Lamotrigine - help with mood?

[Plenty]

Lamotrigine is a medicine that can be prescribed to prevent seizures.

But also it may help your mood after a brain injury.

Has anyone taken Lamotrigine and found it has helped with mood? and in what way has it made a difference?

[frassergrantt]

I did take anti depressants but they did not work, simply because the feelings of depression were not actual depression but just an effect of haemorrhage.

What work for me was after two years and a bit I got sick and tired of whinging and lazy, that I literally told myself to stop the whinging etc and to just do it! That action which I did on every occasion I felt too down to do anything or apathetic has effectually uplifted my mood and I am more positive and able to function as a decent human being and it has been best medicine.

Coincidentally, I have come upon the neurological field of neuroplasticity which is exactly what I have succeeded in doing. You are what you think, mind over matter. That is what benefitted me over any drugs. Brilliant indeed. Good luck to you and your journey of healing. (The book I read was by Norman Doidge.)

[Plenty in reply to frassergrantt]

What was his book called?

Was it - The Brain That Changes Itself

[Plenty in reply to Plenty]

Or - The Brain’s Way of Healing?

[magdolna in reply to Plenty]

Yes that is the one dated 2007, and then more recently The Brain's Way of Healing. They are pretty much the same and so no point having the two of them. I got carried away when ordering them off Amazon!

[steve55]

i was given 1200mg of epilim twice a day for my organic personality disorder it did nothing for the aggression but i piled on the pounds and was weened off of it and put on carbamazapine.

my psychiatrist has now told me it doesnt matter what meds he puts me on it will do nothing for my aggression.

[Danger19]

Hello my lovely,

I have been taking Lamotragine for about six years. I take 150mgs each day. It was not prescribed for my brain injury that happend in January of this year. It was actually prescribed to help with the symptoms of my Bipolar Affective Disorder. I'll be honest, there is not many anti- depressants that I haven't tried over the years but none have ever been effective in controlling my moods like Lamotragine. I honestly don't know where I would be right now without them. Before being given the medications I take now and i take about fifteen different medications a day to control my Bipolar. But all the symptoms I used to have are so much better, admittedly no matter what medications I take, my Bipolar will still rear its ugly head at times.

The bad times I experienced before the Lamotragine were things like suicidal thoughts, wanting to self harm, severe depression and extreme mania. I had to find something to stabilise me as I have to children who don't deserve to live with a depressant or have to live with the knowledge their mother decided to take her own life. I do take other antidepressants alongside the Lamotragine such as Doloxetine, Mirtazipine, Carbamazipine,, Quietiapine to name just a few of what I take. But the truth is, I tried a lot of different anti-depressants alongside what I was already taking but it was only once the Lamotragine was introduced that I really started to recover and be me again. I would absolutely swear by Lamotragine as having a hand in changing my life for the better.i would certainly encourage anybody struggling with their moods to give it ago. The only other thing to say is basically I am officially diagnosed as a nutter but the Lamotragine and my other meds keep me sane,, well others that know me might not refer to me as sane but that's because I like to be different. All I can say is if you feel you may be struggling with your moods why not just give it a try? You have nothing to lose my friend. If I can help you any further then please just ask.

I wish you peace, happiness, good health and lots of good luck,

Vikki

[Harrys]

My son was on this for a few weeks and he came out in big red rash patches all on his shoulders , so he stopped taking it .

[Marnie22]

Hi. I have terrible rushes of anger and after discussing things with my doctor, I tried Lamotrigine. It did dull the angry feelings a bit, but it also filled all my positive feelings as well, making me feel I could slide towards depression. I came off it after only about a month. I have actually had better results from using a relaxation/hypnosis tape that a qualified psychotherapist and hypnotherapist gave me. It had been amazingly helpful for calmness, good sleep and self-confidence.

I should add that I have been waiting for treatment for PTSD for over a year.

[scotcher]

When I was diagnosed with Epilepsy, the first medication prescribed by my Neurologist was Keppra and when taking this I couldn't stay awake, just wanted to sleep all the time. Lamotragine was the second medication prescribed for me and this gave me bad headaches, so I was taken off that. I was then put on Pregabalin which I was able to tolerate. The worst thing about taking the medication is my memory has become so bad when there was no problem with it before, but for me being physically active helps greatly.

[Hidden]

It helps

[sealiphone]

I went straight on to Lamotrigine after my first seizure following my TBI, great for my seizures but I still needed to be prescribed Mirtazapine, as it had no beneficial effect on my low mood.

I have reservations about others experience being helpful with advice regarding antidepressants as it's very much suck it and see without the complication of everyone's brain injury being different.

If you've not sought help already it may be that CBT may be more appropriate than medication.