I was MANIC (felt great) for 65 years ! Went into a severe suicidal DEPRESSION 3 years ago. Wanted to commit sucide every day for 19 monthes. Could not get out of bed,
eat, work, drive, or do anything ! Could not even turn on my
laptop computer. Tried every drug. Nothing worked. Then
as a last resort my neurologist gave me an anti-seizure drug
called Lamical. After 4 weeeks the depression went away,
and I felt normal (in the middle) for the first time in my life.
Better late than never.
Mike

It does make a difference.....

I was on 600, then decided to come down to 400, then 200, then 100, then dropped it.

I wanted to do nothing but shoot myself in the head, slice my veins, or anything else to just die after I dropped Lamitcal all toghether. I am fighting out of it now, but I think I should just add it back to the med list.

How much do you take?

I recovered from the depression at 300 or 400 mg. Then I slowly worked my way down over the course of 1 year to nothing, and felt down in the dumps. I am back up to 100 mg.
and feel great.

Does the Lamical have any effect on your weight? I was on Topamax (another anti-seizure drug) and it actually helped me lose weight. I had to go off because of some side effects. All of this medication hasnt done much, but it does make me gain weight. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif

When I was depressed I was down to skin and bones, had no appetite. After I got on Lamictal I regained my normal weight and I've stayed exactly the same for 2 years.
Regards,

There is no cure for Bipolar Disorder. I take nurentin, deporkate er, zoloft, and now zonagran. the zonagran helps w/ weight loss. Everytime I feel great and want to stop my meds. I have to remind myself it is b/c of my meds. that I feel so great.

Hey Lonelyprincess,
Thanks for your kind comments. Your right, I thought once the depression was gone I could quit the meds. It does not work that way. Funny thing, the stuff that worked for you did nothing for me. Spents monthes and monthes with Depakote,
Zoloft, and Neurotin, no luck.
Wishing you continued happiness,

Thanks for the orginal post - I got back on 100mg of Lamitcal and I am doing better. I can take my 12 page, "To those who remain" letter and put it away for a while.

Do I have bipolar? I don't know? I am on antidepressants and am still depressed for the most part.

Anti-depressants did'nt work for me. Some made me worse.
Tried them all. Lamictal & Lithium seem to be the best for
getting ride of depression and correcting bi-polar imbalance.
Bi-polar means you are always up (manic) or always down
(depressed), perhaps never in the middle (normal).
Good luck !

I thought that being bi-polar isn't something that you can be "cured" of - it was just something that you had to learn how to deal with. If you're cured, I want the names of your doctors!

I should have not used the word "cured". My bi-polar manic-depression chemical inbalance is corrected and/or arrested
when I stay at a certain level of the drug Lamotrigine. I feel
normal and great. Thanks for your wise observation.

I also take Zonegran, it helped me alot with the mania, but now I'm in depression. I've added Prozac for 3 weeks and still haven't "snapped" out of it. Although each day is better, its still hell. I wish to be cured, or at least get back to some sense of normalcy

Prozac did'nt work for me either. Tell your doc to give you a free 5/week sample test kit of Lamictal. Believe me, it works !

Lamictal has also saved me somewhat. My bipolar has always aired on the side of depression but I cannot take SRIs because they make me manic and cut myself. Lithium works great at suppressing mania but in doing so it also suppresses my highs. Lamictal has really helped get rid of that depression (although it is still there). I think Lamictal has the potential to be an incredible asset for people who are bipolar and who cannot find anything to cure their depression.

You mention that Lamictal helped get rid of your depression although it is still there. Perhaps you should increase your dosage to knock it out completely. You may not need the lithium?

I'm so glad to hear all the good things about Lamictal. I just started taking it.

Join the club !
Hope it works.
Good luck Mental1

Do you find that you are more depressed than manic. I find that I get very withdrawn (depressed) but not manic.

Thanks,

Hi Bear5858

I was never depressed for 65 years.(always manic)
Then terribly suicidally depressed 19 months.
Now I'm feeling great. (in the middle)
Regards,

Originally posted by KimRick:
I thought that being bi-polar isn't something that you can be "cured" of - it was just something that you had to learn how to deal with. If you're cured, I want the names of your doctors!

Perhaps "episode-free" would be a more suitable description. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

LB


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