Hello. First of all I want to say that this forum is extremely helpful.
My question: Has anyone out there tried Lamictal after taking an Anti-depressant? Is so, how did you feel along the way?
All of my life, I have had cycled from being mildly happy to depressed. I would say that I have been mildly depressed about 70% of the time (other than year 1 of Zoloft @ 50mg). In 2002, I started on Zoloft and it really worked well at first. Combining that with good nutrition and exercise, I felt that I obtained a great balance.
Over the last year, I have been more and more depressed with occasional times where I would become hyper focused and get all of things done that I neglected while depressed. I increased the Zoloft from 50mg to 100mg to 150mg with no success. In fact, I felt worse. I recently discussed this with a psychiatrist and he recommended I stop the Zoloft completely and convert to Lamictal based upon his diagnosis of Bipolar II disorder.
I question this diagnosis as I am have always felt that I had dysthimia.
I am now on Day 7 of 25mg of Lamictal; I stopped the Zoloft 3 weeks ago. This is the only medication, other than vitamins, that I take.
Also, my diet is "average" meaning that sometimes it is very healthy and sometimes it is not.
The problem is that I feel quite bad. Here are the symptoms:
* Mild dizziness after taking the medicine. When I turn my head quickly, I can totally feel it.
* High levels of depression. A good description is simply miserable. Now I am concerned about this affecting my work performance.
* Constant fatigue
* Lack of interest in anything - even getting out of bed in the morning.
* The change along with a get away from the Northeast to Florida opened me to a massive head cold.
I did not anticipate that this change would actually make me feel this bad.
I guess I am trying to decide how long one should endure Lamictal before making the decision that it does not work for them. Have others started feeling this bad before having success with the medication?