lamictal update and question......

[klmno]

Jen, my son was on a trial of lamictol for a while when we thought he was BiPolar (BP) and had more depressive symptoms, which is what it sometimes work great for. However, as his psychiatrist explained to me, sommetimes it sends kids to far the other way and escalates them. I'd give it a chance giving it to her in the morning as others have suggested and then see what happens. All the MSs take a while to get in the system though.

 

[Steely]

Maybe try Benadryl or Melatonin for sleep for now. Both always worked very well for Matt, especially the Benadryl, and psychiatrist said it was fine to give in conjunction with other medications.

 

[HaoZi]

Abilify and Zyprexa activate Kiddo, too. She doesn't sleep without melatonin and the Abilify has to be given to her at breakfast.

 

[Jena]

oh wow thanks.........

i wanted to really address the manic side of her, it gets to be too much for her to handle at times. is that medication going to be able to do that job? i looked it up and it did state it addresses mania. the doctor doesnt' share much with me on the medications.

i will give it to her tmrw a.m. it's just i didn't want to just address the depression. she's bipolar so we're always swinging left and right up and down. i wanted something to keep her more even that was my goal. than add a medication in to help her address her anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). make sense???

oh and benadryl activates her, and melatonin is like candy to her. i'm telling you it takes some heavy duty medications to get my little girl down when shes' flying. clonidine was the only one that ever worked. yet the pyschdoc didnt' feel comfortable with it anymore being it lowers heart rate etc.

 

[HaoZi]

Clonidine is a blood pressure medication. It's what used to knock out Kiddo, too. New doctor switched her to Kapvay, which is the extended release version and doesn't knock her out but helps with the aggression. What dose was she on? The topamax is what doctor added for anxiety, and the trileptal as a stabilizer. She was already on the Abilify.

What I have learned is to time out her medications or she stays activated, so she gets Abilify, trileptal, and topamax at breakfast; trileptal and topamax right after school, kapvay at dinner time, and melatonin, magnesium, and omega-3 supplement an hour before bedtime. It also helps if after the last medications I dim the lights and make it cooler inside, makes it easier for her to just say "I'm tired, tuck me in," instead of fighting it.

 

[Jena]

hi,

now what is the difference with time released just slower ingestion into system obviously or trickled?? so it doesnt assist with sleep?? i cant' remember dosage yet it was small yet worked, and yea i knew it was a blood pressure lowering medication. i've heard some really scary stories about it also reading up. so when he said no way i agreed in a second.

i'd rather find a 2nd medication if the lamictal works at lifting the depression and keeping the mania under control in time...... the second medication to address the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety which is why they suggested the ssri. its' soo what she needs. last time we tried it she was 8 years old. her reaction was sooo severe.

then we tried prozac about a year ago another aggressive severe reaction to that. i'm thinking abilify yet that wont' address the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) that's driving her mad and the anxiety.......gotta go read up

 

[Josie]

Anafranil is a tricyclic a/d that is used for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

My daughter has been on two other tricyclic a/d's to help her get to sleep, so it seems like the Anafranil might work for sleep, too.

My daughter did a trial of Anafranil after she had side effect to all of the SSRI's. She ended up having side effects to that, too. We now wonder if what we thought were side effects were really her chronic illness developing and not side effects at all. She is now able to take Lexapro even though a few years ago, she could not.

Just another medication to read about and possibly discuss with your doctor.

 

[Jena]

thank you very much i greatly appreciate it!!

 

[confuzzled]

the (severe) anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) may fall away after you get the underlying disorder managed and get her up to a theraputic level of lamictal. it seems to me that what you are seeing is not adverse reactions to medications, but the disorder itself still coming through. at this point, unless it was something ridiculously severe like a SJS rash, and something you can directly pinpoint to medications, i'd probably tough out any "side effects" to give lamictal a fair trial...you havent even being doing this a week or so.

and i'm going to second what shari told you in a different thread....you should be charting this whole thing to see what the clear patterns are....it doesnt have to be fancy, it can be a note jotted on a calendar. trying to rely on memory is impossible, and some hard data can help your psychiatrist manage her medications.

 

[Jena]

i'm going to stick with it for now....... its' hard on her though.... shes' up till 3 a.m. and than has problem getting up next day to function with her tutors....... going to head bck to the natural food store. feel sooo bad between the severe weight we are past 140 now due to medication and than she can't sleep. poor thing. she's like mom oh my god please figure this out for me