F
flutterbee
Guest
I'm going to see my GP Monday afternoon and discuss this with her - and I may very well just end up with a referral to a psychiatrist. But, I wanted to get some lay-opinions from those in the trenches.
As I posted on another thread, I'm wanting to add lamictal to my SSRI because the Lexapro just isn't holding me on it's own. I've tried many, many other AD's and they either didn't work or the side effects were too bad. She's wanting to add an SNRI (I think they are) and I've had horrible side effects from Effexor and Wellbutrin (Wellbutrin made me want to come out of my skin...OMG). Once my depression gets to a point, it becomes treatment-resistant and I'm trying to avoid getting there.
So, I was researching and came across this:
I've taken both lithium and lamictal in the past - together - although I didn't get up to the therapeutic dose before discontinuing. That wasn't due to the medications, it was a bad psychiatrist experience. Anyway, I didn't have any problems while taking the two medications. In fact, I'm convinced that they are what pulled me out of my treatment-resistant depression in spite of not getting to therapeutic dose and discontinuing. It was enough to get the process started.
So, my question is: In your layman's opinion, if it were you, would you rather add low dose lithium or standard dose lamictal?
As I posted on another thread, I'm wanting to add lamictal to my SSRI because the Lexapro just isn't holding me on it's own. I've tried many, many other AD's and they either didn't work or the side effects were too bad. She's wanting to add an SNRI (I think they are) and I've had horrible side effects from Effexor and Wellbutrin (Wellbutrin made me want to come out of my skin...OMG). Once my depression gets to a point, it becomes treatment-resistant and I'm trying to avoid getting there.
So, I was researching and came across this:
The second situation would be using it as an adjunctive treatment for other agents. My own algorithm for treating resistant unipolar depression does include using Lamictal, but only after I have tried combinations such as SSRI and Wellbutrin, or Cymbalta and Wellbutrin. The exception here would be someone who is getting some improvement with a standard antidepressant, but has some moodiness that might lend itself to improvement with a little mood stabilization. Even then, I often turn to Lithium to boost the effectiveness of the antidepressant. At low doses, there is minimal side effects for most people and there is limited risk. Blood work does not need to be done as rigorously when low doses are used.
I've taken both lithium and lamictal in the past - together - although I didn't get up to the therapeutic dose before discontinuing. That wasn't due to the medications, it was a bad psychiatrist experience. Anyway, I didn't have any problems while taking the two medications. In fact, I'm convinced that they are what pulled me out of my treatment-resistant depression in spite of not getting to therapeutic dose and discontinuing. It was enough to get the process started.
So, my question is: In your layman's opinion, if it were you, would you rather add low dose lithium or standard dose lamictal?