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Anyone Tried A Very Low Dose Of Lamictal?

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Nettis

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Hi, I'm new to this site. I have cptsd, being an adult child of an alcoholic, with a lot of childhood traumas in my luggage. I'm about to start Lamictal and since being very sensitive to medicines (feels like my nervous system is hypersensitive after trying too many SSRI in a short time) my doctor decided to start very low at 2.5 mg - (yes a tenth part of the normal initial dose!!). I'm not bipolar, neither do I have epilepsy. But I do have depression, anxiety and a lot of generalized fear.

I wonder if someone has been taking Lamictal/Lamotrigine at this low doses? And if not, any inputs about Lamictal is welcomed. I'm also taking 7.5 mg of Mirtazapine and a microdose of Fluoxetine. I took Zoloft for 18 years and decided to come off them summer 2015 but relapsed after 6 months. A pity because they worked wonders during all those years. Now the SSRI's aren't working for me any more.
I'm grateful for any inputs!
 
I wasn't able to tolerate Lamictal, even the smallest dose.

It left me in an intense fog, I couldn't see straight, think and basically layed curled in a ball. It also made my bones feel like they were being crushed. So much pain...

Sadly, I'm overly sensitive to most medications. So my experience may be extreme.
 
:hug:

It's possible that a low dose may work for you.

I take a tiiiiny dose of one of my meds, far below therapeutic levels. It works for me. My guess is that I have symptoms from being slightly chemically imbalanced whereas most have a much greater imbalance. Or maybe I'm super med sensitive and a little goes a long way.

:hug:
 
Lamictal is always started very very low, and brought up very slowly. So you should just see how it goes.

Watch out for the foggyness that @Panda Bear is talking about. When it's working, lamictal will do a good job of preventing intense depressive lows. But too much, and you'll feel like you're underwater a bit and nothing matters. It's not altogether an unpleasant feeling (I found - it was a major relief from depression), but it's very hard to function.

Also, read your side effects carefully. I think lamictal is the one where you have to watch out for a rash; it's important.

Finally, for some strange reason you can only try it once. If you try it, and then discontinue it, you won't get any efficacy out of it if you try again.
 
@Nettis - coming off it was not too bad, in my experience. It was a little shocking to discover how slow I'd gotten. But otherwise, it's such a slow titration down, that unless you are very sensitive to meds, you won't really notice.
 
I know I'm sensitive to meds and I also believe the fact I was on Zoloft for 18 years could have changed my biochemistry some how. That's what many doctors say can happen...

I'm very frightened of this med since it seems quite strong and have some nasty side effects. I'm also scared it could make me feel worse having tried 5 drugs (ssri) already that just haven't helped much. Every new one has given me so many side effects. I might have been sabotaging a little myself too since one part of me really did/do no want to take medicines (I saw a webbinar about depression and the long term bad effects of A/D etc. Thats what made me decide to quit Zoloft after 18 years) and those inner conflicts doesn't really help neither And on top off that I've also read in a forum about antidepressant withdrawal, saying that when you have problems adjusting to various drugs you could possibly just add more problems trying to add another one. Like if your system just needs to rest and get back to normal. That scares me - but at the same time I really need a crutch and some relief in the painful job I'm doing digging into my denied past... Facing all the traumas and pain.

So a lot off confusion and fear around starting Lamictal...I guess I just have to jump and see how I'll react..

@joeylittle how long where you on them?
 
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I've taken Lamictal/Lamotrigine and had to come off of it with no lowering of the dosage it was straight off. I'm sensitive to meds if I react it is to the most uncommon side effects. Or I end up with full blown anaflactic now with of 14 and adding. Tattooed on my left inside arm with the medical alert tattooed on my hand. Back to Lamictal/Lamotrigine my reaction to it was I had absolutely no balance I fell for no reason at al. No tripping just down I went. Bruised severely, I'm mean full blown black and blue.. not sure why but my skin is sensitive to bruising my bruising last forever. My skin is forever discolored any where I've bruised. I have one massive bruise discoloration is slight in color but the bruise was from 27 years ago. So my GP took me off immediately one because of the bruising and two constantly falling down. He was worried I'd brake a bone and didn't want to it to get worse. He's told me to put it on my list on my arm. As he's never seen such a severe reaction to it. At 47 I can not wear skirts or shorts or a bathing suit due to all the patches of discolored skin.
 
I was only on the Lamictal for a week. Literally couldn't function during that week, in a ball on the couch. I have three kids, it wasn't working and only got worse.
 
@Nettis - I think it was around 3 months. I was also on Cymbalta and wellbutrin and abilify. I don't metabolize most medications correctly, and it makes me generally less sensitive.

I'm surprised you haven't tried an SNRI, before going to something like lamictal - but I'm not sure of how the prescribing protocols work in your country. Also, has anyone ever suggested abilify to you?

Would you say you primarily need help with depression, or with anxiety?
 
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