I'm at 100 mg Lamictal for 3 weeks now, been titrating up VERY slowly for about 3 months. I should be up higher by now, but it's a deal with my gdoc who started me on this but now wants me to see a pdoc to go higher. Whatever. I felt nothing at 25 mg, a little better at 50 mg, and have felt pretty good so far at 100. Given the success so far, I'm pretty stoked about the results when I eventually get to 300 mg or whatever the final dosage will be.

I've read a lot of reviews about Lamictal and this is definitely one of those that's totally hit or miss. Either it works great, or it does not at all and makes people miserable. I had a weird feeling it would work for me based on similarities in my condition and the positive reviews I found. The other 5 or 6 psych meds (non SSRI) were pretty terrible for me. Depakote was the most decent in terms of bad side effects, but I acted like a miserable old fart all the time, mumbling under my breath and all. Good times.

Think of each individual and our symptoms as like keys on a piano that's out of tune. Nobody is the same. Everyone has different keys that are out of whack there's just no way of knowing exactly what needs to be fixed without trial and error. These meds all kind of hit different keys like fingers pressing down at different points along the keyboard. For one person, the fit might be great, but terrible for another because it's hitting the wrong 'keys' if you know what I mean.

A past doctor I had, one who was really great at listening and taking her time to understand her patients, gave me that analogy. I try to remember it when I try any new meds. It can take a long time to figure out the right combinations for each individual which is why it is so critical that we all understand as much as we can about ourselves and our treatments.. Just don't be afraid to keep trying new ones if you sense any med isn't working. And don't be afraid to communicate any of that to your doctors. They better listen.