Lamictal is a stabilizer as opposed to an AD...... I hope that it works well for you sweetie

Big squishy hug.....xo

My relatives had a traumatic turn around on lamictal. Like being able to hold onto his life and not be so up and down. Right now, though, he is not doing well and they keep increasing the dosage. But at first, I thought this was a miracle drug for him. I think you are handling this in a wise way. Best wishes to you.

I am on Lamictal and I have been on it for years. It has had very few side effects. Honestly, I don't have any complaints with Lamictal. It does make me a little tired once in awhile. That's about it. I hope it works out for you.

Thanks Tesla. I took 12.5 mg last night. I'm sensitive to medication and I'm on baclofen, so we are starting on a low dose. So far, so good. Fingers crossed.

I pray this medication will help you.

Thanks kisses.

Its hard to give any advice as your not being treated by a Pdoc who specializes in Mental Illness and BiPolar Disorder. Family Docs/M.D.'s just don't have the expertise to know which of these meds go best together, which cause trouble when taking them together, what can make things worse instead of better, etc.

You talk about starting a low dose of lamictal and that's one thing. Then you talk about substituting Paxil for Prozac or possibly starting Welbutrin instead. With most Pdocs it's kind of a general rule to not make too many med changes at once as it then becomes very hard to figure out which med is causing side effects if you're having any.

Starting Lamictal can have have side effects and it can take up to 6 weeks for it to regulate in your system.

Changing from Prozac to Paxil can cause side effects and it can take weeks for those to settle down.

Switching to Wellbutrin instead of Prozac or Paxil can also cause side effects and once again those can take weeks to settle down.

So if your family Dr. makes too many changes it can be a nightmare trying to figure out exactly which change is causing the problem....that's something to keep in mind.

I know you've said in past posts that you go on trips with your husband sometimes and are able to get out of the house. I also know you say that getting to a Pdocs office for some reason is almost impossible for you. All I can say is, regardless of your other medical issues, and there are a few of us around here that have many serious medical illnesses, it's important to see an actual Pdoc when talking about making all these changes to your BiPolar meds.

Your family Dr. just doesn't have the expertise or experience in dealing with Mental Health issues, so I hope that you can see a Pdoc soon. They can do telehealth visits pretty easily now days with all the Covid stuff going on.

Take care,
Kat

Thanks for the information, Kat. I won't be switching my antidepressant anytime soon or going off of it until we are sure about Lamictal. Also, I will wait until I speak to a psychiatrist. So far, I'm feeling good with Lamictal. My Paxil stopped working this summer and I am housebound, except for about 6 times a year. When I only go out 6 times a year, I don't want them all to be medical appointments. So, about 3 times a year my husband and I go on a day trip. I had a full day trip the end of June and the end of August. No overnight. No "vacation trip". I am nearly housebound with physical disabilities and chronic pain and stiffness. The baclofen is helping with that so far. My back is so sore and stiff at the moment, I wouldn't even be able to sit in my wheelchair. So I hope phone and virtual appointments with psychiatrists will continue past co-vid. I also already have a referral for a 2nd opinion with a physical rehabilitation doctor and a referral for gastroenterologists for a colonoscopy because of a family history of colorectal cancer. I also have to go to the eye doctors twice a year, which I usually go less frequently. I also usually have a mammogram every 5 years instead of every 2 years. I haven't had a Pap test in about a decade. I do this to reduce my outings so I can have a few pleasant outings each year or my quality of life sucks!

UPDATE – so far, I've been on the muscle relaxant baclofen for 24 days and it is really helping with moderate side effects. I have been on Lamictal for 5 days with side effects already diminishing. I'm still on Paxil that I have been on for almost 2 years but it doesn't seem to be working. I have been doing light therapy twice a day for 30 minutes for about 6 weeks.

Now I am feeling so much better! The side effects of the new meds are very tolerable so far. No rash so far from Lamictal – fingers crossed :-)

Glad you are doing better.

Thank you :-)