Confused about lamictal and ADHD

[Faux_J]

Hello all! I have had attention problems since icould remember. Im 24 now. But only in the year or so I've realized that it has actually caused a lot of problems study wise for me. I feel constantly bored or loos interest in the smallest tasks and tend not to sleep allot because it feels like I can't switch the conversations off in my head. I only really realized that my behavior was a bit odd, when my friend kept telling me that I walk around and interrupt allot of people in class. We are in our final year of study so class time is very important. Even though I always hand everything in onetime, I always find it difficult to just sit and do it. I always get distracted! I can't help it if the patterns on my desk or the lines on my hands are more interesting than my dissertation. haha. I first went to my GP and he gave me same anti anxiety meds. Can't remember what, think stressam or something like that. I thought it was a load of bull because i am a very relaxed person. I just get annoyed very easily and end up wanted to punch people (i never do, physically that is, i do in my head..) anyway.. i gave the meds a try but didn't  see any difference. The GP then gave me sleeping pills. They were good... for making me high but not for any of my other problems. so this lasted for another wile and then he put me on ritalin. Can't remember what mg's but it was actually working. The time i took to get focused on my work was minimal but i found myself getting back into distraction at about 13h ish.  So then at the end the GP gave me a referral to see a psychiatrist. I find this annoying. It feels like all I ever do there is fill out random questionairs! So the first time I went there the PDoc said its sounds like adhd. He gave me concerta 18mg for a month. I didnt see much of a difference but did realize that i do focus a bit easier. But realy not much. Then after a month he put me on 27mg concerta. I didn't feel a very big difference but did realise that I was more focussed and felt more tired at night and got more sleep. So after that month the concerta dosage stayed the same but the pdoc gave me 25mg lamictal with it. He said something about having a mood disorder, this after i filled out another questionair that, to me, sounded exactly like the adhd questionair. I told the doc that i really don't want to just keep changing the meds the whole time. I'd rather not take any but he said we have to figure out the dosage etc and that will take a couple or allot of months. So I said ok. So after that month I went back. I told him that I didn't feel vey much like me anymore and that i felt a bit depressed but not suicidal just detached. I thought it might be the limictal because that is the only change that I went through. So I asked him if i can go off it. So he said he's going to take me off the concerta and up the limictal to 200mg. I am not a doctor so I suppose he knows what he is doing. Obviously. So I've been without concerta for a month and on 200mg limictal for a month. I dindn't realize it when i was on the concerta but it really helped with the "static" in my head. My concentration is back to zero and im not realy sure what the limictal is suppose to do but i don't feel like myself. I am usually hyperactive, hilarious, very out going and outspoken and now i just want to stay in bed and not talk to anyone. Is this what the limictal is supopse to do? Make me a zombie. I am annoying myself! I am seeing my doc in 3 weeks again but i'm scared that if i go and ask him to take me off it, he'll just up the meds again. Any suggestions? I'm so tired of just going back and forth to the doc again and changing the meds the whole time! Any comments will be appreciated. Thank for reading my venting :)

[DemiPaige]

At first when i started taking it i felt burts of happiness. After a while I felt like a lamo. I had nothing funny to say and was a bump on the log. But my mood swings and depression were worsening from cymbalta. So i decided to return to limicthol. My dr added prozac w it and hopefully this works

[Faux_J]

Thanks allot! Will talk to him about it when I see him again.

[lindahand]

I would discuss your concerns with the doc, and if he doesn't listen find a new one. I would ask him why he thinks you have a mood disorder.  Listen to what he has to say, it is possible he notices things you don't. But if he doesn't listen back and you can (sometimes you can't because of where you live) it is okay to fire him. I would ask point blank to up the concerta because it was helping you.

The lamotrigine can cause fatigue, but that tends to wear off in time. If you do have a mood disorder there are other meds that can help. It took me 3 years to find the right combination of meds. Lamotrigine is one of my meds. It levels the bipolar swings for me, and doesn't make me a zombie, although if the level goes beyond 200mg a day I become quite fatigued. It is generally a very well tolerated drug with some of the lowest side effects. It may not work for you because brain chemistry is so individual, but it does work for a lot of people so your doc wasn't out of line in trying it.

[ILADVOCATE]

  Lamictal generally doesn't have the side effect you described and I did not experience that myself but each person responds differently to each medication. It would be worthwhile to discuss this concern with your psychiatrist including specifically when it started so they can adjust and or change your medication as needed.