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1912569 tn?1485015929

Tapering from meds to take new meds or not?

Hi :). I need some input on this issue. The medications I am taking now are: quetiapine 25mg night, lamotrigine 100mg night, wellbutrin 150mg twice a day. And inderal 10mg as needed for anxiety.

Lamotrigine gave me a rash, wellbutrin (generic version) made me irritable and snippy at everything. The seroquel (generic version) has been wonderful, although it makes me hungry but since I take it at night I try not to stay awake with it. Inderal (propranolol) gave me apathy so I am taking less.

The new medication I was prescribed is Zoloft (sertraline) 50mg in the morning, trileptal (oxcarbazepin) 150mg twice a day. Seroquel and inderal are still the same.

My issue is withdrawal from medication. I have asked my pdoc- he says I don't need to taper off. Will the new medication replace the old, that way the withdrawl is not bad? I did a little bit of searching and it seems the withdrawl from the lamotrigine may be bad. I have been taking it for about a year now. The wellbutrin for about a month.

What are your experiences with withdrawal?
2 Responses
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973741 tn?1342342773
Perhaps this is because you are replacing one medication with another in the same class, your doc didn't recommend a taper.  Another reason why a doctor when someone has bipolar and is transitioning medications is that the down time of cleaning one out of your system will result in not being properly medicated which can be dangerous for bipolar.  Psychiatrists are well versed and working with these cocktails of drugs and am sure you are not the first patient that your pdoc has recommended a cold turkey switch with.  You can follow your doctor's orders and if you experience anything---  let them know.  Remember that all medications have different half lives and how long they are in your system will vary so withdrawal is not always a given.  So, you can follow your current doctors orders but keep them in the loop for anything negative you experience or get a second opinion but am guessing this is fairly standard for a med cocktail switch up like this.  Let us know how it goes!
Helpful - 1
2 Comments
The transition in the switch lasted a couple of days. I was very fatigued and felt just really tired for the main part. The rash got better and I am starting to feel like a good version of myself. Thank you!
Oh, that's awesome.  I'm glad it went well.  Come back and keep us up to date on how you are doing!
5536886 tn?1455827346
It's interesting that your doctor said not to worry about tapering off- typical with this type of medication you want to be careful about going off it.  I would talk to your pharmacist- get an opinion there and if you can get another docs opinion just to be on the safe side.  Good luck!
Helpful - 1
1 Comments
Thanks for the response. I did talk to a pharmacist and he was not too concerned either. The medications I switched to took care of the replacements. He also mentioned to just keep an eye out for symptoms that worsen and what not. Thanks again!  
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