Lamotrigine?

[Maggiemay]

Finally saw the psych today. Usually I go with my therapist, but went on my own. Really wish I hadn't :( I felt totally judged - she couldn't see past my BPD diagnosis, despite the fact that last time I saw her she said I was on the bipolar spectrum as well... Urgh!!! So, aripiprazole she put me on I had to stop due to extreme restlessness, pain & intolerance to heat. I explained my GP put me back on quetiapine, which has helped, but I need more to stabilise my mood... She kept going back to the fact I had BPD and medication won't help and I need psychology (I already see my therapist every other week!)... In the end she gave up trying and said she had to mull things over and would get back to me later in the day... Eventually she did and plan is to try lamotrigine. We talk about the worry of it not being sedating enough, so we're also going to add mitazipine back in to help with sleep.

Anyone been on lamotrigine? Was it helpful? Any side effects?

Thanks :)

 

[shimmerz]

I haven't been but I just looked at the side effects and one of them is 'anxiety'. There are a long list of them so I would check and double check (if you have someone who can watch you on new meds that is a good thing).

I find it such a shame that doctors don't realize that the BPD is an offshoot of the trauma. Get to the anxiety and trauma and the rest sorts itself out imho. Best of luck @Maggiemay and keep us looped.

 

[cherryblossom]

I need psychology (I already see my therapist every other week!)...

I just wonder if your therapist is giving you the right help? I'm not saying either way, but is she able to help with BPD, bipolar and trauma/ PTSD? Perhaps a psychologist, rather than a therapist could be better placed to helping with such complex diagnosis. Or perhaps you need more therapy then just once a fortnight?

Also, I do worry about starting 2 new medications at the same time, even if you have taken either of them in the past. If you start 2 new meds at the same time, how do you know which is of benefit, or which might be causing side effects if they happen?

Just my random thoughts when I read your post ;)

 

[KwanYingirl]

@Maggiemay I don't know about the new drug, but I was given a dx of BPD by an old therapist. I have read a lot about it and don't think I meet the criteria for it although I did have poor attachment with my family and my emotions go off like fireworks at times.

My psychiatrist and new trauma therapist both say that BPD is more often than not really a stand alone dx but overlaps with PTSD. Those symptoms are the target of my therapy and I take Geodon, an atypical antipsychotic which has helped my depression and anxiety but I gained 50 pounds. Egads....I hate to give it up because it helps me so much.

Good luck I hope you find something to help you.

 

[catjudo]

I've taken lamotrigine. I find it to make me a little tired but not nearly as sedating as many psych meds. For me it helped some with mood stabilization but was not as effective as using lithium. Others have had really good luck with it.

 

[KwanYingirl]

I just noticed damn autocorrect changed my drug Geodon to grid one. WTF????

 

[cherryblossom]

@KwanYingirl I have fixed that for you.

 

[open eyes]

I've been taking lamotrigine for over 6 months now, & it significantly helps stabilize my mood without making me "flat" like lithium did. It also doesn't sedate me.

 

[Friday]

I haven't been but I just looked at the side effects and one of them is 'anxiety'. There are a long list of them so I would check and double check (if you have someone who can watch you on new meds that is a good thing). .

Just as a mini-thread jack... All meds that are supposed to do X will have listed as a side effects of opposite-X listed. It's just because our neurochem is all different. Like Desoxyn will have both stimulant and depressant side effects listed. For ADHD, it's a depressant. Slows everything down. For the rest of the world, Deaoxyn is known as meth or methamphetamine, and is a stimulant that speeds everything up. But it's true regardless of the med. Even the nuclear laxatives (which time travel into the future so you poop out food you haven't even eaten, yet) used before colonoscopies will have "constipation" listed as a possible effect. Okay! Thread jack over. We now return to our regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

I take lamotrigine and have for a few years, along with Lithium to stabilize my mood with bipolar disorder. They both work really well for me. For awhile my dose was maxed out (400mg) but my doctor lowered it and now it it's around 300mg becasue she increased my lithium. I take topamax and saphris too.

You want to be careful with lamotrigine becasue it can be very delicate dose wise. Your doctor is probably having you start at 25mg increments and then increase after a week or so. And then when you get to the dose you have to remember to take your medication.

There is also a very rare, serious rash to be careful about when first taking lamotrigine and why the small increments dosage is important. I hope your doctor told you about that?

I didn't really notice any side effects from lamotrigine.

 

[spookedlife]

She was testing you....by not giving you what you wanted/being oppositional/argumentative...someone in the extreme range of BPD would have flied off the handle, become abusive, dramatic, and possibly violent...in other words, not have been able to accept her authority or used pro-social coping mechanisms to either netotiate with her, or self-calm in order to retain a tone appropriate to the interaction. In other words...she was both confirming the diagnosis for herself...something almost all mental health practitioners do, before accepting it (the good ones generally)... while at the same time determining how responsible she could expect you to be with regard to your medications (ie, whether you were a likely candidate for suicide...as many high into the BPD spectrum)...as inability to self-soothe and lack of commitment to retain an appropriate tone of interaction go hand in hand with the kind of instability that leads to suicide attempts.

You've just experienced one of the main reasons I'm unable to tolerate therapy, to any real extent: Every healer has not only a right to the prodding equivalent to "does this hurt? Does this?"...if not the obligation. But when it involves this sort of thing, it's difficult for me to tolerate. As a Psychiatrist told me within the first 15 minutes of our first session, at age 19...throwing up his hands "...OK...You know all my tricks"...so that makes it fairly impossible, in itself, for me. But coming from a foreign intelligence family...I suppose it's rather like a mechanic's son knowing engines, or a butcher's son knowing meat. It's as hard not to hold a grudge against someone doing things like that, for me, as against an Osteopathic surgeon resetting a broken leg, I suppose. But moreso.

 

[Justmehere]

I'm sorry your doc was so inappropriate about the BPD diagnosis. :(

I have taken Lamotrine for PTSD symptoms. My doc showed me this study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10331117 and another study about this medication and the use for PTSD symptoms.

For me, it didn't have much effect positive or negative. But it has helped others. Based on your PTSD diagnosis alone, as well as for any possible bipolar or mood instability symptoms, it seems like a good and reasonable option to try. I really hope it works for you!