User Reviews for Lamotrigine to treat Cyclothymic Disorder

"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!!"

"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."

"Lamotrigine changed my life! I finally got the right diagnosis for my mood disorder in 2017 and started lamotrigine for my cyclothymic disorder. 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 every thing has gotten better for me."

"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 & 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."

"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 (600mg TID) for my anxiety and prescribed me with 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 of 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.""

"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."

"I have Cyclothymic disorder and nothing worked especially those awful atypical antipsychotics which caused weight gain and Akasthesia so Lamotrogine helped me within one month of taking it. It helped me sleep at the start but its 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 God send. I feel I can cope with life and do not have anxiety anymore. Its not a cure but it sure as hell as helped me live better than anything else has and no weight gain."

"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."

"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."

"Only been on it two weeks, so far so good, starting very slowly and no rash. I have always had skin problems like dermatitis so its 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."

"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- which essentially are 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 25mg to 200mg 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."