Caffeine and lamictal

Basically I have a history of a mood disorder, not clearly just depression but not clearly in the bipolar category either. I briefly had a bipolar diagnosis after an SSRI reaction, but it was later removed as it didn't totally seem to fit. I have PMDD which complicates things. I often wonder if my hormones just got a little out of whack and that is the root of everything. Birth control helped and I don't get a period anymore so I don't get those massive swings that time of the month.
I have had bad reactions to several psych meds including almost being hospitalized with an SSRI. Oddly got irritable on lamictal, too. It might be a metabolism thing, though, as it happens almost immediately after taking them and at small doses. I also find things like sleep, exercise, stress, amount of caffeine, exposure to sunlight, all affect my mood. Sometimes I just wake up on the wrong side of the bed irritable or depressed. My irritability can be intense, like I want to punch a wall. People who know would not say that I am a generally short tempered person, but on the wrong day at least internally it is quite bad. I can get pretty bad mood swings. I can be okay one week, but feel hopeless and like I don't want to live another week. But, given the right "ingredients" in life, I can feel okay sometimes even quite good. Side note is I have OCD that interacts with these moods and gets worse when my mood is off.
Sometimes I think I need to consider a mood stabilizer, other times I feel like I just need to work harder to control the things that mess up my mood. It doesn't check off enough boxes for bipolar and sometimes it only lasts a couple of days or so.
Can anyone relate to this or know anyone with similar issues? Not looking for a diagnosis, just other people's experiences.

I had an appointment with my fairly new (3 months) psychiatrist. She’s basically the only one covered by my insurance. She told me if I test positive for thc in my urine sample when I get my physical done, then “her hands are tied” and she will not be able to prescribe my medicine. I’m on 100mg Lamictal and 150 mg Zoloft with plans to titrate up. I smoke a few bong rips once a day usually when I get home from work/ going to bed. Says how she told me how risky smoking weed is and is now saying I’m knowingly engaging in risky behaviors. I feel so judged. I’m not like smoking ¢raćk or anything???? Like literally a gram a day max. I feel so judged by her and literally don’t know what to do with this ultimatum. I live in NY. She said something about the NYS DEA laws or some shit. Weed is legal here so I really don’t get it. She’s also Indian so I think it could for sure be a cultural thing as well but she thinks I’m gonna get laced weed since I’m not getting it from the dispensary. Says she saw one patient have a seizure??? Idk. I get she could be held accountable to some extent if that happened but wouldn’t it be more of a liability to just cut me off from my prescription and I end up doing some actual crazy shit? What the heck do I do I don’t want to lie and I know I need to tell the truth because my medical health is on the line but I really don’t see a problem with a little weed. I don’t drink or do any other substances other than caffeine and nicotine (which i think is what gets me through my 9-5) so yeah idk what to do but she really pissed me off

Please no common sense or condescending answers.
Hey all, I'm a 27-year-old trans male dealing with some confusing symptoms, and I could use your insights. While I know you're not doctors, I value your experiences and opinions.
Background: I've been battling treatment-resistant depression and CPTSD for about 8 years, with mood swings and irritability. Lamictal has been a game-changer for me, alongside lifestyle changes like meditation, healthy eating, and exercise. I'm also on trazodone for sleep.
Symptoms: I've been experiencing restlessness, pacing, dread, tingling/crawling/itching skin, and a gnawing sensation in my chest for about eight years. I medicated with heavy alcohol use and Xanax to manage symptoms. But since getting sober seven months ago, it's become more noticeable. I'm unsure if it's anxiety, akathisia, or just my brain recalibrating without alcohol.
Relief Measures: I've found relief through activities like body exfoliation, moisturizing, running, being outside in nature, meditation, and avoiding triggers like alcohol and caffeine.
Seeking Advice: How can I distinguish between akathisia and anxiety? Should I trust my psychiatrist's recommendation to switch to mirtazapine from trazodone? Any insights, comfort, similar experiences, or hope would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, fam!

Keep feeling high?
F 26, weight 125-130, 5’3. Possible family history of thyroid issues, family history of heart issues. No medications, supplement magnesium glycinate, folic acid and B complex. Personal history of temporal lobe simple partial seizures, treated exclusively now with CBD, formerly used lamictal (6 years ago). I do not use any drugs, I’ve smoked weed once in the past 4 years, I rarely even have caffeine and I limit alcohol to once per month. Issue has been happening since around December.
For the past couple months, I’ve been having strange episodes where I feel high out of nowhere. The closest thing I can describe it as is the feeling of being on Versid, which I was prescribed for an ACL surgery about a decade ago. It doesn’t seem like it’s really caused by anything, the only “triggers” that seem to line up are eating and being in loud social situations, but that’s probably about 60% of my daily life. I have simple partial seizures which can sometimes be a bit hard to pinpoint because the symptoms aren’t always the same, so I thought maybe they changed, but this just feels a lot different. In the past few months the seizures have picked up as well.
I’ve also been having some other weird symptoms, I feel thirsty ALL the time, I’ve had what feels like flutters in my chest off and on (usually while laying down) and I’ve had CSF leak from my nose more often. This used to happen a lot 6 years ago when my seizures were bad, but between 2021 and January I hadn’t had any seizures and only had the CSF leaks rarely, and this all just started again. Additionally I’ve had this weird feeling of “fullness” in my head, usually when I wake up, and I’ve just felt kinda off, and it’s been difficult really paying attention to things.
The seizures were caused by a bad reaction to hormonal birth control, so I thought maybe my hormones had just been thrown off, but it seems to be getting worse. I have been stressed with school, my stress has actually decreased though since this started, so I don’t know if that’s involved. I’m currently in between moves and jobs so don’t have active insurance, and want to know if this is something worth paying to have checked out, or if it’s ok to wait.

I reached a breaking point with my psychiatrist when, after years of working together, she began to gaslight me about my adhd evaluation results. The results as far as facts are concerned were kind of inaccurate considering the fact i was still experiencing issues from ptsd and was also on strattera at the time of eval. Now a year later, i don't even qualify for a ptsd diagnosis anymore, i am very rarely depressed, yet my inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity have remained very much the same with increased frequency(it may be the same and i might just be noticing it more due to the reduction of other symptoms), even on strattera. At my last appointment with her, she put me on the spot trying to get me to explain what i meant, and i went through the report with her, but forgot to include things like how i have actually struggled with this stuff my entire life but it was missed because i was considered a "gifted" kid. She then said they usually diagnose adhd based on "severity of the impact on daily life" and she doesn't see how it impacts me, which honestly infuriated me because of the implication that these issues dont interfere with my life. I had no words for that and told her it's really hard for me to list things on the spot, completely forgetting i had already made a list of the symptoms i experience and how often. She agreed to increase my strattera dose from 60mg to 80mg and left all of my other meds (lamictal, remeron) the same, then scheduled a followup in 3 months to review the report again and talk more in depth about my symptoms.
The increased dose made me feel horrible. I said screw this, went back down to my old dose and reached out to more psychiatrists and made an appointment with the first one who called back. I've had two appointments with the new one so far: first one was an initial evaluation and discussion of what meds might work for me, and the second one was a followup after weaning off of strattera(since i had been taking it for 2 years at a relatively high dose we decided it would be best to taper off) and talking about starting Vyvanse. I have been going through bureaucratic hell over the past week trying to get a prior authorization for my insurance, on top of dealing with my now unmedicated adhd.
I'm aware that her clinic has a policy that makes her unable to prescribe stimulants. I wasn't necessarily asking for stimulants, even though they work better for me than strattera ever did. I just wanted to look at my evaluation in a less biased way, considering the meds and mental illnesses i was on at the time interfered with the accuracy of it, as well as dissociative amnesia making it really hard for me to remember a lot of struggles i experienced as a child. Reflecting on those things more has made me realize the vast majority of the current problems in my life (especially executive dysfunction) as well as the ones that i faced as a child can be attributed to adhd and possibly autism.
The problem with talking to a psychiatrist who specializes in addiction psychiatry is that to her, every time i bring up medication or even treatment for adhd she thinks I'm drug chasing. Even though I've made it extremely clear that that is not my intention. I just want to revisit an old non-diagnosis from the now clearer image of the bigger picture. The bigger picture being that i no longer have ptsd or struggle with any of those symptoms anymore, yet i still struggle with a constellation of symptoms strongly indicating adhd(self screening showed 8/9 criteria on hyperactivity, 7/9 on hyperactivity, and 8/9 on Russel Barkley's executive dysfunction/impulsivity scale) plus a history of responding well to stimulants.
I self medicate currently with caffeine and i hate how difficult it is to dose effectively because of the variability in tolerance and the side effects. I've tried small amounts of cocaine maybe two or three times in the past when it was offered, and it didn't make me feel that much different than a decent dose of caffeine. It's not something i intend to try again in the future. It's not worth the risk of contamination with other drugs.
I am just wondering if i should cancel my next scheduled appointment with her or keep it so i can update her on the work I've been doing with my new psychiatrist. I don't necessarily have any hard feelings towards her, because i am aware that the place she's working and her past experience with other clients that are far more pushy about meds than i am has clouded her judgement a bit. The dismissiveness in her tone as she talked about the intricacies of neuropsychological testing did rub me the wrong way, but I'm not that upset about it. My therapist said it's good that I'm taking initiative and advocating for myself, i just dont know how to feel about it. I also worry about my insurance giving me issues for "double dipping" in psychiatry.
Edit: thanks for the replies, y'all. I'm gonna talk about it with my therapist on tuesday and decide what to do from there. Will most likely send a portal message explaining, just to make myself feel better. I feel that would be the way to go, I'm just gonna discuss with my therapist before i make that decision. I have more than enough time to do it.

Hi everyone. Over the last two months I have been having these episodes of panic attacks while trying to fall asleep. It’s so bad to the point where I feel like I am floating from being so tired. I am a nurse and can run off a few hours of sleep when I’m at work I am wide awake but running on caffeine and alanis…I stop with the caffeine around 2pm sometimes I push thru and won’t have an energy drink. I see a psych NP because I struggle, I have bipolar 2, anxiety, depression, OCD. I am in CBT therapy. I take Wellbutrin and Prozac in the AM, I take lamictal, namenda, and propranolol at bedtime with the amitriptyline. I don’t know what triggered these episodes. I have always had issues with sleeping but the last 2-3 months has been god awful. I have used up a lot of sick time because of it, I work day shift and if I’m awake past a certain time my body kicks back in to night shift mode and it fucks me up. I’m worried about being fired over it. I have tried multiple medications, trazodone (stopped working), seroquel (bad hallucinations where I end up screaming and throwing things), amitriptyline (this one works to a certain extent but helps with my migraines), ambien (slept walked and ended up on the basement floor with no recollection), Ativan (mostly used for severe panic attacks so I don’t use it often I don’t want to be reliant on it, hemp seed oil (trash), meditation, yoga, exercise in the afternoon and days off, magnesium supplements There are days where I am so exhausted and go right to sleep but when I go to lay down I am wide away ready to go. It sucks so much it’s almost like I get a second wind and end up awake until 2am and eventually I will pass out. I’ve tried ready and I crochet to wind down at bedtime. I don’t watch TV while I’m trying to sleep, I run a fan because the noise will help sometimes or play rain sounds on my Alexa. I really need some help and advice, thank you for reading this post ❤️

Hi everyone. Over the last two months I have been having these episodes of panic attacks while trying to fall asleep. It’s so bad to the point where I feel like I am floating from being so tired. I am a nurse and can run off a few hours of sleep when I’m at work I am wide awake but running on caffeine and alanis…I stop with the caffeine around 2pm sometimes I push thru and won’t have an energy drink. I see a psych NP because I struggle, I have bipolar 2, anxiety, depression, OCD. I am in CBT therapy. I take Wellbutrin and Prozac in the AM, I take lamictal, namenda, and propranolol at bedtime with the amitriptyline. I don’t know what triggered these episodes. I have always had issues with sleeping but the last 2-3 months has been god awful. I have used up a lot of sick time because of it, I work day shift and if I’m awake past a certain time my body kicks back in to night shift mode and it fucks me up. I’m worried about being fired over it. I have tried multiple medications, trazodone (stopped working), seroquel (bad hallucinations where I end up screaming and throwing things), amitriptyline (this one works to a certain extent but helps with my migraines), ambien (slept walked and ended up on the basement floor with no recollection), Ativan (mostly used for severe panic attacks so I don’t use it often I don’t want to be reliant on it, hemp seed oil (trash), meditation, yoga, exercise in the afternoon and days off, magnesium supplements There are days where I am so exhausted and go right to sleep but when I go to lay down I am wide away ready to go. It sucks so much it’s almost like I get a second wind and end up awake until 2am and eventually I will pass out. I’ve tried ready and I crochet to wind down at bedtime. I don’t watch TV while I’m trying to sleep, I run a fan because the noise will help sometimes or play rain sounds on my Alexa. I really need some help and advice, thank you for reading this post ❤️

Hi everyone. Over the last two months I have been having these episodes of panic attacks while trying to fall asleep. It’s so bad to the point where I feel like I am floating from being so tired. I am a nurse and can run off a few hours of sleep when I’m at work I am wide awake but running on caffeine and alanis…I stop with the caffeine around 2pm sometimes I push thru and won’t have an energy drink. I see a psych NP because I struggle, I have bipolar 2, anxiety, depression, OCD. I am in CBT therapy. I take Wellbutrin and Prozac in the AM, I take lamictal, namenda, and propranolol at bedtime with the amitriptyline. I don’t know what triggered these episodes. I have always had issues with sleeping but the last 2-3 months has been god awful. I have used up a lot of sick time because of it, I work day shift and if I’m awake past a certain time my body kicks back in to night shift mode and it fucks me up. I’m worried about being fired over it. I have tried multiple medications, trazodone (stopped working), seroquel (bad hallucinations where I end up screaming and throwing things), amitriptyline (this one works to a certain extent but helps with my migraines), ambien (slept walked and ended up on the basement floor with no recollection), Ativan (mostly used for severe panic attacks so I don’t use it often I don’t want to be reliant on it, hemp seed oil (trash), meditation, yoga, exercise in the afternoon and days off, magnesium supplements There are days where I am so exhausted and go right to sleep but when I go to lay down I am wide away ready to go. It sucks so much it’s almost like I get a second wind and end up awake until 2am and eventually I will pass out. I’ve tried ready and I crochet to wind down at bedtime. I don’t watch TV while I’m trying to sleep, I run a fan because the noise will help sometimes or play rain sounds on my Alexa. I really need some help and advice, thank you for reading this post ❤️

I (m 22) am in the process of being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, at the beginning of this process my psychiatrist put me on Lamictal 25mg. From the day I started taking it I felt great but I’ve noticed that every time we up my dosage I get sent into a manic cycle that usually tapers off after a couple days. However, we just recently increased my dosage to 200mg, and like usual it sent me into a manic cycle except this time it went out of control and I went into psychosis. One hospital trip later and I’m relatively ok, but I notice that I now feel very very “weird”, for a lack of a better word. I get minor aches and pains everywhere, I constantly feel sick like I’ve had too much caffeine even though I haven’t had any, and I’m always dizzy. I’ve read that these are just normal side effects that usually go away after a week or two but this feeling is terrible and I don’t know how it could be normal. I have talked with my psychiatrist about this and he suggests I keep going.
Has anyone else experienced this? Do the side effects actually go away? Simply put, is this normal?
For more details we started my treatment in early December of 2023, I had tried other medications with my psychiatrist to treat my “rapid mood swings”, but nothing seemed to work until I started Lamictal.
Edit: I forgot to mention that another major symptom/side effect that I’ve been experiencing is profuse sweating usually coupled with hot flashes

I started on Oxcarbazepine/Trileptal in February at 4x150mg per day for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. I’ve never had a grand mal but my seizures now occur about once a month in a week long cluster event that is extremely disorienting and miserable without medication. I’ve tried Keppra (did not handle the mood swings well especially with a history of depression) and Lamictal (had an adverse physical reaction that made me really sick and in the hospital).
Trileptal has been the best by far but the fatigue is SO much for me. At the full 4 a day I was sleeping 10hrs and napping in the afternoon. I went down to two, had seizures a couple weeks later and am now at 3 a day. I don’t have naps on this dose but I am self-employed and starting up a business and I am just so frustrated with only having energy helped with lots of caffeine until 4-5pm and then being done for the day.
So - has anyone experienced the drowsiness leaving after almost 4months?
I’m almost back to considering Keto (which did take away my seizures). I have an epileptic specialist currently who had a patient get rid of their seizures completely by being on Keto for a full year.

It’s been going on for about two months now. I am unable to sleep without resorting to medication, like at all. I could go for days without being able to sleep. My psychiatrist says it’s a mixed bipolar episode, but I never had sleep problems this rough.
Without proper sleep, I am getting terribly depressed despite being on a mood stabilizer called Lamictal. I’ve tried the basic things like cutting down caffeine, excercise, and reading a book to rest the eyes. May as well tell me to eat candy. These habits are not effective in an extreme case like mine.
Basically I wanted to ask if anyone else has ever dealt with extreme insomnia like this before. How did you function? How did you get out of it?

I'm new here so I'll give my info for context just in case. But my question is motivated by my desire to not have anticholinergic effects. I value my cognitive abilities and carefully research what I take. I am starting to have lip pursing no matter what antipsychotic I take anymore, so I wanted to look into options that won't mess up my focus/memory or sedate me (I'm a low energy person usually).
Age 26, gender ftm (on testosterone, no surgeries), height 5'5", weight 188 lbs, race white.
Diagnoses: schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, ocd (moral scrupulosity and "just right"/tourettic types), adhd either inattentive or combined type, gad, social anxiety disorder, gender dysphoria, fibromyalgia
Medications including physical: intuniv 2 mg, prozac 40 mg, wellbutrin xl 150 mg, lamictal 150 mg, abilify 15 mg, latuda 80 mg, klonopin 0.5 mg prn, lyrica 150 mg 2x/day, cyclobenzaprine 5 mg prn, the "heather" minipill, testosterone cypionate IM injection 200 mg/mL at 0.2 mL weekly (so 40 mg). God I think that's everything
Drugs: nicotine (gum, patch, vape, or zyn, not tobacco), caffeine, cannabis
I think the latuda + abilify is a good combo, but I might need a higher dose of the latuda because I keep getting more paranoid and having some voices and the abilify only helps my mood anymore, not psychosis. Invega was good but caused lip pursing and stutter, and vraylar was good but the lip pursing was so bad it hurt. And now latuda is causing consistent lip pursing that gets worse with caffeine and weed (I know it's not the abilify, the abilify only causes hand tremors for me and it's tolerable). So no matter what I do, I will probably need an anti-TD medication, and google disappoints me. Any info or suggestions?

Hello all. I saw a post about this from 7 months ago, but I wanted to touch on my own experiences and share/talk.
I started noticing I'm a HSP to medication about 4-5+ years ago. I've always struggled with anxiety, but in my younger days, I was attuned to external triggers.
This so what I've learned through terrible trial and error AND advocating/trusting my body and instincts:

• Taking pain killer after a surgery made me feel like my heart was going 300mph - like I was going to have a heart attack. Stopped instantly.
  
• Steroids make me feel really weird - stimulated
  
• Birth control was giving me panic attacks and manic depression episodes (original doctor tried increasing the dose LOL)
  
• Pepto gives me major confusion / foggy brain if I take it too many days in a row
  
• Experiences with SSRI/SNRI/Mood Stabilizers during a bad time with postpartum anxiety: I had to take the LOWEST dose available; pediatric sometimes, even lower. Zoloft made me paranoid and depressed, Lamictal made me either energetic or fatigue with panic, Effexor XR made me feel like I was in a constant high/confusion haze. I'm now on Lexapro. The recommended dose? 5mg. I'm taking the LIQUID (didn't know this was a thing) at 1mg 2x a day. Even at the half dose (2.5mg) I was having side effects.** That .5mg makes a big difference for me.
  
• Sudafed or Benadryl - anxiety attack inducing
  
• Caffeine - SMALLLLLL amounts or a panic attack. I used to drink caffeine a lot in college and later in life; not realizing how much havoc it was really causing me until I cut it out.
  

I've learned to really pay attention to what I take and how I feel; trusting my body and not some bs answer of "that's not a typical side effect."
I think the "recommended" dosages for most medications are based on an assumption that everyone's body chemistry reacts the same to meds. It's VERY infuriating considering a lot of medications aren't available in lower doses to even TRY. But for many of us, the side effects can be worse than the symptoms we try to treat.
People who drink several cups of coffee a day, or a few beers with no issues - must be nice lol.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0JpJ0BXrSrEwxhIoxVJHYN?si=e1e3cdb16e424f24
rounding out my hat trick of sporadic posts to this sub, here's a recent Science Vs. episode on the current research around GLP-1s. I was heartened to hear that mood actually gets better on GLP-1s, and I am curious about why (is it receiving less social stigma with weight loss? Is it steadier blood sugar? Is it an anti-inflammatory thing?), and also that muscle loss is typical of any other weight loss mechanism so claims are overblown in those arenas.
The incidence of serious stomach issues like gastroparesis still seems relatively low in the context of the number of new prescriptions. It feels analagous to medications like lamictal. Lamictal is so so effective and good for mood stabilizing but it can also infrequently cause dangerous side effects (I offer as an example because I had some of Lamictal's bad/rare/but not altogether uncommon effects).
The thing that was most concerning to me in the episode was the apparent incident rate of developing bezoars on GLP-1 medications. The study they discussed was 23 people so I'd like to see more data, but apparently 4/23 of those people were found during an endoscopy to have a bezoar. I also learned that bezoars can be treated with Coca-Cola (or any other soda. Diet Coke works too). So I have been drinking a soda a day now (regular or caffeine free with stevia). I don't know if drinking a soda a day will help but I'm trying my darndest to not get a bezoar.

I learned a long time ago (like...8 years or something) that my biggest triggers are these (in order):

1. Alcohol
2. Sleep deprivation
3. Low blood sugar
4. Anxiety/stress
5. Cognitive dissonance (the variety of which starts out subconsciously)

The problem here is in the first two. My metabolism is FAST despite being a 33 year-old male. I'm also on 3 appetite suppressants (lamictal, vyvanse, and caffeine) which doesn't help either.
My issue is that even if I go to bed full, I will wake up less than 7 hours later hungry. Protein seems to last longer but isn't a guarantee. I can't sleep in if my stomach is demanding food, but I need sleep too because it's a trigger.
Any suggestions?

Ik it's inevitable to go through depressive episodes, but I'd like to know if you guys have ways to cope with them.
I think it's triggered bc I stopped taking lithium a week ago and started on Lamictal 3 days ago (I'm also on 450mg wellbutrin and 100mg seroquel) . I'm starting with just 25mg for two weeks and will progressively up dose until I get to 200mg. So I feel like this will take a while.
I was motivated, functioning like a normal person, but now I can't handle to be outside for a long time, I don't want to exercise, I don't want to spend time with anyone, don't want to get out of bed. I've also been binging like crazy, which makes me worry a lot (bc I have body image issues).
How do you guys handle things like this when you know there's no way to stop it other than waiting? I don't even want to be hypomanic, I just want to be able to function normally.
Also, how long do your depressive episodes usually last? I've been recently diagnosed, I still haven't figured out how long mine last since I have extreme mood swings between episodes. My psychiatrist said my BP is mostly polarized towards depression. I've heard they can last for months.
Tbh I'm thinking about taking a ton of caffeine just so I can get up and force myself into going to the gym.

Hi all, I had a mild stroke during an operation to stop an aneurysm. About four months later I had my first seizure. I was taken to the hospital and spent about 2 weeks there. I was given 25mg Lamictal, then went up to 25x2. I'm now at 200mg x2. I've been on it since October 2023 and still have these symptoms.
However, from the very first day with the low does of 25mg I started having slight anxiety issues. Then I started 25mg a day, I had another seizure. Then eventually I started on 100x2. On this dose I've had severe panic attacks, some lasting for an entire day. Other days I just have general anxiety throughout the day. I also notice if I drink soda or anything with caffeine it gets A LOT worse so I've become addicted to orange juice haha.
I've also been extremely dizzy, and the general feeling that something is off. I also get a mild shaking in my hands, nothing serious but noticeable. I've also had sleeping issues, sometimes laying awake for 6-8 hours super tired before I finally fall asleep.
I do NOT feel like myself anymore. I realize that Lamictal has a wide variety of usages. And everyone reacts differently to it! So don't let this post scare you, as I know people who have been on it for 10-20 years and have had ZERO side effects and are very happy with it.
I urge anyone to give it a go no matter why you may be prescribed it and don't let my ramblings here dissuade you. :)
Has anyone experienced anxiety while on Lamictal like this?

I’m on vacation and decided it’s a good time to try my Vyvanse at 40 mg. since I don’t have to worry about side effects while at work. I tried 10 and 20 mg last week but I didn’t feel anything but chill and bored. I’m taking 40mg now and the first 3 days I was chill but I noticed I can’t watch TV like I used to and just scrolled on my phone all day. However I had zero motivation to do anything. I ended up drinking a Ghost last night but of course it didn’t help. I know that doesn’t make sense but I do that sometimes. I got a full 8.5 hours of restful sleep according to my Apple Watch yet I woke up this morning feeling like crap. I took the meds along with a protein shake, a couple bites of pizza and a liquid IV this morning and still feel awful. I’m skipping the caffeine today because I know now it makes things worse. Anyway, do I need a higher dose or quit it altogether? It feels like I’ve crashed even though it’s fresh in my system. Also I’m staying hydrated so that’s not the issue.
Edit: the shitty feeling started last night BEFORE I had the ghost. It feels like I’m having withdrawal from antidepressants even though I haven’t stopped any meds. I take lamictal and rexulti as well and I’ve been on them for years. And I am doing ketamine therapy with joyous.
Edit 2: I smoke cigs and my urge to smoke has skyrocketed

Hey community! Had a question— I used to be on 150mg/day for a few years and went through a bit of a weird moment where I stopped taking my meds a few months… big mistake… anyway I’m back on it now for about 4 weeks, having done the whole titration process over again (a week and a half at each 25,50,100) almost titrated back to 150mg again (took my last 100mg pill yesterday; back to 150mg today) but I’m experiencing SUCH sleepiness. I have such a hard time waking up in the morning, I almost feel like I’m drunk or something is how tough it is to get out of bed. I sleep like 10 hours and then still find myself sleepy throughout the day and needing way too much caffeine to function. I don’t remember this side effect before. Did this happen to any of you? If so how long did it last? I really don’t want this to last forever and don’t remember it from before. Does this go away? Ugh… I love lamictal and what it does for me mood wise but really can’t handle this sleepiness. Thanks loves!

I’m 25f and graduated 2 years ago with a degree in supply chain and fashion merchandising. I wanted to be a buyer for a large retail corporation. I landed a corporate job as a buyer and randomly developed epilepsy a few months into starting the new job. I was prescribed high dosages of keppra and lamictal. Subsequently my short term memory quickly declined, I struggled finding the right words, and I could not stay awake sitting behind three computer monitors for 8 hours a day. I had to quit and I’ve been so lost ever since.
I’m so tired all of the time. If I sit still for more than 5 minutes I will fall asleep. I was even prescribed adderall but it only keeps me awake for three hours at a time. I can’t drink caffeine because it induces seizures.
I have always been a high achiever and top of my class and now I can barely function. I’ve been running a vintage clothing shop on Depop to make ends meet for 2 years and I’ve put a lot of work into it. But I am not proud to tell people about this bc I know society hates vintage resellers..so I feel like a complete loser. I never in a million years pictured that my future would look like this.
I miss feeling successful and proud of myself. I no longer want to introduce myself to anyone new. I don’t want to tell anyone anything about myself because I have nothing going for me right now except for brain scans, neurologist appointments, and possible surgeries. I have been asked out on dates but I am too embarrassed to follow through because I know that I’m going to get asked about myself and my career and my future and I have nothing valuable to offer.
I don’t know what else I could do career wise that doesn’t involve sitting behind computer for long periods of time. Maybe get a real estate license?? Idk what to do orwhere to even start.. I’m so lost

Hi! I’m at a loss and have no support system. So been a rough 4 years and it all came down to me not knowing I was severely depressed last November. I always get seasonal depression bad, but I think everything caught up with me. I just started crying all day randomly. As if my body was saying ok we can’t do this anymore. I tried Celexa, it took the edge off. But after a few weeks at a higher dose crying started again. Switched to Wellbutrin and was ok for a month but slightly agitated. (Can’t handle stimulants even though I guess this technically isn’t one, cant even tolerate caffeine.) Lamictal was added at a very low dose because the big sad returned. Here I am bawling everyday again. Can it be part of perimenopause? I can feel inflammation in my head and neck. I’m so confused as to what is going on. Don’t think it’s the lingering long covid/chronic fatigue/POTS issues. I’m not a fan of psych meds and was only on them once almost 20 years ago. Have been doing tons of therapy and writing down feelings and keeping track of stuff. Wish I knew the issue/cause and why meds arent working. Could working on myself unleashed all this sadness? Seems unlikely. I feel like the seasonal depression started it all….also weird the weather SIGNIFICANTLY affects my Mood. As if I was part plant. Strange!

When i was much younger before I developed crippling anxiety and ptsd; I had been used to taking adderall 45mg a day since 3rd grade. I am now almost 22 years of age and take buspar lamictal and clonazepam daily along with my other medication for my gastroparesis and ibs-c. I quit taking adderall or vyvanse or anything amphetamine when i was 17 as it made me very depressed when it wore off. I went back on it 2 years later while I was taking olanzapine and abilify for mania and anxiety control (i also am Bipolar and have OCD). Please keep in mind i am not self diagnosed. This is a struggle alot of people here have, its complex the amount of conditions comorbid with ptsd all on top of everything making treating the others very challenging. In the past 3 years my anxiety has gone up to extremes of agoraphobia and delusions i couldnt even take my medication myself. when it got under control I was under heavy usage of antipsychotics. My previous psychiatrist and i believe I was having manic delusions. For reference Timeframe about 2 months after having left the pych ward for my 3rd suicide attempt in 2020.
Skip to the end of 2022 and start of 2023. My abusive girlfriend had left me finally after cheating on me. My anxiety and depression was at its height (yet again), and I was not on antipsychotics and really dont want to be since they dampened my emotions extremely and increased my risk of TD immensely (i take domperidone). Also started to have an improvement in nausea and pain (domperidone and linzess) after finding the right doctor at jhopkins for gastroparesis and ibsC.
Skip to july I finally have a good psychiatrist after having seen 3 others who of which 2 said they cant treat me in good mind and 1 plain blamed me for not doing more to prevent what happened to me again and again (in reference to my childhood trauma) and my previous one quitting being a psychiatrist.
I get prescribed lamictal and buspar again finally after struggling to take my psych meds for months. A month later am prescribed mirtazapine and clonazepam both for daily use. I never took the mirtazapine because I am scared of psych meds. Even though ive been on it before. I have a weird obsession over medication because i anticipate a bad reaction or an extreme panic attack.
I've been through multiple sessions and its march of 2024 now and want to treat my adhd because I want to study or just be able to focus on anything for more than a moment. Ive always struggled with focus since i can first remember. I had taken every adhd medication as a child to 17 and adderall helped the best. But since about 2 years ago its given me extreme anxiety and was forced to withdraw usage.
I don't know if I can ever be able to take any adhd medication anymore. I can't even drink caffeine... seriously it gives me the on edge feeling or will give me a panic attack. Even if im taking my klonopin which i do daily. (I know thats not good long term but its what im prescribed and helps me not think.)
My problem is I cant think, and when I am forced to, I remember all the bad things in vivid images in my head.
I'm not sure what to do.
Ive talked to my psychiatrist about all of this before and he tells me as long as im not going to hurt myself or are bedridden I will be fine. And I'm on disability so I cant work atm. I want to go to school and learn about some stupid shit most people would think is useless. Its embarrassing. Everything is always, but im strafing off from my point.
It feels like I cant treat my ptsd and inability to focus at the same time. Idk where to start with my doctor today... modafinil was a suggestion from the psych ward stay. Antipsychotics are another. Clonodine was one i had tried in the past and helped somewhat. Other medicines i dont know. Adderall and vyvanse helped me focus the most. Ritalin and concerta made my heart palpitate bad. Strattera helped me focus but did the same. Welbutrin made me suicidal. Im scared of starting any medication. And honestly just think im gonna be stuck here unable to think unmotivated for a while. I cant even read books anymore and I used to love reading books. I havent read a book in 4 years.
Does anyone relate? Being bipolar adhd ocd with ptsd... how do you do it? How do you deal with adhd if stimulants really make you get into your thoughts? I overthink, with the most literal meaning i can give, EVERYTHING. Its taken me over 2 years to be able to take my pills by myself and even then i can only do it sometimes. I need constant reassurance by my family who im thankful somewhat understand im different, and give me alot of patience.
I will ask about modafinil or clonodine. Today if anyone has any talking points or medications i should bring up with my doctor I would be open.
The medication i take at the time of writing this daily are: Buspar 15mg 3x/d, Lamictal 100mg once, Pantoprazole 40mg SOD once, Linzess 145mcg once, Domperidone 10mg 4-8times/d, Promethazine 25mg 3-4times/d, Zofran 8mg 3-4times/d, Clonazepam 0.5-1mg split amount for 3 times/d (greater if panic attack sets up).
Supposed to be taking mirtazapine 30mg a day but have not... just because im scared of probably nonexistent anxiety, and is more likely than not helpful.
I used to smoke weed daily for nausea and help with anxiety but gave that up after starting on domperidone and have had panic attacks with trying to use it since.
AMA except for my trauma 🙏.