Lamictal for ptsd

I have bipolar 2, OCD, ADHD and PTSD. I’ve tried a lot of psych meds through the years but Lamictal I’ve been on for 4 years. It’s been the only med that’s ever helped my bipolar symptoms. In the beginning of this year i had a trauma flare up, which prompted me to have some bad mixed episodes. My psychiatrist raised me from 200 mg Lamictal once a day to twice a day, so I’ve been on that for a few months now. Im still experiencing some depression, and my OCD makes socializing and functioning really difficult. My psychiatrist is now starting me on 150 mg lithium twice a day, and he says it’ll really help my bipolar 2 further, as well as my ocd and adhd focus/executive function issues (i’m not on a stimulant).
So i guess I’m really just wondering what to expect with starting lithium. I’m scared to start it, and I’m scared about weight gain because i struggle with my weight. Does anyone else take lithium with Lamictal, or take lithium for bipolar 2 and or ocd? Really just any comments on what lithium feels like would be reallly appreciated

Im sure I have felt like a lot of you on this sub.
Suffering, frightened, skeptical. There’s no better words to express the way I felt, at least.
Anti-depressants? Tried them. Life style changes? I did my best. Therapy? I’m this close to calling my therapist my “bestie” at this point. Jokes aside, I came across this drug. I used to think “Nah, that’s not for me” or whatever other rationalizing BS. Denial.
My world was shrouded in the darkest veil that clouded my vision. Anhedonia. Despair. Loneliness, even in a room full of people who love me. Rumination. Racing thoughts. Hopelessness. ANXIETY. That word alone has become my middle name…Panic. Fear. Inability to relax. Muscle tension. Unable to even enjoy the beauty in front of me because I was sitting in the abyss with this veil choking me, forcing its way down into my lungs.
Anyway- enough of the very real dramatization.
It is day 7 on 25mg of lamictal.
For the first time, in a very long time…I feel like me. Rumination? Minor. Sadness? Here and there- but with a pep in my step. Anxiety? Oh, that old friend? Sure, maybe, but nothing a propranolol couldn’t handle- considering I had to take so much lorazepam to simply function like the society-contributing “normal” human being, not someone choking to death on their own misery.
Thoughts: calm. Mind: focused. Vision: Clear. Heart: Less heavy. Chest: less tight.
It’s like the veil has finally lifted; it feels like I woke up from the blackest nightmare.
I had the worst year of my life last year. I got very sick, then got assaulted by my ex-partner, terrorized by him before the law and courts got involved, then my loving father was put into hospice. I didn’t think I was even going to make it.
And just two nights ago- the flood gates opened, and I sobbed for literally two hours on my partners chest- finally feeling the grief of my father passing soon. A festering infection that just stayed in my chest, the deepest pain, my eyes could not stop streaming. Because for the first time, in a long time- I don’t feel painfully numb.
I feel like a human being.
Tomorrow, I up the dose to 50mg. I’m nervous, but curious. I feel such a difference at 25mg- minimal side effects. Some dry skin, minor itchiness of the face, a nice Benadryl before bed takes care of it.
I’m still cautious of all of these potential side effects. I’m wary-
But.
For the first time, ever- I feel hope.
And I can finally feel joy playing with my precious dog that has gotten me through the darkest of times. I can show up for her, my parents, my loving partner, and….myself.
I love you all. Thank you to every member of this sub. Each one of your posts helps so many of us out here.
Taking lamictal for PMDD, MDD, panic disorder, GAD, and C-PTSD.

34F, 165lbs, 5’8
Epilepsy/cavernoma, IBS, PTSD
Regular meds: lamictal for epilepsy and sertraline for mood
Meds since surgery (5/2): took a couple oxycodones the first couple days, none since probably Sunday. Have had 1 mg Ativan as needed since 2 days prior to surgery. Currently also on iron pills and B complex due to post surgery anemia
I’m 9 days post total hysterectomy, done laparoscopically. Day 5 after surgery, I started breaking out in a rash all over my abdomen.
Tuesday: Rash started. Went to gyn, she prescribed steroid cream and antihistamines.
Thursday: rash worstened/spread to arm and face, gyn called in methylprednisone.
Friday: rash was still spreading despite starting methylpred the day prior, so my (amazing) gyn got me in with a dermatologist, and she said I probably have contact dermatitis with ID and put me on a prednisone taper.
Today: woke up with my eyes swollen because the rash is now around my eyes, left arm, and abdomen. Started 80 mg prednisone this morning.
Tonight I’m still itchy, my face looks maybe a little better but eyes are still itchy, my arm is still popping up with more little hives (and extremely itchy), and my abdomen is still covered in the rash but it is less itchy than it was.
I’m wondering why such a high dose of prednisone hasn’t stopped this rash from spreading/stopped the itching? I know I just switched from the methylpred to the pred this morning (about 15 hours ago), but I thought prednisone worked pretty quickly, and I haven’t noticed much of a difference.
I’ve read about the DRESS rash, and I’m worried about that. Could that be what this is? Or is it probably just contact dermatitis and meds need more time to work through my system?
Can post photos of progression of rash if needed.
Thank you.

27 Female => Male Transgender
5'7 265lbs White/Romani
I have been waking up badly shaking and weak from deep sleeps since I was at least 7. Sometimes the shaking is so bad i can't get out of bed for risk of falling and hurting myself. It only seems to happen when I'm coming out of a deep sleep either naturally quickly coming out or being woken up by a person or alarm clock. I've noticed less frequency when i take 50mg or higher of Diamox before bed but can still happen. It feels almost like someone dumps ice water on me i'm shaking so bad and even if its warm in the house i feel ice cold.
Happening since childhood, around 7y of age.
I suffer with Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension, Traumatic Brain injury (2012), Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Psych issues (PTSD with psychotic features, generalized anxiety, major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, anorexia nervosa (been in recovery for 4 years)), Migraines, Balance issues, hearing loss, Irritable bowl syndrome, hypothyroidism.
Medications: Gabapentin 300mg 3xD, Diamox 500mg 3xD, Propranolol 120mg 2xD, Etodolac 400mg 2xd, Tylenol 1000mg 2-3xD, Lexapro 20mg 1xD, Lamictal 75mg 1xD, Benzotropien 0.5mg 1xD, Rexulti 3mg 1xd, Doxeipin 25mg 1xd 50mg 1xd, Claritin, Trigger point injections w/o steroids every 8 weeks, Testosterone i don't remember the dose math but its like half of a bottle 1xWeekly.
Use non-nic vapes occasionally, does not use Nic, or smoke cigs, drinks a glass or two of wine or a tequila sunrise once a month / every other month, 10 days clean from Marijuana.

34F, 165 lbs, 5’8
Epilepsy/cavernoma, PTSD, IBS
Lamictal and sertraline (and currently iron and B complex).
Hello, 6 days ago I had a laparoscopic hysterectomy. It went well and there were no complications aside from slight anemia post op for which I was started on iron pills and B complex. 2 days ago my incisions started to bother me a bit, and then yesterday (day 5 post op), my ENTIRE abdomen broke out in a rash. Went to my OBGYN today and she said it’s a delayed allergic reaction to something used during surgery. Allergic dermatitis. So that’s good news that it’s nothing serious. But I got home and tried some hydrocortisone cream, and it started itching SO MUCH WORSE than before, and the rash started looking worse; almost like hives instead of just small red spots. Eventually I showered and washed the hydrocortisone cream off, and the rash still looks pretty bad but the itching is better. I also took a Zyrtec but that didn’t help anything. I have to avoid Benadryl due to seizure risk so I can’t try that. Itching is starting to come back. Ice helps a bit. I’m wondering if there are any other home remedies I can try/any prescription you can think of that I could ask my doctor about trying? This rash and itching is driving me insane. Thank you.

I’m trying to make this as neutral as possible to get more objective replies. I didn’t mean for it to be soooo long but I read the detail rules.
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My diagnoses includes possible bipolar II, BPD, ADHD, GAD, PTSD and severe irritable bowel syndrome, short (<1y) history of anorexia.. I have high blood pressure and acid reflux which are both well controlled with medicine. I am 30 years old and a female-to-male transsexual (my preferred term, he/him/his) on testosterone since 2015 and post-op. 5’5”(163cm), 166lbs (75kg). I vape nicotine and drink socially (and don’t socialise very often, max twice a month), no other substance use.
My psych meds in the morning are Viibryd 20mg (since summer 2022), lamictal 100mg (since April/May 2023), wellbutrin xl 300mg (since summer 2022). I also take dicyclomine (antispasmodic for IBS, new since April ‘24) and I usually do not eat breakfast as the dicyclomine needs time to work. This didn’t change, the antispasmodic I was on before also needed time to work. Also, I’m just not hungry.
My psych meds before bed are lamictal 200mg (since 2012) and latuda 20mg (since Sept 2023). I also take norvasc (high blood pressure), finastride & minoxidil (hair loss), and famotidine (acid reflux), and a probiotic/prebiotic. Occasionally I need mucinex and/or melatonin.
I have Ativan as a PRN but haven’t used it since fall 2023.
————
My prescriber wants to deprescribe. He is looking at eliminating Viibryd in part because of seizure concerns. I’ve never had a seizure, but I did have 20 sessions of ECT in summer 2023 (idk if that affects my current susceptibility to it). I will be advocating to replace it with another SSRI. I was on venlafaxine 2011-summer 2022 but when I came off it my anxiety skyrocketed and my IBS became so bad I could not keep food in me for more than two hours. Adding Viibryd helped, but did not completely solve things. I started seeing a GI to help with IBS and I’m on an antispasmodic from him, but still it is not effective enough. Additionally, last time we decreased Viibryd (April 2023, from 20 to 10) I became suicidal and anxiety got a lot worse. That was when he added the morning lamictal, which was very helpful. The Viibryd dose went back up to 20 when I was hospitalized last summer (as was the latuda, which I have found to be very helpful).
He also wants to reduce my wellbutrin to 150. I was initially on 150 when I started and it was increased (by a prescriber in a PHP) to 300 because it wasn’t as effective as we wanted.
I want to add an ADHD med, in part because things will get worse with it if we go down on the wellbutrin and also because I have noticed I am more impaired by my symptoms now that I am in a new job that has different demands on by cognition (also I’ve been more distractable while driving which is not good).
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To give a brief psych history: Dx with ADHD at 7, GAD around 10. First psych hospitalization at age 16 due to rapid onset of self harm and suicidal ideation. Two more that year for suicidality. Went to college 2012-17. One hospitalization in fall 2012 for suicide plan and another for 2016 to address medication as I noticed signs of hypomania (dad has BP). Came out as FTM 2014, started testosterone 2015, never looked back. Stopped therapy after graduation; couldn’t find a suitable provider. Remained on medication with a psychiatrist. Chest surgery 2019. Smooth sailing until 2022, when I began to seek bottom surgery (had to actually confront the dysphoria instead of burry it). Relapse with self-harm and suicidality. PHP May-June 2022, IOP June-Aug 2022. Continued individual therapy afterwards. Hysterectomy Aug ‘22 had severe complications requiring (medical) hospitalization. Developed (diagnosed) PTSD from events of that hospitalization. rTMS Jan-March ‘23; helped with anxiety but not depression. Increased suicidality & anxiety spring 2023, tried ECT that summer, 20 sessions. Hospitalized most of Aug ‘23 due to increased SI. Readmitted ~2 weeks after discharge. Released end of Sept to receive bottom surgery (Oct 11, ‘23), which went perfectly and has had such a great impact on my QoL. PHP Sept-Oct 23, IOP Nov-Dec 23. Switched individual therapists during that time. Increased SI March/April 2024 (just like the previous two years). Doing -much- better now, but still emotionally labile.
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I left a job as a teacher’s aide in an elementary school after 5y in January, after confirming that I was hired to do psychschoscial rehab with a mental health agency. The job switch has been great, but it meant I didn’t see my prescriber Jan-April. Got him in touch with my therapist and they had a peer-to-peer. The next time I saw my therapist after that she starts talking about this deprescribing plan. I’m very skeptical. It feels like I’m just getting my life together. I have a job that has a career path, not a dead end, I’m reapplying to grad school, I’ve been able to be more financially independent because I’m making considerably more money at the new job (still living with parents, though). I’m rebuilding the most important relationship (non-romantic, just friends) that crumbled with my hospitalization last year as we realized just how codependent (in the actual sense of the word) it had gotten. I don’t want to risk that with a medication change.
It was proposed that this be done in a hospital, but because my prescriber is a nurse practitioner, he doesn’t have privileges anywhere and it would have to be handled at the county hospital because he has a connection with a doctor there. Their psych unit is crap, but the idea was to have it done in a medical wing, which sounds isolating as hell. Also I just don’t have the time off from work (it’s accumulated during the first year) and I’m not yet eligible for FMLA. And I planned on taking graduate courses this summer.
I’m all for being on as little medication as possible, but I don’t want to make changes like it’s an experiment. I don’t want to risk feeling suicidal. But I also want to trust my providers.
I would try to get a second opinion from a different prescriber and not just ask strangers on Reddit, but I can’t find anyone with availability and willingness to do a 2nd opinion.

Hi All-- I posted most of the symptoms improvements in a reply but wanted to share in its own post. It's therapeutic for me to reflect on the progress, especially since I'm having a worse day today--those are fewer and farther between lately--and maybe others can benefit.
I've been on keto for about 4 months now. I've been doing a 2:1 modified Adkins, though its often more like 3:1 depending on the day, with <20 g net carbs. I've aimed for blood ketones above 2.0 mmol/l taken in the late afternoon and also maintaining above 1.0 upon waking. I took me about a month to figure out how to get to those levels consistently. Content of diet beyond the macros has been pretty normal though I've experimented with limiting dairy to goat cheese and butter recently. That restriction seems to help with some of the symptoms. I've done keto in the past with some benefit but not as strict with macros and was typically in lower levels of ketosis. I've been working with Nicole Laurent this round who has been great in helping me learn to do the diet consistent with known keto for mental health best practices and navigate anything unexpected that comes up. She's also been a great support in encouraging patience and recognizing the progress when it comes, plus healing isn't always easy as "waking up is hard to do." I've also found a supportive Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who is relatively new to assisting with keto but has done Georgia Ede's clinician training. My therapist has become a convert as she's seen my significant progress the last few months.
Symptoms/illness-wise, I'm coming at this from a pretty complex place. Bipolar diagnosis after Zoloft induced manic episode at 18, treated with lithium other mood stabilizers, always paired with still an SSRI, usually celexa. Improved a lot in my late 20s/early 30s on just lithium and Adderall until doc thought Prozac to address anxiety would be a good idea. Cold turkeyed lithium, then the Prozac a year later and had a terrible Prozac withdrawal syndrome that maybe morphed into a bipolar mixed episode. I tried going back on lithium other drugs and the additions and changes just made things worse. I was left with long term effects from multiple drugs and symptoms of complex PTSD from the dysphoric states I endured. My cognitive functioning was about 50% of baseline based on a neuropsych exam, and I had to take 4 months off work in desperate hope of getting better with the time off. The recent years have been bad but even during the better stretches on lithium I never felt well and always like a part of me was missing--I don't know what of that was bipolar and what the dulling effects of lithium.
I started keto 3 months into the time off and have seen significant improvement with all my symptoms-- though I'll have clearer periods and then worsening.
Symptoms I've seen improve:
derealization -- this had been pretty bad, just lacking the crispness of life. While on keto, I've had the feeling of like watching a TV and it suddenly going from standard definition to HD...and then it would happen again. Gradually but at times I'd notice the difference and then kind of get used to it only to notice it again down the road.
tinnitus - I had developed terrible tinnitus after taking lamictal. It's improved significantly, again gradually and is probably 80% less frequent and 50% less intense when it occurs.
anxiety -- I had terrible anxiety and couldn't cope with most things in life. I often felt helpless and that if I confronted anymore adversity I couldn't respond. I]m handling a lot of adversity now.
Fatigue - I was really just dragging myself through every day and could barely get through them. This has gradually gotten better, and I now have energy to do things like clean up the kitchen at the end of the day. When you're not exhausted all the time, it's easier to enjoy life.
cognitive impairment -- this is a biggie as it was disabling and I couldn't perform my work as an attorney. I've noticed various brain functions gradually come back online. I went back to work in early February and have just gotten better and better. I'm able to think and reason again, and my memory's tremendously better. In some ways it's going back to before the Prozac misfortune but also back to my premorbid functioning, before the manic episode. This can be overwhelming at times as I have to process how I got by all those years and the brain reshaping itself creates some feeling of instability.
Sleep - I developed chronic sleep issues during the med changes/withdrawal mess and was too sensitive to take any drug or supplement that might help. I was waking up a lot before keto and usually couldn't go back to sleep, sometimes couldn't go to sleep at all. About 2-3 months in to keto, my sleep started improving a lot. I'm now reliably sleeping through the night most nights and get 6-7 hours. A few times I've been able to sleep in which had become foreign to me.
Executive functioning - I've gotten better at managing myself and my life. I can juggle a lot more and keep up with things. I'm more motivated and can make myself exercise consistently.
Feeling unsafe - this is one of my big PTSD symptoms. I just couldn't relax, ever, always self monitoring and monitoring my situation. Waiting for something to go wrong. This will take time to fully heal, but it's so much better now.
Revisiting -- another PTSD symptom. I was very much stuck in the past reliving certain events around my worsening. I couldn't step out the front door or take out the trash without thinking about things that happened in those settings. As with some other symptoms, it's not perfect, but I'm having more and longer periods where I'm just in the here and now. I can just walk outside and can just take the trash out.
Social anxiety -- At my worst I pretty much totally isolated, and was very withdrawn when around my immediate family that I couldn't isolate from. Each of these have gotten better, again gradually, and I can carry on normal conversations, joke and laugh again. I feel a desire to connect with people and am repairing the relationships I still have, including with my wife and kids.
I'm not fully healed and some days the symptoms come back or worsen. I've been through hell but really feel keto is laying the groundwork for long-term and complete healing. I've even started tapering lithium, under the supervision of a provider, down to 750 mg from 900 mg and feeling more stable than ever. I'm incredibly hopeful and can see the possibility of a full life again.

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, thanks for reading.
I have a symptom of thought echo and I'm wondering if it will ever go away. I have been well and stable for the last 3 years and it has been getting better but I'm worried I'm stuck like this, or if it indicates that I might be schizophrenic instead of bipolar.
If there's a better sub to post this in please let me know.
I had repeated and worsening psychotic experiences after being forcibly injected with olanzapine at the end of 2013 which continued despite being made to take different medications such as epilem, lithium, lamictal, seriquel, risperidone, aripriprizole, none of which helped. I did nearly recover in 2018 and was just on lamictal with only minor thought echo symptom which I'll describe more further down, but after the death of my little brother it triggered it all over again.
At first when I started to hear, see and feel things that weren't there I was pretty sure it was my mind playing tricks on me and put it down to the medication I was forced on, because it had never happened before. It's a long story of how I ended up medicated against my will in the first place but it was not because I was experiencing psychotic symptoms.
As the psychotic episodes worsened and continued for over 7 years it wore down my sense of reason and I had lost insight and really was unable to be sure of reality or function in a normal way.
Since getting put on the paliperidone injection in 2021 it was like a switch in my mind flipped and I could see I had been delusional and hallucinating, and I have not been psychotic from then on. I have no idea why that drug worked and none of the others did.
The only thing is now I am left with a thought echo, I know it's my mind but it's like a zombie echo of my thoughts sometimes coherent sometimes not. It seems to need a background noise of water, traffic, hum of fridge or bathroom fan, storms, some types of music, etc. Sometimes I can tell it's an echo of what I was just thinking, sometimes it seems to be doing its complete own thing, sometimes ranting or screaming but quietly and can barely make it out.
I recognise it as my own thoughts, and its quite mild and easy to block out most of the time so it doesn't really disturb my life. When I was psychotic I would always be trying to turn off the source of the sound and it would constantly disturb and upset me and make life impossible, and of course it was seeming external to my mind whereas that's not the case any more for which i am so thankful.
I never told the doctors in the public health system about hearing, feeling and seeing things that weren't there because I was terrified of the public mental health system due to my mother's experiences during my childhood (she's bipolar) and always had been taken there against my will to begin with. I was diagnosed bipolar, then schizoaffective, and then back to just bipolar again, that's my current diagnosis along with PTSD.
So my question is, is this kind of normal for someone who's had psychosis to experience and will it ever go away or am I stuck like this?
I'd also like to ask if antipsychotic medication itself can cause psychosis. I was medicated for all of those 7 something years and it seems to have done the opposite of what it was meant to do.
And also, is this more indicative of schizophrenia over bipolar, I am worried I've been misdiagnosed because I never really cooperated with the doctors treating me against my will.
My information - 35 yr old female 52.8kg from australia, currently taking 150mg lamictal and weaning off 100 mg of Paliperidone monthly depot over a 9 month period, with the last dose being 75 mg and the next 3 to be 50mg

Context: I have dx of bipolar 2, ptsd and ocd.
The tiniest little thing happened recently that hurt my feelings, and triggered feelings of shame and worthlessness I have been sobbing off since then. I feel like I suck at everything and everyone is so much better than me 😭 I feel like people are glad when I leave. My current antidepressant (lexapro) is max dose and my lamictal is above maintenance dose. I’m taking as much medication as my stomach can handle. I have been seeing therapists for 25 years. It isn’t really helping. What else can I do? I cried in public not long ago just because someone raised their voice at me. I’ve never done that before. I am just raw all the time. I need it to stop 😢

Hi. I just started 100mg yesterday morning after being on 75mg for 3 weeks. I have ASD and I am more sensitive to meds. I also have Bipolar disorder 2 hence why I’m on Lamictal XR. I’ve noticed each time I’ve increased, I’ve had this hypo manic phase where I sleep 6 hours when I usually get 9/10 hours, I become hyper sexual, decreased appetite, maybe some anxiety and lack of ability to focus on top of my ADHD. I take Prazosin to help me sleep for ptsd & nightmares. I just had the dose increased from 2 to 5mg as well and it’s upsetting me that it is ineffective while in hypo manic episodes. The whole 3 weeks I was on 75 I had to take melatonin 5mg on top of my Prazosin, and I don’t want to become dependent. Anyways I just want to know, anyone else get hypomanic and then it dies down after a while from increasing lamictal

Hi! (Please no horror stories about Lamictal!) I started at 25mg 8 days ago for severe depression/panic/anxiety/ptsd/obsessive thoughts etc. I’ve been on a ton of meds and this has had the least side effects so far and I swear it started helping after my 2nd dose. It helped enough to provide more stability in my mental and physical energy and lowered/eliminated suicidal thoughts, and just helped me be more functional overall. Not to the point I want to be, but enough to be obvious that something shifted for me! Today (my 7th day)was okay and then I went into a very familiar dark/scary place again- felt like a big regression. My question is: was the beginning of taking Lamictal similar for you? We’re there better days and then roller coaster effects and then finally some positive stability? I’m feeling very vulnerable right now because I finally had some real hope this past week and then today just felt like total regression!

welbutrin lexapro abilify vistaril seroquel lamictal effexor pristiq trazodone librium intuniv minipress zyprexa etc you name it ive been on it.
no matter how many med changes i go through, no matter how much therapy ive done EMDR, CBT, Brain spotting nothing is changing. at 16 i was diagnosed with complex ptsd with dissociative aspects along with severe major depressive disorder. what the fuck will help. medications have kept me somewhat stable and my thoughts areant racing anymore. ive maintained a job and im currently obtaining my GED but im still severely depressed. what would you do in my situation. any med combos that could work that areant any of the ones ive tried?
struggled with drug addiction for years. adderall klonpin xanax ambien meth roxies and currently dextromethorphan.
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currently on
Pristiq 100mg
Minipress 1mg
Lamictal (currently tapering up to 100 at 50 currently
Zyprexa 10mg

TLDR: insomnia and hypermania since titrating up to 100mg for four months. Immediately recommended to drop to 50mg, increase all my as needed anxiety meds (gabapentin and ativan to 2-3x/day; ive never had to do that) for last two weeks and insomnia got better but I still feel wired to the point of discomfort. How long should I wait for side effects to go away???
I have been titrating up to 100mg over the last four months since January. I smoke medica mj in the evenings and sometiems all day on weekends (ik i need to change this habit for sure) I am currently attempting to lower pristiq after experiencing brain zaps from the pristiq. We have lowered to 25 mg of the pristiq. I got diagnosed with bipolar 2 ,PTSD, autism. but for my entire life have been on 100mg of pristiq for major depressive and anxiety since 2017. I’ve been on gabapentin 100mg 1-2 times a day and take ativan 0.25 mg as needed (i’m highly sensitive to meds). Since january 2024 and going up to 100mg on lamictal i experienced hypermanic symptoms for the first time ever and couldnt sleep for a week. I’ve only ever experienced hypomania for 2-3 days at a time. They bumped me down immediately to 50mg lamictal after telling them that insomnia was getting worse at 100mg. and they wanted me off the pristiq 25mg (thats my goal due to brain zaps) immediately as well. I ended up feeling such intense mood swings that I added back pristiq on my own because of how intense my panic attacks got. Now my brain zaps have gone away and my mood is so much more manageable. Im at 50mg for 2 weeks and take my meds at 930pm But i just can’t deal with the sleeping issues. And overthinking. I feel like i did on my adhd meds and not in a good way. Like wired all the time no matter what and feel like i cant sit for more than 30minutes. I have a feeling i need to wait out the taper down to 50mg and wait and see. But ive increased all my as needed anxiety meds way more than i ever had. And she wants to add buspar as well which to me just seems excessive at this point. So something definitely needs to change. I need some advice on how long to wait for the insomnia side effects and hypermania to stop. I dont feel good. I have too much energy to the point that i dont feel like myself, im forgetting things, and i feel like im on fastforward and not in a good mindful way. I feel more present and able to manage my emotions which is great. I just cant stand going to sleep at like 830-10/11pm and and waking up at 4-6am like i cant stay asleep for longer than 5-7 hours which is soooo not like me. I feel wired all the time and really just wondering if i should wait 6 weeks on 50mg of lamictal to see if it balances out. But i cant handle the sleep thing it makes me so irritable and anxious at work.

My boyfriend (20m) and I (20f) have had our relationship ripped apart completely by his bipolar blackouts. We really thought that medication would help him, and it did somewhat. He was on Abilify and Lamotrigine for some time, and at some point we realized the Abilify was reacting badly so he stopped taking it (with psychiatrists permission.) It seemed like the lamotrigine has helped a lot since then, however, blackouts still happen. And when they do they are worse than before. He puts his hands on me in such an extreme manner, and nothing I do will get him to calm down.
This has tainted every part of my life. The man I love can't stop hitting me and doesn't even remember doing it. It has cost me my independence, my home, and my family's respect. It cost me my job, and several of his as well. What seems to trigger his episodes now is the adjustment of his medication. Everytime they raised the dosage, he went into episodes until he was used to the dosage I guess. They just raised it to 200mg a few days ago and he has been nonstop hurting me, arguing with me, and overall disrespecting all our property. Please, please someone help me figure this out. We have tried so many therapists and psychologists only to be turned away or told that his problems were too complex to fix.
And before anyone starts telling me to just leave, trust me, I tried. That is one of the biggest triggers he seems to have, and he always blacks out when this happens. I can't call the police either, they have never listened, never helped, all that ended up happening is I got arrested when my neighbors and sister called the police on him. My life is crumbling and I am so hopeless.
EDIT: Thank you for your concern everyone. I promise I am safe currently. As for all the questions, yes, he is diagnosed with Bipolar. Yes, his psychiatrist and therapist both do know about all of this, and much more. My family and his family is also very much aware of this. Bipolar blackouts are a real thing. My boyfriend, when he is not in a blackout, is the most caring, nurturing man I've ever met. He's a gentle soul, slow to anger, and has changed his life drastically for the better all just because he wants to be a better man for me. He's also gotten sober off hard drugs and become open to treating his mental illness for me. None of this is malicious, and I know that can be hard to believe because it was for me too. I don't want to create a bigger stigma around this already very life altering illness. But it is my story and his as well. He's currently also tacking severe PTSD at the moment and all I can do is have compassion for him while also keeping my safety in mind. Additionally, after doing extensive research, we found a case very similar to his. A man in his 50s, also on Lamotrigine (Lamictal) and diagnosed with bipolar found himself doing much better when he had just started the medication. He ended up having episodes like these everytime his medication was increased, just like our situation. Eventually when he got to 200mg, he ended up relapsing and some other horrible things. Described it almost like being on meth if my memory serves me correctly, which my boyfriend has been sober from for over a year now. I don't know, we have made the decision to seek out a different medication and whatnot. Any additional advice would be appreciated. Thank you all.

34F, 5’8, 165 lbs
Medical Conditions: PTSD, IBS, & Epilepsy
Daily Medications: Sertaline for PTSD, Lamictal for epilepsy, Multivitamin, Probiotic
Hello, I am having a laparoscopic hysterectomy under general anesthesia on Thursday May 2nd. They are taking my uterus, tubes, and cervix and leaving my ovaries. I’m very nervous for the procedure as I’ve never been under general anesthesia before, and I’ve been dealing with my nervousness by completely not thinking about the surgery at all and pretending that it’s not happening. So, I didn’t think about it yesterday (Saturday, April 27th), when I had a headache and took 400 mg of ibuprofen, or today when I was having allergies and took Allegra and Flonase. I feel so stupid for forgetting not to take these things. I’m asking if you think my surgery will get canceled because I took these medications? Thank you for any feedback you can give.
Edit: who downvoted my comments on here? Lol. It seems like people get downvoted for anything around here.

My name is Jean, I’m a young teen, I have severe depression, severe anxiety, insomnia, severe ptsd, and big symptoms of bipolar personality disorder because both my paternal and maternal grandma’s had it. I have attempted suicide twice now, both with overdosing. I have drank, smoked, binged, purged, cut, and punched myself. I am in therapy but it doesn’t do much. With my meds I’m on lamictal, bursar, trazadone, and Prozac. I have been switched my meds, dosages, gotten new ones, everything. But they don’t do shit. I have pretended to take them for about two weeks. It felt so freeing. For the first time in months I just felt sad. Not confused. Not angry. None of that. I have told my mom countless times have wanted to get off the meds but no. I just get more and more. It’s so fucking exhausting. I feel physically unable to cut anymore. Which I want to. I feel like I’m fucking crazy or that I’m doing it all for attention at times. But would I really go this far? I just want to get worse. More depressed to be specific. Medications only makes me confused. Nobody gets what I mean by this. I genuinely don’t know what the fuck I am feeling at times, and it’s not a numb sensation either. I’ve told my therapist about this, all she said was “confused is a feeling” I just wish I never existed. Everybody around me is genuinely a narcissist. My parents, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, just everyone. I just want to sink into a pit of depression and not have to worry about life. I really do want to get worse. I’m so fucking stupid for feeling this way.

Hi! I’m pretty new to taking lamictal it’s been like….8 weeks? I’m at 100mg for a few more days and then 150 for a week and then 200. My psych says 200 is the therapeutic dose.
I feel some effects sometimes. A little less depression. I’ve been in a deep depressive episode since November. I am diagnosed with bipolar 1, BPD(which I don’t agree with but 🤷🏻‍♀️), adhd, (c)ptsd, and anxiety. Anyway, the lamictal is supposed to help with bipolar and bpd.
I see people with higher or lower dosages than 200mg. I’ve never had meds that worked for me before. I was put on ssri’s and felt like I was losing my mind (months of a ssri induced manic episode and my previous psych kept upping my dose.) I had medical cannabis before it was legal recreationally for ptsd and insomnia but that didn’t help other things….and not really the ptsd it was prescribed for either. 😅 being stoney was nice tho!
Anyway. I feel like the lamictal is more gradual? I know it can be different for everyone, but I’m wondering especially for people with BP1 and BPD, if there were certain signs you picked up that made you feel sure that your dose was right and working well? 💜

This will be pretty long; thanks for reading. Only recently have I started trying to accept my bipolar diagnosis. I read stories on here advocating for medication management because I understood from them that medication is one of the only ways to remain stable. I also read research indicating that after each mania/psychosis, the frequency and severity of it worsens with time, and I am risking brain damage.
(Some background: I was diagnosed at 16 and am 21 now. My first therapist told me he thought I had it after tracking my mood for about a year and I kept having depressive and hypomanic episodes after this. I have only had 3 manic episodes, and these always included some form of psychosis, but depression is my baseline. )
(At ages 16-18, the psychiatrists would put me on antipsychotics for about 2-4 weeks; I would say they were not working, and they would change them, and the cycle would repeat. I was too young/not aware to know that medications did not work like that, so for the longest time I was trying different medications left and right for short periods.)
So, I gave up on meds because they never seemed to work. I am also diagnosed with ADHD, PTSD, and recently Borderline Personality Disorder. I am doing pretty well right now and stable; I thought that this would be the perfect time to be medicated to maintain this stability, so I started seeing a new psychiatrist.
After talking some, she recommended guanfacine for sleep/anxiety/ADHD and Lamictal as a mood stabilizer. I told her I would have to think about it, so today in our third session, she said she talked to a colleague about my case and that both of them think I don't have bipolar disorder. So, she does not want to medicate me for it unless ‘something happens’ to my mood.
This is super confusing to me because all of the therapists I have had, and my current one, say that my symptoms line up with bipolar disorder, although none of them specialized in it. This hit an old wound today: no one seems to be able to understand/treat what I have going on. For so long, I was in denial of the diagnosis, and now, starting to accept my diagnosis, this is told to me. So, I am struggling with this news.
One part of me is sad because if it is true that I do not have bipolar disorder, then all of those meds were completely unnecessary and probably more damaging. Another is that I was coming to terms with the label, which helped me better understand myself and what I have experienced. It is validating, and I had hope since it is treatable with meds.
I feel hopeless, misunderstood, and quite invalidated now. Kinda feel like I'm restarting this whole diagnosis process again, which stinks. Is this a typical experience people with bipolar disorder go through? Should I get a second opinion? I would appreciate any advice, support, stories, etc. Thank you!

28F- this is a long one, but I feel everything I say will be relevant I hope.
I’ve struggled with some type or multiple types of mental illness my whole life. I’ve always gotten different answers/labels since I was 15 (OCD, PTSD, MDD, GAD, ADHD, Bipolar 2, Cyclothymia, PMDD). It just comes down to im a very anxious person, always have been. I’ve tried Zoloft, Prozac, Lamictal, Ativan, Xanax, etc.
I’ve been taking Trintellix for about 10 months and it helped me get out of the depressive funk I was in. It almost felt like a miracle drug. Of course I had my bad days but they would only be for the day.
Well come to find out my insurance sucks, after all the deals it’s about $400 a month for the Trintellix. Only reason I was paying $60 a month before is because I hit my $3k deductible early, due to my $150 a week therapy sessions. I didn’t realize this until March because I bought 120 day supplies end of December. I can afford $400 a month so doctor said best comparable is Pristiq ( Desvenlafaxine succnt ) joke is my insurance doesn’t cover that but thankfully after discounts it’s about $20 a month.
Before I figured out about the alternative medication I was trying to find a way to get insurance to cover the Trintellix. The last week on it I was taking it every other day until I got Pristiq. Been on 50mg of Pristiq for about 2 weeks and recently just had to pull myself out of a 3 day depressive episode. I was just frozen on my couch and couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone. I only had enough energy to text my boss each day I called off. I was frozen in fear and couldn’t tell you why.
My partner thinks I should call my doctor and see if they will add wellbrutin but should I give the Pristiq a full 30 days ? What was your experience starting Pristiq ?

FtM, 22, diagnosed Bipolar type 1 is the reason I am prescribed. I am also diagnosed with PTSD, Autism, ADHD, and Depersonalization-derealization disorder (DPDR)
I am currently in a depressive episode I believe
My dose of Lamictal is currently 300mg orally a day (150mg in AM 150mg in PM)
Since my dose increase (2 1/2 weeks ago) I have been experiencing extreme mood swings, increased irritability and difficulty controlling my anger and emotions, increased depression, and massively increased suicidal ideation.
Are these normal? Should I ask my psychiatrist about stopping Lamictal or reducing my dose?
Does anyone have similar experiences? How long did they last for you?
Edit for more clarity: I have been on Lamictal on and off since 2017. Currently have been on it for 4 months. No symptoms of Steven johnsons syndrome. My GeneSight results say Lamictal is supposed to work well for me and it historically has

I have complex ptsd and used to experience flashbacks, hypervigilance, paranoia, suicidal ideations, and paralyzing mood swings multiple times a week and sometimes multiple times a day. I tried so many medications. For a long time I didn’t think I real life was possible. Recently my psychiatrist put me on lamictal and I’m not even at the full dose yet but can already feel the effects. I used to feel like my body wasn’t something in my control. And now I don’t feel like that anymore. There are still struggles but I don’t fall apart like I used to and when I get activated it doesn’t take an entire day or multiple days to calm down. I guess this is what non traumatized people feel like regularly. It’s truly an amazing experience. I wanted to share my story for those that need some hope.