Hi all. I'm dictating for my mom since
she's not very familiar with the computer.
She's 54 and most of her life has dealt
with anxiety and/or depression.
Recently, she was diagnosed with bipolar
disorder by a psychologist and was
confirmed by a psychiatrist. The
psychiatrist took her off of her
antidepressant and put her on a low dose
of lamictal. It's been 2 weeks and she
still doesn't have any relief. Has
anyone out there taken lamictal for
bipolar disorder? How long did it take
to kick in? Here are a list of side
effects she's dealing with - most since
her recent increase in dosage: insomnia
(she's taking ambien for that), anxious,
nervous, chest hurts, antsy, muscles in
back, shoulders, and neck in knots,
headache, and bad tummy ache (upper part).
She feels like she's having a panic
attack. What do you do about any of it?
Do you just deal with it or is there some
relief? Her psychiatrist is telling her
to tough it out, but i'm afraid there's a
point where toughing it out is too tough.
Any thoughts? Thanks. Kim
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mia
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 25 Jan 2004 Posts: 147 Location: dallas
Kim Posted: 04-01-04 14:13pm
I have taken lamictal off and on for the
last 6 years. I can't say that I
experienced any of those side effects.
What dose is she on? Most of the
symptoms you are reporting are bi-polar
symptoms. Is she taking it once a day or
more. I found if I took it all at
bedtime it actually helped me sleep. If
her psychiatrist is any good he will
validate her feelings, but it usually does
take some time to build up to the proper
dosage.
Good luck,
mia
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purple333
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 1420 Location: Sydney
Posted: 04-10-04 16:22pm
What anti-depressant(s) was she on &
did they work? How is she now, as
sometimes new meds take awhile to work
& also you may go through withdrawal
from the old one(s).
