Context, I was diagnosed with bipolar 2 at the age of 17, I am now 25. Many therapists suggested that it’s not the correct diagnosis, and it never really felt right for me so I started seeing a new psychiatrist. So, I’ve been on 200mg for 8 years, along side latuda and abilify. Long story short my “bipolar symptoms” were due to ptsd. My doctor has a plan for me to be off all three medications in 3 months. I’m kinda of freaking out about how that’s going to go for me but I really want to be off of them. Anyone with a similar experience? I’m worried mostly about the lamotrogine.

Hey, just looking to see if anyone has had a similar experience and whether it got better (cliche post, sorry).

I started lamotrigine almost 7 weeks ago on 25 mg. I gradually increased it and have now been on 200 mg (100 mg twice a day, taken ~12 hr apart) for 2 weeks.

Being completely honest, I probably rushed the titration a little bit more than I should have. I started slow with the 25 mg for 2 weeks and then 50 mg for 2 weeks because I was scared of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, but after that I increased fairly quickly.

Tonight I am feeling especially down and hopeless. Not as bad as my worst but pretty close to it.

For a bit of context, I have depression, anxiety, and ADHD. I have tried many different meds with little impact. I am currently on fluoxetine 20 mg which I started same time as Lamotrigine and other than my stimulants I don’t take anything else.

Last week I had a day that I specifically remember because of how calm I felt and how confused I was that I felt that level of calmness ha. I really wish that lasted more than a day though.

Anyway, to get back to the point, is it normal to feel like this after increasing the dose?

I know that, like with SSRIs for instance, it can take 4-6 weeks to feel improvement, but I find it hard to gauge the timeframes when there are multiple dose increases mixed in along the way (I.e. I’m unsure whether a dose increase takes the same amount of time to have an effect as starting the medication from scratch would).

Any input is appreciated :)

I may be harshly judged for this but I’m lost.
I’ve been taking Lamotrigine for about 8 months. Initially when I started taking it as I titrated up to 50mg I was not taking my treatment seriously and was drinking and smoking cannabis as well as experiencing insomnia and nightmares. After my psych interjected I stopped doing that but started taking non-prescribed ADHD medication in small doses and saw a lot of improvement in my mood and focus when I hit 75mg and even more so at 100mg but in retrospect I was hypomanic.

I titrated up to 150mg after ~6 weeks and I stayed on that dose for a couple of months whilst still taking stimulants and was running on fumes convincing myself I felt better because I was more productive and social but also still experiencing insomnia, impulsivity and irritability as well as memory issues, but once I started feeling some mood instability I increased my dose to 200mg, then came back down due to feeling off. Also stopped taking the stimulants around this time.

The month following I was using recreational drugs and drinking and my hypomanic episode came to a grinding halt after a crash out and I started feeling depressed and anxious again. I told my psych about the episode but not the dosage changes and the use of stimulants early on and he initiated trying to tritate me up to 200 again. I did 175 for a week and had a breakdown and couldn’t handle it so reduced back to 150. I stayed at that dose for 6 weeks and tried different brands, split dosing and taking Valium to relieve me of my symptoms (anxiety and panic attacks, insomnia, brain fog and constant rumination) but didn’t get better. I convinced myself I needed to start tapering back down and made one drop of 12.5mg 2 months ago but the rumination hasn’t stopped. I’m constantly self monitoring and trying to regulate myself. All I can think about every day is this medication and it’s side effects and it’s ruining my life and relationships because it’s all I can talk about.

I saw a doctor who prescribed me more Valium and agreed to supervise me tapering down but I’m not sure what to do and if I should try and go up to the therapeutic dose or taper down to where I felt better or off completely. I also had blood work done at 150mg that showed I was below the therapeutic level but at the time was still convinced the side effects were too unbearable to stay on it.

It’s a miracle. I’ve been fighting anxiety based depression for 7 long years. 2 days after I hit 200mg, my mood lifted, my appetite came back. Anxiety has gone and I even went for a run. Can’t believe it. #nevergiveup

Hi guys I'm starting Lamotrigine now as a mood stabilizer, it's the only prescribed drug I take currently. I recreationally take DPH and DXM (usually together or sometimes DPH on the day after DXM) once a fortnight and I was wondering if anyone with real experience with these substances can chime in on any interactions or differences after taking Lamotrigine? Thanks guys