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Hi everyone. I have just started taking Lamictal (2 weeks, starting my third today) and I have the most vivid dreams and the most wonderful sleep. Is anyone here on Lamictal and do you experience the same.
Also is there anyone that has been on it before and experienced "the rash?"
I hope everyone's day is great.
Also is there anyone that has been on it before and experienced "the rash?"
I hope everyone's day is great.
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Los Angeles
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Re: Lamictal
Tue, April 11, 2006 - 2:39 PMI've been on lamictal for months. It's been a godsend for me. my doctor and I have been experimenting with upping my dosage. The last time we tried I showed symptoms of the lesser (non deadly) rash, but this time we are titrating up more slowly. Anything blistery is the super scary (possibly deadly) rash.
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Re: Lamictal
Tue, April 11, 2006 - 4:20 PMi started taking it almost three weeks ago, along with buproprion and no rash yet, although i'm ramping up slowly. as soon as i went up to 50mg a day at the start of week 3, i TOTALLY hit what must be the start of reaching a theraputic dose. it immediately mellowed out my hypomania, without depression, so i can actually focus on work, get stuff done, be rational for the first time in a long time. basically feel what i suppose is "normal". YEA!
the only time i lost the productive non-manic feeling so far is when i had some wine. the slightest bit of alcohol plunges me into a very dark place.
i'm super happy with it, but i wish it made my nights as nice as yours sound! maybe at a higher dose...
amberina -
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Re: Lamictal
Tue, April 11, 2006 - 6:37 PMThanks Ladies, I appreciate the feedback. Im barely (tonight) starting my 50mg doses. I have been on 25mgs for 2 weeks. Wow, I hope the sleep doesnt get heavier, I might not make it out of bed LOL. I dont know if the mania is too far out of my system yet. This past weekend I was pretty manic, but it was great.
Does Lamatical help with depression also? The last 3 weeks or so I have been rapid cycling, but my lows are really, really low. Like scary low, dark low. Lows I havent experienced in a year or so. ANd on a whim, too. Its just so crazy how the mind is...the slightest imbalance and your hour, day, week, month is fucked!!! -
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Unsu...
Re: Lamictal
Tue, April 11, 2006 - 11:03 PMLamictal prevents the onset of depression or better said it postpones the onset. That's what my doctor says. He has had a lot of positive responses to the drug by his patients. He is really impressed by the drug and he has been doing this for a long, long time.
If you are clinically depressed now, you will still have to take Prozac, Zoloft or whatever until you get better. After that you should continue with Lamictal as a sort of "maintenance" drug.
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Unsu...
Re: Lamictal
Tue, April 11, 2006 - 10:58 PMI have been taking Lamictal for over a year. Great stuff. I feel like a "normal" with it. I am not irritiable and my moods are stable. If you get a skin rash you will have to stop taking it immediately.
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Re: Lamictal
Tue, June 6, 2006 - 11:06 PMjust an update... i'm up to 200mg and i can't believe how wonderful this drug is. i've had no side effects (other than one rash scare that turned out to be a severe allergic reaction to some plant i touched in tokyo), and i'm taking it with two doses of wellbutrin every day. this is the first time in my whole adult life that i've said "hey, this is what normal people feel like"... I've never taken lithium or other mood stabilizers, but i am so, so thankful that this one exists.
getting the right cocktail has completely changed my life. i am now productive without mania, content without lethargy, emotionally attuned without being suicidal. since i started lamictal, i have accomplished so many of my life goals, and i'm truly happy with what i have and what i'm going to do.
i get it now--why others couldn't understand my mood swings, why i had all those problems, why i couldn't understand other peoples' reactions... i get what it's like to be "normal"!!
those of you who have also been ramping up on this regimine--what are your results?
amberina -
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Re: Lamictal
Wed, June 7, 2006 - 12:53 AMIm so glad its working for you. I had to stop, because Im pregnant, but I did enjoy the effects (of what may have been placebo). It seems you did find the right cocktail. Youre very lucky. From what I understand it take some people YEARS to fins something.
Glad to hear the Wellbutrin is doing good for you also. I have heard some BP's say that Wellbutrin makes them too man-icky.
Keep it up and take care.
Melissa -
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Re: Lamictal
Wed, June 7, 2006 - 10:31 AMi was reading your other posts about pregnancy and bp, and you're very courageous. i think about that a lot--when i need to make that choice, would i go off my meds in order to protect my child? i honestly don't know... i hope things work out, and that you keep us posted on this site!
i feel very lucky about the cocktail... after years of doctors who just prescribed antidepressants for me (even after bp diagnosis, when any doctor should know that's recipe for disaster), i feel so much relief now that i'm going in the right direction.
the wellbutrin alone did trigger a manic period... but i can't take ssri's or most other traditional antidepressants because they make me lethargic and apathetic, which because of personality makes me more depressed (because i beat myself up for not being able to achieve the things i want to do). wellbutrin helps the chemical side of the depression without triggering apathy, and i think as long as i'm on the mood stabilizers at the same time, i'll be ok as long as i monitor myself carefully for mania.
and, honestly, i'd rather be normal to slightly manic than depressed any day. slight mania for me is an ideal state--productive but not destructive, social without being out of control, productive without irritability, and actually able to accomplish things i've been meaning to do for years.
how are the others of you on lamictal adjusting? we all went on it close to the same time, according to the above posts, and i'm curious what your experiences have been.
amberina -
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Re: Lamictal
Wed, June 7, 2006 - 12:40 PMI love the mania. Although it is nothing like it was when I was single and irresponsible( ie, promescuity and out of control spending of my hard earned money).
The mania I experience these days is more of a get the house clean and start random projects or feel so good, I volunteer myself/house for activites that I "know" I dont want to commit to. I try not to do things to trigger hyperactivity such as drink coffee.
Ive been pretty balanced and Im not quite sure why, maybe by the grace of God. I wont question it, but rather ride with it.
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Unsu...
Re: Lamictal
Thu, June 8, 2006 - 6:06 AMI have been on Lamictal for over 1 year. It keeps my moods in check. I used to take nothing for many years. I couldn't handle Depakote it made me see colors etc. Really weird stuff.
With Lamictal any depressive symptoms usually lift within a day or so.
My doctor says that he has had extremely good results with other patients as well.
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Re: Lamictal
Wed, June 7, 2006 - 6:30 PMHi everyone! I have been going through a hard time. I see a therapist and pdoc through the county mental health. I have been unhappy with my pdoc for quite a while. He is very condesending and when I saw him last week I felt like he did not care about my input on my treatment. I felt stupid, small and insignificant. When I left his office I decided I would never see him again. I met with my therapist the next day. Togather her and I processed the situation. I saw a women pdoc today for a 2nd opinion. She was wonderful. She really cared. She seemed to value my input. We met for 2 hrs. She started me on Lamictal. I am really excited. Reading the above posts has really given me hope. I will watch for the rash. And look forward to the sound sleep and vivid dreams. Keep me posted on how it's working.
Peace and Light,
Julie -
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Unsu...
Re: Lamictal
Wed, June 7, 2006 - 11:44 PMhi julie,
it makes the biggest difference in the world to have the right doctor. sounds like the one you had was horrible, and i'm glad that you are on your way to the right pdoc. sounds like she really understands. good luck.
melissa :)
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Re: Lamictal
Wed, June 14, 2006 - 12:04 PMI want it!
my cocktail is brutal and not working.
I had a small reaction the one time I took it but I hear that it may because of combining with Depakote.....
I am going to try again. I am in so much agony right now. Death by rash would be no better. -
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Re: Lamictal
Wed, July 5, 2006 - 9:27 PMapparently there are a lot of people who get rashes, but not the deadly one. more like contact dermatitis. i've had a couple breakouts (mostly when upping the dosage) but they usually clear in a few days to a week. then it's fine. how long did you try it for? perhaps you just need to titrate up a lot more slowly, and stick it out to see if the rash dissipates. of course, read up on the deadly rash so you know what it looks like and feels like so if you do get it you get help immediately!
but from what i've read, the deadly rash is pretty crazy--starts with lung infection, you get a really high fever, and THEN you break out in the rash. of course, that's just what i've read, so don't take my word for it, but i think there's a huge difference in what most people experience and "The Rash".
amberina
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Rashes
Thu, July 6, 2006 - 4:50 PMAs I stated in the begining of this thread I experience a low grade rash all the time ....it pops up then goes away then pops up somwhere else. It's not itchy just some red bumps. It's not the deadly rash so it's not a big deal for me considering the benifit. -
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Re: Rashes
Tue, August 22, 2006 - 12:32 AMIs that the only side effect from it?
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Re: Lamictal
Thu, July 6, 2006 - 5:38 PMHi :-)
I've never taken Lamictal. What is it exactly? It almost sounds like a mood stabilizer.
Thanks in advance,
Melissa. -
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Re: Lamictal
Tue, January 9, 2007 - 4:10 PMi tried the slow titrate down off of Depakote, then a veeeerrry slow titrate up onto Lamictal, a while back. it was very nerve-wracking being essentially unmedicated for 3-5 months while we tried all that; i got paranoid all the time that any little thing i did must be a manic symptom. i ended up being fine. however, i eventually got a small chest rash and immediately stopped the Lamictal. a torso/chest location is (from what i was told) one of the main signs that it might be The Rash as opposed to A Rash.
reading your posts here, i am desperately envious of all you Lamictal-takers! not depressed, ready to rock, not all fat and sluggish and blah like us Depakote-heads.
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