Lamictal and mood swings

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MLZ - 27 May 2004 22:04 GMT

Hi everyone -

I know that Lamictal is supposed to be an effective mood stabilizer,
similar to Depakote. I was on Depakote for JME treatment for 6 years,
and definitely noticed that it deadened my emotions quite effectively.
However, after switching to Lamictal last year, and slowly increasing
my dose (my seizures are not fully controlled yet at 400 mg), it
really seems to me that I have gotten moodier and more sensitive, as
well as more anxious and depressed, than I have been since I was a
hormone-addled teenager! Has anyone else experienced this? No other
significant changes in my life, so I feel like the drug must have
SOMETHING to do with it, especially since it has gotten much worse
after I upped the dose by 100 mg not long ago. Other than that, I
have not noticed any side effects; my hair is growing back and I've
lost 12 pounds since switching medications.

Similar experiences? I know that both antidepressants and mood
stabilizers can sometimes backfire as treatment...

Megan

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Pablo - 27 May 2004 23:30 GMT

> Hi everyone -
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Megan

G'day megan
what your feeling is like a carbon copy of what i've experienced. i was on
epilim (sodium valproate) for 17 years and found that my hair was
disappearing and i looked like a beach ball. i changed to topomax
(topiaramate) and i lost 33kg and my hair although not growing back started
to thicken a bit. unfortunately topomax almost caused me to have a nervous
breakdown. so now i'm on lamictal (& tegretol) and i do find that i'm more
sensitive to emotions. i never really noticed how epilim affected my mood, i
suppose at that age all i real cared about was girls, grog and good times.
pablo

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