Posted by mexican pharmacy on April 5, 2009, at 3:58:05
In reply to Re: Lamictal Memory Problems/secretstrangth, posted by ssplash on April 1, 2009, at 17:12:36
Hi, hope you are doing well.
I see my doctor on April 13th so I will try to gather more information from him then, but I know that he gives patients taking antidepressants SSRI's and SNRI's Deplin, but that he usually gives patients taking Lamictal Cerefolin NAC.
Okay I'm going to go back to your first post and try to answer your questions. But first I was wondering were you taking a really high dose of Lamictal? It's kind of crazy to me how like some people supposedly can take just like 50 mg but some people take like 600 mg of it. Like how is there any way to tell if someone is on too high of a dose?
I feel like doctors should try to keep patients on the lowest dose possible that works, because otherwise we end up getting all whacked out by the meds...
Sorry for that random rambling but I guess that's something to keep in mind, I think.
I never have word finding difficulty or stumbling speech anymore.
Here is an excerpt from the Handbook of Drug-Nutrient Interactions by Joseph Boullata, Vincent Armenti - pg 285:
"The drug-nutrient interaction (DNI) between folic acid and specific AEDs (antiepileptic drugs) is an old clinical problem. However, the prevention of this dual and interdependent interaction between this B vitamin and the AEDs is not a standard of practice despite the research that began in the 1960s. Traditional AEDs... lower endogenous folate... To date, there is no information on the newer AEDs, except the possibility of lamotrigine (Lamictal) which may have antifolate properties" (pg 285).
Here are a few other links
http://www.mentalhealth.umn.edu/medication/swf/lamictal.swf"Lamictal may reduce the amount of folate (folic acid) available from your diet. It may be prudent to take a multivitamin or B-complex supplement containing the adult daily requirement of folate (400 mcg)."
(that quote is from the website link listed above)
Okay and here are links to Cerefolin NAC's official website and to the drug company that makes the product:
http://www.pamlab.com/Products,Cerefolin
I emailed the company asking them if their product was available in Spain (that's where you live right?).
If Lamictal worked for you aside from the memory issues - trust me, it's so worth another shot. Cerefolin NAC works so well, and it worked relatively quickly (3 to 4 weeks was when I noticed a huge difference) - I mean my boss noticed a difference in my work performance so it's not like I just felt like it worked, someone actually observed the change.
I did end up going up from one dose a day to two doses a day at some point. I think about 6 months after I had initially started. So that's no big deal, I take 2 pills of it instead of one. And I've been on that dose for like a year and a half.
Bottom line - it works.
I actually have a better memory than many of my friends. I credit Lithium for that as well (it protects your hippocampus among other things, if I get into all that, this post would be insanely long). Basically the bottom line is that I'm on great medications that work for me and my brain. People who have bipolar disorder start to lose brain mass and develop structural abnormalities in the brain if they continually have episode after episode and don't take medication. Supposedly medications (some of them) can reverse that.
I hope you find the right medication for you. It's so great to have my brain back. And in my experience in trying medications and learning to deal and manage side effects - I take a strong stance - I only want to take the dose that definitely works for me and has no debilitating side effects.
(When I was really sick when I was younger, I definitely had to take some medication regardless of the side effects - but now that I'm finally stable, and ready to live my life - work and go to school - there is no need to be on some kind of high dose for no reason)
This post is super long, I really feel for you, I hope you find the right medications, and that you feel better fast, there is so much hope for people with bipolar disorder and depression - because there really are treatments that work. And you can get your life, and your brain, back.
Mexican Pharmacy
poster:mexican pharmacy
thread:104185
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090330/msgs/888769.html