Ok, I probably should have started this earlier. Because today is Day 3 and I probably should have done a Before instead of just a Between and After. Oh well. I’ve been on Lamictal (Lamotrigine) for three days now. I was prescribed this drug, which is a mood stabilizer, for Type II Bipolar Disorder. To complicate things, the psych nurse who prescribed it said he was conflicted between Type II Bipolar and Agitated Depression. I considered putting the DSM-IV Criteria for both of these in here, but as I’m not sure it will ever be read, you can just go look it up for yourself if you don’t know. He said that Agitated Depression was his gut feeling, but in the end he left it up to me to make the call for myself. This seemed odd to me but considering the general consensus of professionals I have seen since my symptoms have become more drastic is Bipolar, I went with that. So rather than anti-depressants, mood stabilizers it is.
Lamotrigine takes a while (about 15 days) to build up in the system and reach therapeutic dosage, so it’s no surprise I haven’t really felt much except for drowsiness for an hour or so after taking the pill (25mg at 7PM every night). Come Saturday I’ll be taking 25mg twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. 5 days after that I’ll up it to 25mg in the morning and 50mg at night. 5 days after that it’ll be 50mg in the morning and 50mg at night. Lucky for me, this medicine does not interact with alcohol, so I can still enjoy a glass of absinthe every night.
This week has been pretty thoroughly depressed. It’s hard to get out of the funk I’ve been in, and though it was insightful, the realization I had in my psychologist appointment on Tuesday that I have too few sources of joy or relief in my life only made me feel better for a short time.
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