zonegran as a mood stabilizer

hi! i'm pretty new here, so i'd first of all like to introduce myself. i'm maya. i am 27, and recently diagnosed with bipolar d/o. i've had problems w/depression and anxiety for years (since my teens) but never really seemed to get anywhere with my treatment. finally, my md dx'ed a few months ago and we've been working to get my medications regulated. i'm on prozac for the depression component; i take klonopin twice daily for anxiety with a prn xanax for breakthrough panic attacks. we've tried seroquel and zyprexa as mood stabilizers but they packed the weight on rapidly and just didn't work 100%.

i am now on zonegran 100 mg daily. it's a newer antiseizure drug being used "off-label" for bipolar mood stabilization and also in binge-eating disorder. i was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with zonegran since there is so little information out there.

hello all! just posting an update with my progress on the zonegran. i am on day four, still taking 100 mg daily.

i am having moderate to severe nausea and mild diarrhea. my moods are somewhat controlled, but i am restless and having some trouble sleeping. the literature states that it takes two weeks to reach a steady state, so i'm just waiting and hoping that this nausea subsides!

on the up side, i am losing weight and my appetite has been greatly diminished.

i will keep you all posted. and if anyone has any experiences with zonegran, please post them here. i'd like to see how this drug is working for bipolar people.

hey, i'm jaime and i'm 24. i was diagnosed 5 years ago and have been on lithium just as long. just moved and got a new doctor, so i finally made a switch. first tried lamictal, but i got the 'fatal rash' so i quit that. now i'm on zonegran. it's been 2 weeks already. i've had the mild diarrhea just like you. but i've had some nausea as well and my appetite hasn't really gone away. in fact, in the morning, if i don't eat anything i think i'm going to DIE. but i really hope i lose all the 'lithium weight.' that would be awesome.

my moods have been ok i guess, but it's so hard for me to tell since i just went through all the hurricane katrina mess. so i'm not really sure what's affecting what if i'm having a bad day or if i just happen to miss my husband in a particular moment. maybe in the next month or so once things settle for me i'll be able to tell better if it's working. i think 2 weeks is too early for me. but i'm glad i see that there's someone else out there that's trying it too.

Hi,

Yeah, Lamictal......

After 7 previous failures, I don't get to exceited about drugs the first 3 days or so, it was working great, until after 3 weeks I realized that I had a constant neck ache, tired/dry eyes, and started having severly unhappy thoughts.

I've been off for four days, and I feel much better, almost back to "normal". It was a crushing disapointment, because I started to believe that this would a new and important step forward.

My T says 3 patients she has are doing very well with it, checking the web out says the same thing. Don't go by me, I tend to have reactions to many drugs in strong opposition to most people.

What can you do? Just keep plugging away.

Regards,
W