Has anyone been prescribed Lamictal for depression, Bi-polor or anxiety?

I am currently on Lamictal and find it to be one of the best things that I have ever done. I have been taking it on and off for about 3 years. I usually find myself feeling really good and then stop taking it and start a downward spiral. This last time I stopped taking it and in about 6 months I was at a point in which I was about to loose my job and the confidence of my wife and kids. My boss stated that there were significant changes once I stopped taking the Lamictal. My family was on constant egg shells not knowing who was coming home from work. I went back on it about 3 weeks ago and am back to myself, able to laughand enjoy family work and friends. The edgy feelings are gone. The frustration is gone and my mood is much better. My environment doesn't send me into a tangent. In my opinion the few side effects that I may have to deal with are are minimal compared to not being able to function with my family, friends, and society in general.

I will be staying on Lamictal this time as long as it continues to work. Hope this helps with anyone with question about taking this medication.

Hello,

I used to take Lexapro and that made me gain all kinds of weight, but I was also misdiagnosed as well. :(

The person I was seeing before didn't seem to understand how I was feeling. Yes I was depressed but I also had horrible mood swings which made me to the point I felt like I was so crazy that I wanted to hurt the person I was mad at for no reason at all.

I never ever did anything like that, but I thought about it a lot, plus a lot of things really ticked me off. Like the sound of a clock ticking or people talking to loud or even being in a large group of people. I just couldn't stand it and something would happen and make me mad.

I've been taking Lamictal since June 3rd. My first two weeks I took 25mgs, then on on June 16th I started taking 2 25mgs to equal 50mgs which I will take for two weeks.
I've almost been on 50mgs of Lamictal for a week and once the two weeks are up I'll be put on 100mgs.

Honestly since I'm finally on the right medication and I went to two different places and the agreed saying that I was misdiagnosed before and that Lamictal would help me I feel great.!

My family and friends think I'm doing so much better. Things don't agrivate me like they used to.
I'm able to keep calm and not freak out being in a large group of people anymore and I can talk more calmly.

Tho I'm still on a low dosage so I do have small outbreaks of aggrvation, but not like it used to be.

I think with time I will be even better.

So far it's been great.

I wish the best of luck to anyone who tries it and I hope it works great for you as it has for me.

 

Post Edited (Jeckia) : 6/20/2012 5:48:36 PM (GMT-6)

Hello Karen,

 

Thanks. I'm new to my diagnosis I guess you could say and it's made me a bit nervous because well I don't want people to think I'm crazy or something.

 

My family members know yes, but most of my friends don't know about what's going on. Tho I mean it's not a 100% their place to know but still.

 

Part of me thinks what happened to me and why do I have to take medication? Like at times I think it's stupid and I don't want to take it, but other times I know I have to.

 

It can be frustrating for me sometimes.

I have been on lamictal for over 2 yrs. since I had a nervous breakdown. At first it seemed to help my mood and i was more upbeat, but seems now it has worn off and is not as effective, but I have this problem with most meds I am prescribed, they work good for a while then, they just seem to quit. I guess everyone is affected differently by medicenes and the combintions of medicenes they are on. I hope you all do well.

Hi
I'm currently on Lamictin and it has been going very good. I've been on it since November 2012, did the increase thing. I was feeling very good. No depression episodes, no insomnia, no mood swings but it seems everything has come back. I don't want to go back to the doctor, it feels like I have seen him to many times in the past few months.
I was given anti-depressants since I was 18 and the dr's didn't seem to care much about why they put me on it. Now I found a very nice dr who actually cares about whats happening to me.... I had a, maybe you can call it a break down in November. Did not want to be here anymore, did not sleep much. It became so bad he put me on Valuim and a heavy dose of sleeping pills. He send me to a psychiatrist and he put me on Lamictin 200mg, also with the increasing dosage. I'm a bit worried now, didn't have any side effects. I know I will be taking meds my whole life, but I'm tired of it. I just want to be normal. My husband and I decided that I should stay at home, till everything is better. But know it seems that staying at home is making everything worse. I started a small business from home, but it's January and it seems that nobody has money for luxury stuff. I actually started wondering about all my desicions I made the past year and a half. I quite my job and moved to my husband's town, we got married in April last year. I just want to sleep. The other day, I actually slept the whole day and took 2 sleeping pills to sleep through the night. Its just getting worse. I really hoped that this would be my last meds, but guess it's not to be. i actually feel ashamed about my condition. The town we live in, is rather small and everybody talks to much. Even the ladies at the doctors office. It's an old school town, they don't understand depression etc. It feels like I'm kind off an outcast. My husband tries to support me, but that won't last. It's human nature to stop caring about someone who is sick.

Anybody have some advise about new meds i can try?

Hi Karen

Thank you for welcoming me, I was really excited when I found this forum. I contacted my psychiatrist and he amended my prescription. It has only been one day, so there has not been any improvement, but it takes time. He also told me what he diagnosed me with, Bipolar Disorder Type 2. So yesterday, I spend the whole day researching and I know I'm going to be living with this for my whole life, but it made me a bit scared. But that's normal, right?

I don't have any counselling at the moment. Should I ask my GP for sessions at a psychologist?

I know my husband will stand by me, we really love each other. But I'm just afraid one day it will be to much for him.... I tend to look to far in the future:.(

The business I started with is doing very slow. I had 3 clients in the past 6 days. I opened the doors on the 7th of January. I also found out that there is competition for what I'm doing. The reason I started doing this was that I couldn't find anybody doing this. Maybe I should advertise a bit more?

Also, I'm a housewife. Do you think I should get a job? For this specific disorder? So that I'm a bit more secure about income etc?

Thank you for all the advise, i really appreciate it. It feels like I'm a bit lost at the moment and don't know which direction I should move into......

Hi Ilse,

What is your business? I hope that it works out for you. I don't know about getting a job, would it be too much with the business? Or not? What type of medication are you taking? Is it still lamictal? I take pristiq, abilify and xanax. It works well so far.

I am glad that you posted back. I hope things get better for you. Keep posting. We are all here for you.
Take care...

Hugs, Karen

I looked up zozadon and I found zoxadon. And it sounds like a drug I use to take called risperdol. I don't think that they have it in the US. Where are you from? Just curious. Unless it is really new.

But by the sound of it, zoxadon would be like a mood stabilizer. That is how it helps me anyway. It can be for bipolar too. I found it helped me a lot. The risperdol did anyway. And it kept me from obsessive thinking. I take abilify now. It works just as well.

I am happy that I was able to help you. I hope that you stick around and keep posting.

I had a floral business about 12 years ago. Then I got fibromyalgia and couldn't continue it. I ended up selling everything and had a lot of debt. I was gong through a lot of stress at the time. I have had fibromyalgia ever since. It was under control until a few weeks ago and I think I had a flare, but I think it is better now. Seems to be today.

Well, I am rambling. I hope that this has been a good day for you. If the zoxadon is for bipolar and a mood stabilizer, you need to take it daily to keep it in your system. Evidently, it helps with sleep too. Which is good to take at night.

I have clinical depression, though my mother and sister were bipolar. So it runs in the family. Though the abilify helps me so much that I wonder if I wasn't just a little bipolar. If that is possible.

Take care and have a wonderful evening.

Hugs, Karen

Thank you,

We have the risperdol but not the zoxadon. I bet you are in a lot warmer climate than I am right now. It is very cold here.

I hope that this med works for you. Try to take things one day at a time. It makes life much easier.

Thanks for the well wishes. I hope you have a great day too.

Keep posting and know that we care about you.

Hugs, Karen

i take 200mg 2 x a day of lamictal the maximum

serenitee

Thank you for your replies Karen and Serenitee! I feel so fortunate to have found this site! Just hearing about how other people have been helped out of the grips of despair is so important to me! I will try to be optimistic that the lamictal will work in time with the proper dosage. I even was able to laugh a little again today. Good luck to all of us! I'm sending back hugs!

I have been taking lamictal for 6 days now, the 3rd drug ive tried. i was diagnosed first with anxiety, took celexa for a long time but eventually gained weight and didnt like the feeling. went a while trying to just avoid my impulsiveness, forgetfulness, procrastination, mood swings, talkativeness, and anxiety. 9 months ago i started seeing a psychologist who came up with an anxiety disorder. didnt like her, switched, he came up with ptsd. didnt like him, switched...but before i switched i watched an episode about adult adhd and my son does have adhd. as i read about it i realized finally that it describes me perfectly!! adhd is several times more likely to be it. although u have to contribute it to almost your whole life. in order to rule out bi polar they had me on zoloft for 8 weeks. im now starting to gain weight but im holding out as she adds lamictal to switch me because ive heard it is way better with weight gain. i am too scared of the rash!! anyone ever had it?? with the history of addiction in my family she is scared to treat the adhd for fear of addiction even tho it has been throughly diagnosed. but she is going to start me on stretara soon. after 20 years of being labeled the bad child, socially awkward, teen pregnancies, concentration issues, extreme talking, etc. i almost cried as i found out but i knew as soon as i read about it. thats exactly what someone with adhd would do. mind just wonders all the time, you forget all the time, you talk ALL THE TIME lol!! most young girls with adhd will not be diagnosed or misdiagnosed with anxiety or depression and eventually they do develop it. it is heriditary. just keep this in mind. i hope this lamictal helps my mood swings but being adhd im just an irritable person lol. good luck ladies
ADULT ADD , ANXIETY DISORDER, PTSD, MOOD DISORDER, rough life, STILL STANDING!!

I just wanted to contribute my experience. I have been on Lamictal for about 2 years now and I have to say it is the most effective med I've ever taken. I have bipolar II and I would say it acted more as a mood stabilizer for me than an antidepressant. I have more depressive stages than manic and lamictal eased the manic episodes. I stopped flipping out oddly as well and became much less impulsive. It was hard to get used to at first however. It actually stopped working after about a year but then my doc raised the dosage and added on Wellbutrin, both of which have been a good combo for me. I might be due for a dosage change now, but so far I've kept a job for a year and a half now after being unemployed and doing absolutely nothing for a year, and while I still have anxiety, I can go about life much easier than I used to. I have my good days and bad days definitely, but lamictal has been great overall for my bipolar ii as a mood stabilizer. I did do a major 180 since my diagnosis. Having a job however massively helped too. I think meds alone won't cure you of course, but it will help you be able to go about daily life if you can't maintain that now(like I could not).

For those worried about side effects, I have seen nearly none, honestly. My dosage was raised very slowly at first to avoid the rash. I haven't gained weight since starting Lamictal either. I know Wellbutrin is supposed to help you lose weight but only by suppressing your appetite, which has not changed for me, lol. Overall though, I sleep better, but that's mainly because I used to get 2 hours of sleep regularly. Wellbutrin is mild enough to not provoke my bipolar ii and lamictal maybe balances it out too. It helped me out because I think lamictal wasn't helping my overall depression. Prozac made me off the walls crazy however. Overall, I would recommend Lamictal, especially for those worried about side effects. Aside from the rash, it is very side effect neutral when managed properly. The only thing I've noticed is dry mouth, really.

Of course, I should add that I see a therapist every week and I couldn't do without her.