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Anyone out there have experience with Lamictal doses? My BD wife is now taking 100 mg Lamictal at bedtime. I still see major bipolar mood swings and eratic thinking. Her doc started her at 25 mg Lamictal 2 years ago - say no change. 50 mg several months later - no change - and she headed into a full blown manic phase lasting three months, spending, fooling around with other men, screaming banshee at home, the "I hate you, never loved you, and will divorce you after XMas" routine. Three months of pure hell for me and the kids.
In late November that year (2005) her doc upped Lamictal to 75 mg a day - and it did wonders for her. Within days or a week, no manic phase. Three months of hell ended. One week Lamictal works for my wife. She's been on 100 mg a day for about a year now. Gradually I see BD symptoms returning in her. I'd call her hypomanic now. My gut says 150 mg to 200 mg per day is her therapeutic dose.
She says I should stop playing psychiatrist, that she is barely bipolar at all, Lamictal doesn't really do a thing to help her, and that I'm to blame for all the bad feelings she is having. Thank God she does take her Lamictal every day (I discreetly watch, and I count her remaining pills on occasion).
Back to my question. I observed such a remarkable improvement when her Lamictal went from 50 mg to 75 mg, but at 100 mg a year and a half later am seeing manic symptoms return.
Q: Do BD patient build a tolerance to Lamictal requiring occasional dose increase?
Q: Ideas in ange of therapeutic Lamictal doses for a 44 year old woman, 145 lbs, who shows no adverse side effects at 100 mg per day?
I'm sorry I can't answer your actual question, but I can drop my 2 cents in here... my BP husband took Lamictal and one of the things that we noticed was that it made his mania MUCH worse. He had racing thoughts and was very manic on it.
We had switched to Lamictal because Depakote made him swell really bad making him lose his job as he couldn't work and had to go to the Dr. however since the mania kicked up he had to discontinue it. Oh, and it made his hair fall out. I know it sounds odd, but he rained hair until he got off of it. The dr acted surprised, but I looked up a website called AskaPatient.com and there it was listed on there by Lamictal users. It is an awesome website to check side effects.
I have no idea TG wished I could help but I am also looking for answers, my husband went to a psychartist for the first time yesterday, after a mere 20 minutes the dr. said he didnt feel it was either bipolar or ADHD but sent us home with a packette of Lamictal and a prescript for Wellbutrin. My question is why prescribe these things if he felt hubby didnt have bipolar or ADHD? And after only 20 minutes of talking to us...HE never asked hardly any questions of me so I am sending my journal pages of the last month so he can see the extreme highs and lows. I am kind of nervous about him taking the Lamictal after reading some of the post on here, will he go whacko or what...someone please help me with this. Thanks a bunch, Baby
Hi Baby, I am BP and was diagnosed four years ago. First I would like to suggest you find a different doctor. My first visit took an hour and a half just to fill out questionnaires. My second appointment was when I was diagnosed and told my options and made a plan. I would not trust a twenty minutes psych visit. Second I have taken Lamictal for four years and I love it. I've had no side affects and no complaints about the medication. I am also on Lexapro to help with depression. Sometimes it's normal to have more than one medication. I hope this helps
johns_girl, thanks so much for the imput that does help. I do agree with you about getting another Dr. but unfortunately I dont know if I will be able to get the hubby to go back to another one or not..time will tell. Also I added you to my buddies if that is ok. Baby
I don't mind being added at all. I want to wish you luck with your husband getting back to the doctor. It's hard to go the first time and harder if you have a bad experience. I also wanted to say that my Lamictal dose is 300mg twice a day. I know it seems high but it's what works for me. I also take Risperdal, Provigil and Klonopin(as needed). I just wanted to put it out there that sometimes it takes a combination of different meds to get it right. My life hadn't always been easy but I do good with my meds. Feel free to ask me anything and I'll try to help. Erin
THanks Erin, I just came back from my counslers meeting and I told her how all of you have helped me so much. I could never express to you all how grateful I am to talk to someone that knows what I am talking about. Thanks Again, Bren
