Lamotrigine for Cyclothymic Disorder User Reviews

• Moo...
• April 16, 2020

"I started lamictal about two years ago. It was the answer to my prayers. I was so hesitant to try a mood stabilizer when I first went to a psychiatrist. It scared me that I might have something more than anxiety. I am extremely sensitive to psych meds. I have to start with micro doses until I get to a therapeutic dose. Buspar was the only medication that didn’t make me feel anxious and restless, but it didn’t do much until I tried Lamictal with it. Before lamictal, I had frequent changes in my mood. All in the same day I would feel suicidal, very happy, fixated on a worry, normal, and then it would cycle again. I tracked my mood on a mood tracker and talked with my doctor about it. When they prescribed Lamictal, I was skeptical, but after the first three days, I felt normal for the first time in years. When I was a kid, I felt normal (no major anxiety, no crawling sensations in arms and legs, no suicidal thoughts). I am back!!"

• 199...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 11, 2019

"Started taking lamotrigine for mood swings going from depression to extreme agitation. Within a few weeks, all of my symptoms were gone, and I have had no side effects. After a year of trying medications with no results, this was a miracle for me."

• Tha...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 21, 2024

"I got on the right cyclothymia / bipolar meds and my life has drastically gotten better. Day and night. I can't tell you how much I'm appreciative of waking up and knowing I want the same things that I wanted yesterday. I'm relieved that I pretty much don't get super excited or fall in love with something and then leave it all of a sudden. My mood is pretty much constantly stable and also elevated. My performance is also much better and much more consistent at work. I enjoy work significantly more. I no longer hate rainy weather. I actually am a bit interested in rain/cloudy weather now. I got more social in a stable fashion and got more sense of humor. I feel like things are just more interesting to me. Highly recommend talking with one or even two psychiatrists. It's not an easy diagnosis. It took 2 years for me to find it out by trial and error (ADHD meds, stimulants, antidepressants). I'm just a much more reliable person."

• Evi...
• September 5, 2018

"Lamictal has changed my life. I struggled for years trying to find the right medications just so I didn’t have to wake up every single morning wishing I didn’t exist, followed by erratic, unpredictable mood swings, which affected my personal life on a daily basis. I thought because my problem was primarily symptoms of depression, an SSRI may work. Fortunately, it did for several months, but then gradually stopped working. Eventually, my therapist convinced me to talk to my doctor about my mood swings, which I was leery about because I knew I didn’t fit the profile for BPD. Although I still don’t have an exact diagnosis, I am SO GLAD I am taking Lamictal. I thought my SSRI made me feel better, but Lamictal transformed my life. I have a better, more stable relationship with everyone in my life, and I feel like I can handle all the highs and lows in my life as a neurotypical, healthy person would. Lamictal has given me hope for the future, and I am forever grateful for this drug."

• T-F...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 7, 2019

"Lamotrigine changed my life! I finally got the right diagnosis for my mood disorder in 2017 and started lamotrigine for my cyclothymic disorder. The only side effect is that it made my coordination a little worse and my dreams WAY more intense. But that's not a problem. I'm also autistic and have joint problems, so my coordination is already off. Lamotrigine helps me so much! I'll be on it for the rest of my life. No more insane fast-paced mood swings, just regular ones, lol. My impulse control is SO much better. That's a huge thing for me. I feel so much more in control of my life, and since going on the medication, everything has gotten better for me."

• Tho...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 19, 2018

"At 49, I saw a psychiatrist for the first time after realizing that I most likely had a mood disorder (cyclothymia). He put me on Lamictal, upped my Neurontin to 1800 mg (600 mg TID) for my anxiety, and prescribed me Zyprexa for mania as a PRN. The Lamictal had an immediate effect and completely eliminated my low-grade moods. I mean, they are totally gone! No more brooding, no more pessimism, no more days of isolation, and a marked improvement in my overall mood, including a better sense of well-being. So, people with mood disorders question whether it is the medication that makes them feel better. In my situation, I am clear that it is the medication that helps me. I will stay on Lamictal for the rest of my life to help regulate my mood. I know it helps. BTW, the Neurontin has almost completely eliminated my anxiety problems. I still have anxiety, but now it is much more in the realm of 'normal.'"

• Nur...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 21, 2017

"I suffered from frequent bouts of hypomania and deep depression, sometimes within days of each other. I finally gave in and sought help with medications, but I either felt like an apathetic robot or I got every side effect known to man. My psychiatrist finally had me try Lamictal. Like many reviews, I noticed within 4 weeks that I'd found my miracle. I finally feel balanced."

• Ari...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 14, 2013

"I have cyclothymic disorder, and nothing worked, especially those awful atypical antipsychotics, which caused weight gain and akathisia, so lamotrigine helped me within one month of taking it. It helped me sleep at the start, but it's given me more energy now, and aside from headaches that have now subsided, there are no other side effects. I am also taking lorazepam and Effexor, so both are strong medicines, but Lamictal has been a godsend. I feel I can cope with life and do not have anxiety anymore. It's not a cure, but it sure as hell has helped me live better than anything else has and no weight gain."

• Lib...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• August 9, 2016

"Started taking it five years ago, and knew within a month that I had finally found a mood stabilizer that did the job. No weight gain (if anything, I lost weight), no lack of focus, and no restlessness. This drug made me feel normal and at my baseline. I recently added a small dose of Effexor (venlafaxine), and it's made me feel like a whole new person. The one and only drawback is that I had to be careful about alcohol and caffeine consumption for a while. I'm still a bit more sensitive to both, but that's a small price to pay for the benefits."

• Rac...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 1, 2021

"After a couple of years trying different medications, including multiple SSRIs (which worsened mood instability and caused hypomanic symptoms), lithium, and shorter periods of antipsychotics such as quetiapine and trifluoperazine, I was prescribed lamotrigine. I have successfully stopped all other medications and have had a significant improvement of symptoms for 4 years now. I experienced no noticeable side effects."

• Jay...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 14, 2021

"I started Lamictal after finally seeking out mental health help. I was diagnosed with CPTSD, ADHD, and cyclothymia, which includes generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and OCD-essentially symptoms of the mood disorder. I have a lot of childhood trauma that I never sorted out in adulthood and didn’t really realize how much I struggled with daily life until I started medication. I had a titration schedule, I worked my way up slowly from 25 mg to 200 mg daily. It’s been totally life-changing. I see all areas of my “diagnosis” improved. I had a moment roughly 8 weeks in where I realized, “Wow, I haven’t felt down in a long time. I feel really happy.” Side effects, while very little, are lingering headache after taking my morning pill, slight decrease in appetite, big libido increase (yay!). Keep on script. Refills, if you miss 2+ days after established on this, it can be really, really tough emotionally."

• Rai...
• April 6, 2013

"Only been on it for two weeks, so far, so good, starting very slowly and no rash. I have always had skin problems like dermatitis, so it's not adding to those, and I slept well the very first night I took it and woke up feeling more calm. It's delayed the manic episodes too. I do feel slowly less depressive, but I know it's very early and the benefits will come at a higher dose, but so far, so good, thank God I got this from my psychiatrist finally, and best of all, no appetite, unlike the other mood medicines."

• KRH...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 5, 2023

"I started this medicine in mid-January for cyclothymia, mood problems relating to complex PTSD, and very bad seasonal depression. Basically, my moods were a mess. I tried SSRIs and quetiapine in the past, which I had problems with (side effects related). After starting lamotrigine, I felt consistent improvements after 6 weeks, around about the same time that I started on my full dose of 200 mg. I also had a very long streak of not binge eating (I have 7 years of this problem). Unfortunately, the binge eating streak ended, and I was back to my usual ways after 8 weeks, but I know lamotrigine can be helpful for this. I had itchy skin while increasing the dose and had a random rash that I've never experienced before (it wasn't the rash), so I can see how lamotrigine made my skin more sensitive in the short term. After 4 months, my moods are stable. My only complaint is some short-term memory loss, but it isn't that bad. I love this med!"

• asd...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 7, 2023

"Would not take it again. I took it to combat what is supposedly 'cyclothymic disorder,' although as we know, self-reported conditions are a soft science at best. But certainly, my moods were unpredictable and got in the way of my success big time. Effects were subtly noticeable on day 3 or 4 at the 25 mg level. Made my lows not as low and highs not as high, but more worryingly, it reduced motivation, energy, and purpose, giving me a flat 'what's the point' feeling and caused narcolepsy and also light-headedness when standing, almost like I was going to faint. The dip in motivation made me stop it, and the withdrawal effects included a new empty kind of depression I hadn't experienced before, different from the dopamine drop of quitting Adderall, say, as well as just being exhausted and anhedonic. All the rave reviews are kinda suspect to me, and one of the things that made me take this drug was all the rave reviews I saw on here. I now see that there were some less-than-stellar reviews."

• Lif...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 27, 2024

"Literally and symbolically and physically. Best for me in lower doses. Tried a lot of “add-ons” for my seasonal affective disorder and occasional stress-induced non-epileptic seizures because I have to be on this plus a starting dose of an SNRI to be normal and that is my combo I’ll be sticking with. (27/F)"

• Ano...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 12, 2025

"Worked for about 14 months when I reached 150-200 mg. After a short period of instability, I went up to 250 mg, and it worked very well, total mood stabilization! Unfortunately, after 14 months, it works at half strength, mood swings returned, increases to 300-350-400 have no effect, maybe only imperceptible improvement of 5-10%."

• Jay...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 1, 2024

"I tried Zoloft, Abilify, Seroquel, Wellbutrin, hydroxyzine, and more, but Lamictal/Lamotrigine definitely balances everything out and even helps to regulate my period."