![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by cgd092 on January 15, 2007, at 18:42:27
Lamictal / lamotrigine is supposed to be a mood stabilizer. What does that mean? I have this one symptom where I'll start feeling anxious, sad, and low self esteem. Then I'll use all my cognitive skills and mental tricks and within a half hour, I'll start feelin better, and *overshoot* the feeling bad and start to feel sort of excited and thrilling. Is that a mood swing? This is all internal; no one who knows me or lives with me would be able to say, "She is prone to mood swings" because I don't act them out. Do you think the Lamictal will help with this sort of swing? I'm only up to 50mg/day.
Thanks!
Posted by Phillipa on January 15, 2007, at 19:29:06
In reply to Will Lamictal help with *this?*, posted by cgd092 on January 15, 2007, at 18:42:27
Sounds like you're changing your thought processes. Mood stabalizers are used for everything these days. From making an ad work better to bipolar disorder and others I'm sure others will post. Love Phillipa
Posted by Reggie BoStar on January 15, 2007, at 19:59:04
In reply to Will Lamictal help with *this?*, posted by cgd092 on January 15, 2007, at 18:42:27
It's supposed to help with swings like that. I'm taking it too, but I'm still on a very low starter dose (25mg/day). Aside from clamping shut my urethra, it doesn't seem to be doing anything yet. (See my post below this one, "Still can't stay awake.."
If you have bipolar of some kind (your pdoc will tell you), what you're describing sounds like "rapid cycling", i.e. the mood swings happen in very short periods of time. However, other bipolar folks with rapid cycling have told me that the cycles happen no matter what they do. You, on the other hand, are using cognitive techniques to ease the depression cycle.
I don't know what that means, it's just that I've never heard someone with rapid cycling describe it that way. Are you sure the mood swing won't happen if you do nothing about it?
Don't mistake me for someone who knows what he's talking about (sigh). I'm in the dark just as much as you are, if not more. I'm only telling you what I've heard in some of the therapy groups I go to. In those groups we talk to each other the way everyone does on this forum, you know, doing our best to offer helpful advice. I stink at it, actually, but that's another problem I'm working on.
Why not just ask your pdoc if it is "rapid cycling" and see what he/she says. You'll find out if the Lamictal will help with that too. When the pdoc prescribed it, what did he/she say it was for?
Anyway, as I said, it's supposed to help. If your startup kit is like mine, then at 50mg you're about halfway to the nominal dose of 100mg. My pdoc has said that if I can hack it to that dose, he'll probably go to 200mg/day.
Well, best wishes with it, and let us know how you're doing. I sure hope it works for you the way it's supposed to.
Just keep an eye out for that rash! I had to say that, sorry.
Reggie BoStar
Posted by blueberry1 on January 16, 2007, at 5:25:28
In reply to Will Lamictal help with *this?*, posted by cgd092 on January 15, 2007, at 18:42:27
IF those are ultra rapid cycling patterns, and I don't know if they are because I'm not trained and I don't know you, then lamictal is probably the wrong one. It is more for 'postponing', but not preventing, the next depressive swing.
Anyway, it's not that good for rapid cycling, generally speaking. Obviously mileage varies.
Depakote is the one for rapid swings.
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.