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Lamical?? Good choice???
Hi, I have read many post from people on Lamical. I have heard that the Lamical contains a anti-depressant and a mood stabilizer. I am currently on 2x 150 mg. of Effexor XR and 20 mg. Celexa and 30 mg. of Risperdal per day. I have had fairly good success with this cocktail (2 mos. since addition of Celexa), but have experienced a couple of manic episodes and quite a bit rapid cycling in the beginning. I would like to cut back on so many mediations per day.
Would you please give me positve and/or negative effects on Lamical and are you also taking an antidepressant in addition to Lamical. Thank you.
Would you please give me positve and/or negative effects on Lamical and are you also taking an antidepressant in addition to Lamical. Thank you.
Lamictal has been the best med for my husband thus far with no side effects which is great its good for what it does...manages the depression, but did not manage 'rage' or irritability.
I've found Epilim (sodium valproate) eliminates mixed episodes quite effectively, but stabilizes in a mild depression. I actually want to discuss with my pdoc; to maybe try combining Lamictal (lamotrigene)
Lamotrigene works wonders for lifting mild depression, & is ineffective in acute depression (that's why your pdoc added a anti-depressive.)
Sodium valproate does **** up your live sometimes though, & avoid carb craving. Weight gain is VERY present in sodium valproate.
Anyhoo, discuss these with your pdoc if you're interested.
Lamotrigene works wonders for lifting mild depression, & is ineffective in acute depression (that's why your pdoc added a anti-depressive.)
Sodium valproate does **** up your live sometimes though, & avoid carb craving. Weight gain is VERY present in sodium valproate.
Anyhoo, discuss these with your pdoc if you're interested.
This is the best med ever. I had to go off of it when I found out I was pregnant :( I love it
i was taking it and it did very well for me. i lost some of my creativeness and will to be constructive, and it made me a little lethargic, but other then that i liked it.
The risk of getting a harmless rash is 1/1000, the chances of developing Steven-Johnson Syndrome is much, much, lower. But, it is something to be aware of, for sure. It's a hard call with it, if you develop a rash, you need to get a hold of a doc, ASAP. Read up on the signs of Steven Johnson Syndrome and be ready to deal with the rash. I mean, for me, the dry skin irritated the heck out of a couple of bug bites. It scared me, but it became clear, between myself and my shrink, that they were irritated bug bites and not a rash.
Plus, almost all of the anti-convulsants carry this risk. I think that the only reason it has become such a scare with Lamictal is because it was added in on top of Depakote, which has the same rash side effects. If you look at the studies, there were alot of contributing factors; people put on Lamictal without decreasing the Depakote and people increasing the dosage too fast. There was a group in the study that was on 500mgs of Lamictal; they had to jack up that dose fast to get to that point, even over the space of a few months.
It is a concern, but it is worth the risk. I am having my issues with the medication right now, because we are tinkering with a bi-daily dosing schedule. So, I would suggest starting off with a bi-daily dosing schedule straight off of the bat. When you get to 50mgs a day, split it between two 25mg doses, at 100, split it between 50mg doses, etc...
Plus, almost all of the anti-convulsants carry this risk. I think that the only reason it has become such a scare with Lamictal is because it was added in on top of Depakote, which has the same rash side effects. If you look at the studies, there were alot of contributing factors; people put on Lamictal without decreasing the Depakote and people increasing the dosage too fast. There was a group in the study that was on 500mgs of Lamictal; they had to jack up that dose fast to get to that point, even over the space of a few months.
It is a concern, but it is worth the risk. I am having my issues with the medication right now, because we are tinkering with a bi-daily dosing schedule. So, I would suggest starting off with a bi-daily dosing schedule straight off of the bat. When you get to 50mgs a day, split it between two 25mg doses, at 100, split it between 50mg doses, etc...
I love my Lamictal. It stabilizes my moods and it is one of the only mood stabilizer that doesn't cause you to gain weight, which is a big plus for me since I had an eating disorder for 5 years. As for the rash......only like 1 and 1000 people get it. It is definitely worth the risk, and if you notice it they just take you off.
The Lamictal has been a very good medication for me; it stabilizes my mood very well. I have a big turn around since being placed on this medication last summer. I have had my rough patches, but we have found that increasing the Lamictal and tinkering with the dosing schedule has been good. It helps raise my mood, to a point, but it does tend to make me emotionally flat. This is a good thing for me; it quells my anxiety.
I can tell you that the medication didn't mix well with any ADs that I was on. The ADs, in and of themselves, increased my cycling, but the Lamictal kept them in check, to a point. I didn't stop having really sudden swings until I was taken off of my AD.
There are a lot of shrinks out there that are unwilling to increase the dose past 200mgs. However, it can be very effective for people above that dosage; there are many folks on up to 300-400mgs of it. But, you do have to increase the dose slowly; 25-50mgs every couple of weeks. There are some 'interesting' side effects when you increase the dose; flu like symptoms and a little hypomania.
The major thing to watch out for with the Lamictal is the lethal rash that it can cause; Steven Johnson Syndrome. However, it is very rare and those that did develop the rash were children, people that increased the dose too quickly and those that were also on Depakote. And, again, it as rare. In out patient studies, they have found that the chances of developing a rash are around 1/55,000 people and that's probably a high estimate. Those that developed Steven Johnson Syndrom were obviously more likely to come forward than those that were stable. And, the rash was far more likely to occur in the first 8 weeks; you get out of that time period and you're kosher.
A side effect of the medication is a mild rash, but in my case, it is due to the fact that the medication dries out my skin and causes contact dermatitis. I had a few scares with this; but I worked closely with my shrink and we figured it out. We gave it a day, monitored it, used some lotion, and it went away. If it got worse,assuming I wasn't having obvious allergic reactions to it (swelling of the face and tongue, closing of the throat, etc), I was going to see a dermatologist. My shrink is really hesitant to send me to the hospital straight off of the bat. Being pulled off of the Lamictal in an ER equates to a trip to the psych center for me. This is a Catch-22 for me, I worry about the rash, but I also know that it's really my best (and last) line of defense.
But, it's nothing to mess around with, if you try it out and have an adverse allergic reaction to it, get a hold of your pdoc ASAP and see if they'll send you down to the hospital. Or, just go yourself.
I can tell you that the medication didn't mix well with any ADs that I was on. The ADs, in and of themselves, increased my cycling, but the Lamictal kept them in check, to a point. I didn't stop having really sudden swings until I was taken off of my AD.
There are a lot of shrinks out there that are unwilling to increase the dose past 200mgs. However, it can be very effective for people above that dosage; there are many folks on up to 300-400mgs of it. But, you do have to increase the dose slowly; 25-50mgs every couple of weeks. There are some 'interesting' side effects when you increase the dose; flu like symptoms and a little hypomania.
The major thing to watch out for with the Lamictal is the lethal rash that it can cause; Steven Johnson Syndrome. However, it is very rare and those that did develop the rash were children, people that increased the dose too quickly and those that were also on Depakote. And, again, it as rare. In out patient studies, they have found that the chances of developing a rash are around 1/55,000 people and that's probably a high estimate. Those that developed Steven Johnson Syndrom were obviously more likely to come forward than those that were stable. And, the rash was far more likely to occur in the first 8 weeks; you get out of that time period and you're kosher.
A side effect of the medication is a mild rash, but in my case, it is due to the fact that the medication dries out my skin and causes contact dermatitis. I had a few scares with this; but I worked closely with my shrink and we figured it out. We gave it a day, monitored it, used some lotion, and it went away. If it got worse,assuming I wasn't having obvious allergic reactions to it (swelling of the face and tongue, closing of the throat, etc), I was going to see a dermatologist. My shrink is really hesitant to send me to the hospital straight off of the bat. Being pulled off of the Lamictal in an ER equates to a trip to the psych center for me. This is a Catch-22 for me, I worry about the rash, but I also know that it's really my best (and last) line of defense.
But, it's nothing to mess around with, if you try it out and have an adverse allergic reaction to it, get a hold of your pdoc ASAP and see if they'll send you down to the hospital. Or, just go yourself.
I'm currently on Lamictal, and I haven't experienced too many negative side effects aside from a general forgetfulness (i.e., I will sometimes get up to retrieve something in another room, but I forget what it is I need to get once I'm there). When I increased my dosage from 50 mg to 100 mg, I also experienced some 'flu-like symptoms', but that dissipated within a week or two. I did notice a stabilizing effect early on in the treatment, but Prozac was added a few weeks ago to combat a depressive episode that the Lamictal wasn't able to lift by itself. Overall, I struggle the most with mixed episodes and depression, and my euphoric (hypo)manias are few and far between. At the moment I'm feeling manic/mixed, but I'm also chalking it up mostly to certain external circumstances and not necessarily to the drug combo that has been so far quite successful. I wish you luck!
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