 22, 2007, at 14:44:54
I thought at higher doses it was can I follow along to learn? Love Phillipa
Posted by Nathan_Arizona on July 22, 2007, at 18:44:39
In reply to Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer??, posted by linkadge on July 22, 2007, at 14:44:54
Lamictal was a wonder drug for my mom and she is just about as hard core bipolar as you can be.
It was hard to get her to take it because she read about a very rare - but potentially lethal -side effect.
She has done very well on it. The only problem is that she will stop taking it - convinced that she is well - and get sick again.
Posted by obsidian on July 22, 2007, at 19:29:01
In reply to Re: Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer??, posted by Nathan_Arizona on July 22, 2007, at 18:44:39
good to hear it works :-)
I've been taking 100mgs of it, and I can't tell if it's helping or not
Posted by LlurpsieNoodle on July 23, 2007, at 10:22:58
In reply to Re: Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer?? » Nathan_Arizona, posted by obsidian on July 22, 2007, at 19:29:01
I'm on 300mg, and have been since April. Still pretty mood-swingy. in the last week I've had 2 days of severe depression (my T calls them depressive reactions) and 2 days of agitated wood chopping and mountain climbing.
I don't *think* I have hardcore bipolar, but it does run in my family.
also relevant is extreme stress in everyday environment. T says I'm reacting to actual stuff, not just making up my moods based on some fluke of internal chemistry.
-Ll
Posted by big time on July 23, 2007, at 16:17:48
In reply to Re: Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer??, posted by LlurpsieNoodle on July 23, 2007, at 10:22:58
i don't think lamictal is all that hard core. its really good with depression for me and i think it is supoosed to help prevent relapse, but i don't think it gets hard core with mania the way the other ones do. maybe at a really high dose, but i'm at 300 mg and have headaches so it seems like more would be hard to take. my doctor is really into combining it with lithium.
Posted by Bonnie_CA on July 24, 2007, at 7:27:17
In reply to Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer??, posted by linkadge on July 22, 2007, at 14:44:54
I don't think it's that hardcore, having such a low side effect profile (except that one BIG one). But that's just what I think, I don't actually know.
-Bonnie
Posted by LlurpsieNoodle on July 24, 2007, at 10:19:04
In reply to Re: Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer??, posted by Bonnie_CA on July 24, 2007, at 7:27:17
> I don't think it's that hardcore, having such a low side effect profile (except that one BIG one). But that's just what I think, I don't actually know.
>
> -Bonnieyou mean the rash?
pdoc put me on a very much accelerated taper after I didn't get the rash during the first 3 weeks of taper.-Ll
Posted by fiftylager on July 24, 2007, at 15:39:34
In reply to Re: Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer?? » Bonnie_CA, posted by LlurpsieNoodle on July 24, 2007, at 10:19:04
I know this is suppose to be the new wonder drug but it didn't help me. At first I thought it was because it made me hypomanic.
I found it made me cycle faster and my depressions were worse. I know that's odd because it's soppose to really help with the depression but that's what it did.
I'm on lithium now and the lamical and I'm doing much better but think I would do even better if I was off lamictal. I have to take that up with the pdoc this week. If he says no, I guess I'm going to have to wean myself. It didn't help and it's making me stupid and broke so it's gotta go!!!
Posted by linkadge on July 24, 2007, at 16:45:27
In reply to Re: Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer??, posted by fiftylager on July 24, 2007, at 15:39:34
My doctor keeps pushing it on me. He thinks I'm bipolar based on agitated/akathesia type responces to antidepressants. The lamotrigine has just made me feel very flat, slightly irritable, and somtimes just plain weird. Not my personal idea of a mood elevator.Sometimes too it causes strong acute anhedonia, like I just want to sit in a chair and stare at the wall for 7 hours after a dose.
Linakdge
Posted by Bonnie_CA on July 26, 2007, at 5:52:43
In reply to Re: Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer??, posted by linkadge on July 24, 2007, at 16:45:27
> The lamotrigine has just made me feel very flat, slightly irritable, and somtimes just plain weird. Not my personal idea of a mood elevator.
>
> Sometimes too it causes strong acute anhedonia, like I just want to sit in a chair and stare at the wall for 7 hours after a dose.
>
>
> LinakdgeFunny, that's exactly what Prozac did to me!
Lamictal has worked really well for me, although I can't tell if the anxiety is a side effect of the lamictal or if it's because I need something to help with the anxiety I already had. It does prevent me from getting angry over stupid things, and I don't stay in the wallows of depression for long periods of time. I was depressed the other day, but I got over it in about 12 hours. Wow. I have never lifted that fast before, except into mania. Don't get hypomanic anymore either. Doesn't sound like it's working for you. I know your doc is on vacation, but is it possible to see someone else?
-Bonnie
Posted by dewdropinn on July 27, 2007, at 7:55:41
In reply to Re: Is lamotrigine a hardcore mood stabilizer?? » linkadge, posted by Bonnie_CA on July 26, 2007, at 5:52:43
Lamictal is the gold standard for bipolar 2, but hasn't proven effective for stopping full blown mania -- doesn't mean that it can't be of benefit for severe bipolar, but it's definitely not one of the big guns of mood stabilization -- that honor goes to Depakote and Zyprexa.
The irritability makes me think that there's some low grade akathesia going on -- I'm incredibly sensitive to this as well -- lamictal doesn't cause this problem of me, but lithium and all anti-psychotics do. After lamictal, tegretol and trileptal are my next favorites in the anti-convulsant group -- so long as you've got an antidepressant on board, they can be fantastic and their mood stabilization powers are very dose dependent. Low dose and they aren't remotely hardcore; high dose and they are somewhere in the middle of hardcoredom. I believe they also raise dopamine activity in certain areas of the brain -- and I don't believe they reduce dopamine function in any way -- which would seem to obviate the akathesia issue.
And then there's good old Klonopin -- a low-grade anti-convulsant and the ultimate junior grade mood stabilizer/utility drug of all-time.
Drew
> > The lamotrigine has just made me feel very flat, slightly irritable, and somtimes just plain weird. Not my personal idea of a mood elevator.
> >
> > Sometimes too it causes strong acute anhedonia, like I just want to sit in a chair and stare at the wall for 7 hours after a dose.
> >
> >
> > Linakdge
>
> Funny, that's exactly what Prozac did to me!
>
> Lamictal has worked really well for me, although I can't tell if the anxiety is a side effect of the lamictal or if it's because I need something to help with the anxiety I already had. It does prevent me from getting angry over stupid things, and I don't stay in the wallows of depression for long periods of time. I was depressed the other day, but I got over it in about 12 hours. Wow. I have never lifted that fast before, except into mania. Don't get hypomanic anymore either. Doesn't sound like it's working for you. I know your doc is on vacation, but is it possible to see someone else?
>
> -Bonnie
>
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.