Bipolar Support Group

Hi,

Just a quick question. My med was just increased from 200mg once a day in the mornings to 200mgs twice a day. I was wondering how long it is going to take to feel the full effects of this change. Thanks for responding.

Post edited by: Amanda78, at: 06/09/2009 08:05 AM

Approximately 3 weeks. Lamictal is an excellent mood stabilizer. It go rid of my depression and with klonopin has controlled my rapid cycling.

Going from 200 to 400 is quite an increase. I'd be more comfortable going up step by step.

I take 200 now and I think it's a great drug, has great reviews among the pill pushers. I'm noticing my hair thinning a little bit, but that's the only side effect.

Not bald yet by a fur piece.

Hi Amanda, Yes agree with Scooby that 200mgs to 400mgs is quite an increase. Usually people are titrated up on that drug.

My experience has been:I felt the effects some five days latter after reaching the therupudic dose of 200mgs.

However went up to 300mgs weaned back to 250mgs (pdoc suggested I get back down to 200mgs), as long as these reductions worked okay.

Welll....yes, got myself down to 250mgs and then decided not to go further. A BIG mistake. This showed itelf up as memory problems, lack of co-ordination and going too quite, no energy or desire to do anything much.

Now after some eight or so weeks of this. At long last I woke up I was on too much Lamictal for me.

Hum, possibly it was the side effects when on the 250mgs which caused me not to have the brain power to wake up.

Now what I mean to say, is that in my case the effects of the Lamictal did not make their full effects known for more than 6 - 10 weeks.

JennyWren

Post edited by: jennywren, at: 06/11/2009 12:19 AM

Hi Amanda. I was on 200 mg Lamictal once a day, but my pdoc moved me up to 300 for a while and now I take 200 twice a day. It has really helped me and I seem to have no side effects. Bear in mind though that everyone responds differently to meds. My experience will be different from someone else's. That is a rather rapid increase, so do monitor yourself carefully and let your pdoc know right away of any changes in your physically or mentally that are negative.

My Son takes 400mg in the evening. It works great for him. He originally got it for his epilepsy, in fact that's how come we didn't realize he was bipolar until it got really bad with the anger and paranioa and depression.

My doctors tried to get me on to this after I made the decision to stop taking Seroquel and Klonopin. I had a free sampler/starter kit. I never even started it. I quit the seroquell cold turkey and the Klonopin I quit but continued to take either as neccassary or recreational until it was gone... The hardest part about getting off seroquell was learning how to sleep without it.

My doctors kept saying how the lamictal was good and would help stabalize me. Maybe they should have thought about that before they put me on an antipyscotic that drains all energy from your body. I'd have trouble getting down the stairs at night to use the bathroom after taking it and I'd have trouble waking up to goto work even when I had enough sleep and then would be a zombie for hours.

Just started Lamictal and it's way better for me than what it replaced, Seroquel, which I call Zombie juice.

John, seroquel didnt do shit for me... well some night i would set in my chair staring at the wall like a fat chesser cat. But it didnt help me sleep at all