LAMICTAL

[raytamtay3]

Dr. prescribed this for daughter when she was in the hospital. They started her out with 25 mg 2x a day. They just upped it too 100 mg 2x a day. I'm cutting them in half because that is just to high a jump in dosage.  Anyway, anyone hear of it, have experience with it, etc. they can share?

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[griz]

For some people I hear it works great.  My DD was on it for a short while.  I didn't find it helped and unfortunelty her hair started falling out and breaking off.  I have heard this is common with a lot of people.  It is 2 years later and her hair has still not recovered.

Hopefully your D will not have this side effect and it will work well.

Griz

[jellibeans]

My daughter is on this med and it is the only medication I have seen any kind of reseults with... . she did much better with it when she was on full dose. She has beautiful thick hair so I have not seen any change there but that is good to know.

[qcarolr]

I believe lamictal has saved my life. I have taken it for over 10 years. I have not had any significant side effects. It is vital to go up on it very very slowly. I am so surprised this doc jumped from 25 to 100mg. I currently take 300mg per day. This is a good dose for me. I went up 50 mg/day a week at a time after the initial 25mg.

I have to say when I went up to 300mg from 200mg about 4 years ago my hair did then a lot. I have also been under extreme stress during this time - part of trigger for upping the dose. And I am turning 58 next month -- my mom has very very thin hair since in her 40's. I switched to a 'fall prevention' shampoo line, am gentle with my hair, take vitamins, etc. and am getting some hair back. So for me is more likely other life stuff and not meds.

This is a mood stablizer for my bipolar II.

I hope it works for your D. If not, go off slowly too.

qcr  

[heronbird]

My dd was on that, I think it did help. She was told not to get pregnant on it and she did.

Her old P who really understood BPD said she didnt think any meds would work well for BPD. I think she may have been right. Dd was better because she was in remission, I realise now.

We just keep trying.  

[qcarolr]

My basic take on meds is that if they work, it is helping with others issues, not directly on the BPD activity in your brain/body. So often other conditions are present, or comorbid (I really dislike that word). Depression, anxiety, bipolar, etc. If the meds help these troubling areas, this can help create a more open internal enviroment for taking in the cognitve (thinking) pieces of treatment. Or even to allow acceptance and awareness of relationship issues and be more likely to seek out treatment.

THis is how it seems to work for my DD. Then she is feeling better, or has a new breakup with a bf, some crisis that shuts down that openness. So she stops her meds, becomes inconsistent in taking them, or adds street drugs to the mix. It can feel like starting over until I stop myself to really look at the TLC's (tiny little changes - thanks Rapt Reader for this acronym).

raytamtay3 - hope this med trial is helpful for your D.

qcr  

[Rapt Reader]

I agree with qcarolr (and you are welcome to the TLCs; it's from Valerie Porr's book   ) that while meds may not be prescribed expressly for the BPD, they are good for some of the symptoms and can help the sufferer keep a level head to start or continue BPD therapies.

My son takes Pristiq for depression, Tenex for anxiety, and Modafinil for ADD (he's got a thyroid problem, so takes Levothyroxine, also). When he stops any of them for any amount of time--usually because he thinks he doesn't need them anymore    --he then becomes less inclined to move around and live his life, and it makes his attending therapy more of a chore. Luckily, he's figured it out and doesn't really do it much any more. So, none of these meds are for BPD, but if he doesn't take them the BPD is worse.

I'd talk to the Dr. about the change in the Lamictal dosage and double check about her increasing it that quickly; maybe it's good for her, but she needs to adjusted to it slowly as qcarolr suggests... . Good luck!

[jellibeans]

I will just add that my dd dosage was increased very slowly and aa she was going through that med change it was a real circus around here but once she got to full dosage (100mg 2x a day) she has been so much better.

[Nrsertcht]

Hello,

My DD, just turned 19, has been on Lamictal for almost a yr. (She has BiP II, BPD, Anxiety, Social Phobia, OCD Traits).

Truth be told, I'm not sure if it helps... she is on 200 mg/day.

We tried to up the dose and that clearly did not go well.

As far as the hair loss, my dau loses a ton of hair and we think it's more related to stress but I am interested in reading that others on Lamictal have seen this happen.