Cyclothimia-if anyone has some answers

Hello!

I already posted my story on this forum but maybe by opening new subject for discusion I'll get some response and maybe some help+sharing experiences

Well about a month ago I was diagnosed with cyclothimia, and I am eating Lamictal for 5th week now. I am detecting some changes but I am nearly not as good as I should be ( though I don't even know if I'll be aware of "normal" mood when and if it comes). My dosage will be 100 mg of Lamictal and my DC said I'll be taking 100mg for 8 weeks. I don't know why so little? I thought that I'd had to eat these pills my whole life?

I am not experiencing euphoria or anything, mostly I am "depressed" though I guess it's not really depressino, since depresiion is a powerful word and I presume being deeply depressed feels even worse than I do. But when my bad mood starts kicking it I feel also anxiety, and I cry A LOT. Everytime there is a subject within my family about serisous things about my life I start feeling sad and anxiety. I dunno if that's normal or not.

My question is also, I read is somewhere, that Lamictal needs up to 2 or 3 months to fully work. Let me also mention I had panick attack about 2 years ago, got AD's that made me super hymer manic I guess, I was shopping all the time and didn't feel happy at all. Thewn i stopped taking ADF's, things got worse, I was againg presribted with AD's It was hell on earth I tell you.

Then I got lamictal and I guess things are getting better. But I am sceptic. It's hard for someone like me that was ALWAYXS optimistic and helping others be so pesimistic and sad all the time. I am also confused about my feelings. SO until my health I mean mood doesn't stabilize I don't wanna make andy HUGE decision about my life, since my mind is blurred, and my feeling messed.
Thanks for your help and I hope you'll share some experiences...

Have a good day!

Hello,

this might be a stupid question but are you sure your doctor didn't mean you will take 100 mg for 8 weeks and then dosage will be increased? Lamictal is introduced very slowly to ensure the 'Lamictal rash' syndrome, if it develops, doesn't harm you badly. A link I've found (I'm not posting it here because I don't know how legit the website is) suggests that for cyclothymia dosages up to 400 mg are considered normal.

Hopefully your next doctor visit will answer the question, and you'll feel better soon! Big hug.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANSWERING

Yeah, I am sure she said lift the doze up SLOWLY every 2 weeks for 25 mg, I am now on 75 mg till next monday, then I will go on 100mg and she said we will stay on hat dosage for 8 weeks....how to go on she didn't say but luckily I have an appointment with her next tuesday so I already wrote down on 3 pages what Im going to ask her I think I'm gonna be at DC's for 3 hours haha.

I ready every forum there is about cyclothimia, and there are a lot of different information about it. Some say it's not even a mental illness. Well whatever it is, I hope this Lamictal thing helps. I read somewhere (I think it wasn't here) that even when you get to the dose 100mg you have to give it some more time to "kick in", but I am scared that it won't work.

Tomorrow, for eample, my parents are going away on holiday for one week and it'll be just me and my boyfriend, it's not that I don't trust him to take care of me at this stage I am....but still I feel the safest with my parents. I am way too weak and vunerable I hope this "acting like a child" will soon go away and that everything is just y symptom od cyclothimia.

I'd very much appreciate it if anyone has good experiences with Lamictal, I mean, WILL I ACTUALLY FEEL GOOD EVERY DAY? I mean not good like I would be "high" on drugs or anything, just me, myself....happy and not thinking about being sad, having panic attack, having anxiety? I am freaking out yea, but I am sooooo tired of missing all the good things in life. I have a feeling everyone around me, friends and family, are moving forward, doing new stuff, and I am staying behind with my sadness....and everything else that comes together with this.

I am trying to think optimistic, but all optimism faded away in the last 6 months...

I would be very happy for your support, even hearing encouraging words from anyone on the forum would make me feel better. So, I hope I'll get some kind words as you'rs were once again I tahnk you.

Let me remind you I was on zolofit cus doctors thought i have anxiety. And it got even worse. But lamictal is....well my main concern is that i think about dying a lot. Relatovely a lot. Now i know its a side effect and when in destimya you can have thaz kinnda ideas. I truly hope all of this will go away cus even though i am not ok at all i am better. I slepp very good and i am eating normal. Which was all impossible before

also read that AD kicks off sooner than mood stabilizer. Maybe i already wrote that and i forgot my memory is not as good as it should be. And another thing im noticing is that i am almost NEVER euphoric but depressed all the time or very often and it takes AGES before it gets just a little better.

maybe its too soon to tell if my new medcs are working.

the hardest thing is when i sometimes ask myself...is this reqlly my life?what happened to me?where did i do smth wrong?

i hope all this nonesense will fly away...soon.

waiting for good stable normal healthy days...and wishing all of you the best

And another thing that just happend freaked me out. Earlier this evenong I was depressed n hsd suicidal thoughts. Then later i got small anxiety attack that passes by quite quickly. Later on I was sad further more and didnt eat much and i became very tired so i fell asleep infront of tv. Then i woke up feeling good and was up till late. Now i finnaly went to bed and woke up my heart was racing and i was sure i felt earthquake shaking my bed but it wasnt. So what is this? I have shivers going up and down my legs and i feel totally confused. Like everything is happening to me again and i going crazy?

is this Lamictal kicking in or I am really losing it?