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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by kilo8 on September 8, 2015, at 19:47:20
I just started with lamotrigine. I'm only at 10mg and I want to raise my dose very slowly to 100-150mg for depression.
Would 150mg be enough to see if it helps in any way?
If yes, how much time does it need to start working once I hit the target dose? Or should it already start to work at smaller doses?
What sucks though is that I also take quite a lot of supplements and now I'm not sure if they are safe with lamotrigine. How shall I know what's safe?
Stuff I take/took before going on Lamotrigine:
Acetyl L-Carnitine 1 gram
Glycine 3-5 grams
Niacin 100mg
Choline 500mg
Taurine 1 gram
Posted by Christ_empowered on September 8, 2015, at 20:58:08
In reply to Can you mix Lamotrigine with supplements?, posted by kilo8 on September 8, 2015, at 19:47:20
I take lots of supplements..its old school Orthomolecular + other stuff. I'm on 100 lamictal and 1200 trileptal. No problems so far...
..in fact, some supplements would seem to be a good idea on lamictal, like a b-complex, d3, C, E, and coenzyme Q10. But...I'm not a doc, just throwing ideas out there.
Good luck.
Posted by kilo8 on September 9, 2015, at 12:52:46
In reply to Re: Can you mix Lamotrigine with supplements?, posted by Christ_empowered on September 8, 2015, at 20:58:08
I'm just worried cause I read that high doses niacin can affect the liver. But in the lamotrigine leaflet it says that you shouldn't take it when you have liver issues. That's why I wonder if it's safe cause if you stress out your liver by taking supplements then maybe at a point it simply becomes too much to handle.
Btw, did you know that lamotrigine lowers folate?
I don't know how it does that but this is concerning. If it lowers folate then what if it lowers other vitamins, too?
Posted by Christ_empowered on September 9, 2015, at 13:03:15
In reply to Re: Can you mix Lamotrigine with supplements?, posted by kilo8 on September 9, 2015, at 12:52:46
Anticonvulsants in general lower B-vitamins, I think. Niacin and niacinamide are surprisingly safe, according to the Orthomolecular docs. I take 3 grams of niacinamide per day, have for about 5 years, and I'm doing great. Of course, I also take 12 grams time release vitamin C, which the OM docs say somehow helps your body deal with the massive B3 doses. Just throwin' that out there.
Anyway, from what I've read....many psych meds lower Coenzyme Q10 levels, B complex levels, Vitamin D levels, sometimes vitamin C levels, sometimes vitamin E levels...basically, its a stress on your body. Remember that old school docs regarded drugs as toxins. They're sort of...a necessary evil, really.
Hope things work out for you.
Posted by babbler20 on September 10, 2015, at 23:40:10
In reply to Can you mix Lamotrigine with supplements?, posted by kilo8 on September 8, 2015, at 19:47:20
Hi, I mixed Lamictal with Cocaine and tons of alcohol many times and I was fine so I would so yes it's more than fine to take with supplements.
Posted by herpills on September 11, 2015, at 9:16:14
In reply to Can you mix Lamotrigine with supplements?, posted by kilo8 on September 8, 2015, at 19:47:20
I've taken lots of different supplements with Lamictal and didn't run into any problems.
It's hard to find answers about mixing supplements with medications...many doctors have no idea. You might check with a pharmacist?
Posted by rjlockhart37 on September 13, 2015, at 1:05:23
In reply to Can you mix Lamotrigine with supplements?, posted by kilo8 on September 8, 2015, at 19:47:20
lamotragine regulates nuerotransmitter firing.....it won't block the substances, but the supplements will be altered because of it......i take lamotragine and had to drop it to 200mg, from 400mg
it's a stablizer and has a side profile for treating depression, but mainly lamotragine will alter their effects, not in bad way but where everything is lamotragine regulated.....
Posted by paulb on September 15, 2015, at 22:11:30
In reply to Can you mix Lamotrigine with supplements?, posted by kilo8 on September 8, 2015, at 19:47:20
As well as being a mood stabiliser NA+ sodium channels blocker i believe it may have antideprressant properties so i personally wouldnt mix it with things like 5-HTP
Posted by kilo8 on September 19, 2015, at 17:14:25
In reply to Can you mix Lamotrigine with supplements?, posted by kilo8 on September 8, 2015, at 19:47:20
Ok thanks for your replies.
One problem which I see with mixing different drugs or drugs and supplements is that even if they don't interfere with each other in the brain itself then there is still the possibility that they could metabolically interfere with each other. For example if a drug is metabolized a certain way and then you take a supplement which is metabolized by the same path then it could cause the drug to build up in the body and so on.
These kinds of interactions are often totally ignored and I think they're pretty scary cause you cannot simply go to a medical interaction database and then google interactions for antidepressants and supplements like carnitine or whatever. They cannot test every imaginable supplement out there for drug interactions.
This is the end of the thread.
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