Connect
Comment receiving replies
@depressedbutnotdead
Thank you so much for sharing your story/experience so candidly. My doctor just prescribed me Lamotrigine for the first time. I’ve had trouble getting back on meds that worked for me the first time around. We tried adding Wellbutrin in recently and it made me more depressed very quickly and brought up some SI. I have had other ‘switches’ from meds in the past (like Celexa) which makes me consider the possibility that I too might have a ‘soft’ presentation of Bipolar 2 which has masked itself as anxiety/depression most of my life. It’s hopeful to hear you’ve had a positive experience on Lamotrigine. I’m nervous to try anything new at this point because of my recent experience. Would love to hear how it’s felt in your system if you feel like sharing. I’ve only ever tried more traditional antidepressants so far. Thanks so much. So glad to hear your success story. Glad you made it through that dark time and are still here! ❤️
Replies to "@depressedbutnotdead Thank you so much for sharing your story/experience so candidly. My doctor just prescribed me..."
Connect
@climbingmountains81 Thanks. I'm quite well nowadays.
I can't make any promises about Lamotrigine, every single person has different responses to each medication. There's no magic bullet. But hopefully you'll have a similar experience to mine. Do keep an eye out for a rash. It's uncommon, but it can get serious, which I'm sure you've been told.
What I will say is this. I also have a heart arrhythmia. Hearts are simple organs. They're pumps. And it still took a couple of stabs after it set in during my 30s before the cardiologist got it right. Not his fault, just the imperfections of practicing medicine. It's always part guessing game. The point being that he did get it right in the end, and decades of mountain biking and marathon running later, it's still working (my hips ended my marathon days, not my heart).
Brains, meanwhile, are CPUs. They're so complex. Hearts are well understood, but researchers have barely scratched the surface of brains. And there's so much that can go awry. Far more than with a heart.
Nobody tells a heart patient to buck up and get over it. Yet the stigma of mental health still to this day prompts that response (much less so than when I was young, but still...). Ignore it. Mental health difficulties are far more challenging to resolve than cardiac issues. And far more excruciating to endure.
So it's like I said above. More than anything else, try to take a few moments each day and remind yourself that the simple fact that you get out of bed every morning tells you how strong you are. It's hard to think that sometimes, but it's true.
My thoughts as both a cardiac patient and a psychiatric patient.