Posted by Ritch on February 15, 2005, at 0:04:04
In reply to Re: Does Depakote help with Depression or just Mania? » Ritch, posted by theo on February 14, 2005, at 23:33:27
> Currently I'm not taking Keppra only because my doc started me on Lamictal after I was on Keppra for some time.
>
> While on both I started having red eyes, sore throats, etc. so I stopped the Keppra to get a true read on Lamictal by itself. I understand my docs theory of the Keppra for anxiety and the Lamictal for depression, but to much of these anticonvulsants make me feel sick and flu like, run down in general.
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> I'm staying on Lamictal until my next appointment at the end of this month.
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> Keppra worked fantastic for me because it helped anxiety yet made me more assertive. Also helped with OCD. I do think I started to get depressed from the Keppra when I was taking it by itself, same reaction I have after taking benzo's a while without an antidepressant.
>
> I'm tempted to try a stimulant just to see how I react since ADD symptoms can easily be compared to a lot of BPII symptoms, at least the ones I'm experiencing. If my doc doesn't let me try a stimulant, I may try Depakote and if that doesn't work, try the Keppra again with Prozac instead of Lamictal.
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> Ain't this fun!!
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>Oh yeah, Barrel o'fun!
I also got sore throat from Keppra (in the mornings after I got up). It always cleared, figured it was just reflux, who knows?
"but to much of these anticonvulsants make me feel sick and flu like, run down in general"
YES, I also get a flu-like response from combos of AC's. I had a flu-like and barf-like response from a recent trial of Trileptal 75mg at night just for sleep.
I'm thinking about *swapping* Depakote for Keppra and just continuing a little clonazepam with it and *maybe* no antidepressants. Reason: Keppra also helped with some anx. symptoms (better than Depakote) similar to how you describe and didn't make me stupid. Also Keppra is much more "liver friendly". I've got to start thinking about "body burden" issues with these meds. Also, I noticed on Keppra that I didn't need to take as *much* clonazepam, and most importantly.. I got enough sleep. Also, I would like to get a "true read" of taking the Keppra as an antimanic rather than Depakote and then go from there with depression treatment. When I was on Keppra (two different times), I *never* experienced any hypomania induction. I felt some occasional *irratability*, but it wasn't the fuse-blowing kind.
poster:Ritch
thread:457547
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050212/msgs/457969.html