lamotrigine side effects bipolar

m wondering if my doctor could prescribe something to help with my overactive bladder so I could keep taking the Lexapro or if I should just take something else instead. Lexapro is good in ways because it produces fewer side effects than any other SSRI med that I've tried and I've tried many of them. What do you think?

Everything can look scary when you read the possible side effects. Also, the way they do the side effects is that people in clinical trials write down EVERYTHING that happens, which is why just about every single drug out there says it can cause GI and cold-like symptoms--people get GI problems and colds anyway, and it gets written down. And they don't actually do statistical tests between the active and placebo.

If the side effects look scary, go look up the full side effects profile for an OTC drug you use often (like ibuprofen), which will give you an idea of how scary the full side effects profiles sound.

Concurrent use of lamotrigine with ECT in bipolar depression seems safe, did not interfere with routine ECT practice, and allowed for transition to maintenance pharmacotherapy. (C) 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

I was taking depokote with this but like you we found that it stopped working I just started getting horrendous side effects. I took quetiapine for my mixed state episodes and to try to help my anxiety.( rather than a benzo..) This also worked for a while but then after taking this combination for around 5 years I had to stop depokote and quetiapine as they were no longer helping me infact the side effects were becoming a real issue aswell.

I'm currently on the combo. It's working alright for me. I still get frequent manic episodes and psychosis (I'm schizoaffective, but neither drug does anything for psychosis anyways) but I've only had one depressive episode in the last 5 years, and I'm a rapid cycler.I had about 10 depressive episodes in 2-3 years and they stopped completely when I started lamotrigine (well, apart from the one, but it was work related).

t stop taking your lamotrigine unless you talk to the pdoc first, just saying these are listed side effects. Lamotrigine is a really good drug for bipolar and side effects usually wane after a few months. Since you were only on Ziprexa for 4 months, chances are really minimal that any permanent damage was done. If you are not having movement related issues - smacking lips, drooling, etc. it shouldn't be anything permanent.

i've been taking lamictal for 4 years as well and i actually take 400mg, which i thought was the max dose but maybe 350 is. i experienced the same thing concerning the mania... so my psch perscribed me an antipsychotic. i have heard people say this before but i've really been on every possible mood stabilizer for bp. depako neurontin triliptal, lithium and the list goes on. everyone responds differently to meds as i'm sure you know but i can honestly say lamictal saved my life.

I take lithium, lamotrigine and a low dose of depakote. the main side effects are intermittent flat affect, permanent dazed feelings and detachment with dizziness. the other stuff is minor and tollerable. I am trying to take all meds twice a day to maintain steady levels. I stopped antidepressants nearly 2 months ago due to a 3-6 week interval rapid cycling that was worsening over the last year.

I would love to hear from anyone who is on either of these and see would you recommend either of them an is there any side effects taking them?

I can still make people laugh, and smile. I still have a good sense of humour. Took a while to get there. I had my bad medication combination. I did the zombie for a while. You sometimes have to be firm with these psychiatrists as they think that just not being suicidal is enough and it isn't. The right meds just make you stable, which is a wonderful wonderful place to be.

Lithium is usually very effective for bipolar disorder but you have to be getting the appropriate blood tests as going toxic can cause damage to the kidneys. Lamotrigine has fewer side effects and is generally a good drug for bipolar depression. It isn't as good as lithium in controlling the manias and hypomanias. It also doesn't reduce the suicide risk at the same level as Lithium.

There is an 'Ask the Doctor' forum on Mood Disorders. I go there occassionally and he is really good, and it is one of the few ones of these that is free. I would post your questions to him. What I know is from doing a tremendous amount of research. I've read almost every bipolar book out there, try to keep up with the research, etc. I am a person for whom knowledge equals power.

Meds are pretty individual. Lamotrigine would be the one I'd ask for. It has a low side effect profile and is good more for the downs than the ups. If you are up more than you are down - lithium may be a better choice. Although with lithium you will need regular blood testing. Depakene is the other mood stabilizer but I know very little about it except it can make your hair fall out. I had a hard go around with the antipsychotics. Lots of side effects But finally Abilify works great for me.

Right now your Seroquel is an antihistamine. I just looked at the pi sheet, and the target dose for bipolar depression is 300 mg, where it should be less sedating than lower doses (the crazymeds.us wiki says above 200 mg is the cutoff for that one). 400-800 mg for mania. It's off label to use risperidone for the depressive side of bipolar, but if anything, you'd want to increase it, not decrease it. A Seroquel increase is probably a better thing to try first.

Is there a general doctor you could go to? It is better than nothing. If you do some research as to the different medications you can try and go in with a suggestion that will help a lot. There are a lot of atypical antipsychotics such as risperadol, invega, you've tried seroquel, geodone, ziprexa (although weight gain and cost are a factor) and abilify (cost may be a factor). There are also the mood stabilizers such as lamotrigine and depakote that may be useful.

Thank you very much for your help :)

d being treated for Bipolar instead of PMDD. Can you give me any ideas of why she needs all these very strong meds with bad side effects when this is her first episode of depression?? Thank you very much.

).... What type of side effects (if any) have you experienced from this?

Although there are other mood stablizers out there such as Depakote and Lamotrigine. I take lamotrigine. Fairly low side effect profile, fairly weight neutral, although my understanding is it is better for bipolar depression and Lithium is better at controlling manias. I don't know much about Depakote. I don't think it is used as much now. If you don't see a psychiatrist I'd get a referral to one when you see your GP on Monday.

Pain medications have numerous side effects and those who do take pain meds on a regular basis do usually have some kind of depression due to the fact that they do have chronic pain but as far as the meds causing depression or bipolar no I do not believe so.

So right now I am currently taking ziprasidone 80 mg, chantix 1mg, topamax 50mg 3x day, and ropinirole for side effects 1 mg once a day. I can't believe I actually made it through the night last night. I had some psychosis and was up all night long, but laying and I had the shakes at first but I'm actually proud I made it through the night without popping that pill. Took my medicine this morning and slept for about 5 hours and no psychosis, hallucinations or anything.

Lamotrigine side effects bipolar

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