Lactimil as a stand alone anti-depressant any feelings

[Faex24]

I have Major Depression and Agoraphobia. I recently had to stop Welbutrin SR due to SE.
In light of my history of poor reactions to many ADs, my doctor is insisting that I take either Lithium
or Lactimil.
I did well on Nardil but became allergic after stopping then restarting when I became depressed again.

[Faex24]

I realized afer writing the post that I had not clarified that when I was taking AD's to treat
Panic disorder, I wasn't depresssed.
The Major Depression hit in 2000. By that time I had spent a lot of time looking for non-benzo alternatives. I got lucky , as
my doctor decided to try a MAOI, Parnate just as the Depression hit hard. It worked
very well ith the depressive symptoms but the side effects were fatigue and light sensitivity.
I was switched to Nardil, the same drug my father had success with after multiple
failures looking for an AD for depression.

I told the pscyhiatrist what I had been attemtping to do more clearly but he dismissed
it as irrelevant.

I joined the Anxiety community. I have had anxiety problems all my life.



Sorry about the confusion and thanks for the suggestion.

[xanweaner]

Your quote: " I was actually looking
for an AD to block panic attacks not depression. That was dismissed as irrelevant. "
____________________________________________________________________

If I'm understanding you correctly, you're trying to treat your panic disorder? I would suggest going over to the Anxiety Forum and do some reading. There is some great info. over there as many people are taking a variety of meds to help with their panic disorder.

Particularly useful info. can be found on Ryan's postings - if you're interested, I'll send over his name, so you can check out some of the info. he's offered. He's incredibly knowledgeable about pharmacology - and what's most important, I believe he's posted about the problems that can occur using AD's to treat panic disorder only. I don't recall his comments with the usage of Lamactil or Lithium to treat this.

You also might want to find Dr. David Burn's Book (forgot the title) - well-respected in the field and does a complete overview of all of the drugs - both pros and cons...

Good luck in your search - and hope to see you over in the Anxiety Community...
-xan-

[Faex24]

Thanks for your comment.

As a matter of fact she didn't tell me anything. Nada. Other docs regarded it as a
sleep inducement aid. The drug was very new then but it helped a lot of her patients
who had not done well with others. That was a long time ago.


I am working with a Nurse Practioner who specializes in psychopharmacology.

Before that I had another pscychiatrist who was very wise about somethings but appears
to have not looked into Remeron much.

I went for two consults out here. The first psychiatrist felt that I had been through too
many anti-depressants and offered Lithium. Never said he thought I was BP 1
or BP 2. He never made a real effort to discover which ADs I had taken.
Just  felt there had been too many treatment failures with ADs. I was actually looking
for an AD to block panic attacks not depression. That was dismissed as irrelevant.

I decided to go elsewhere. After no luck with ESAM patch (which did nothing)
and bad luck with WB, he has thrown in the towel as well.
I get to choose Lithium or Lamictil.
Or I suppose, move on . LOL

I noticed a lot of Welbutrin users got through the side-effcts and do all right. I must be good at whining.
He pulled me off right away.

The NP can't be bothered to speak with my former psychiatrist of nine years.

On the bright side, there seems to be more use of Lithium or Lamactil.
as front-line anti-depressants with bad AD responders like me. . Very hard to get used to Lithium in that role and
I knew little about Lamactil until he mentioned it.

.

[xanweaner]

I'm assuming that your psychiatrist told you that as you increased your dose of mirtazapine, the sedative effects will get minimized. Initially, the sedative effect is huge!!! Then as you increase upwards, 15 mg and greater - I take 30 mg. (max. dose is 45 mg.),  the huge sedation levels off. I take my dose in the evening.

So, in summary, on the lower dosages of mirtazapine, you have greater side effects - it's the one wieird quality to the drug.

I'm not saying it's a perfect AD - it does increase your appetite, but it's effective.

Good luck - and I hope that you are working with a psychiatrist, not a GP or internist.

[Faex24]

I tried Remeron years ago. It put me to sleep and then some.
It was fairly new then but had already helped some people who were
having problems with ADs.
Maybe I should have tried a smaller dose of Remeron.
I have been reading everything I can find on Lamactil.
I am almost ready!

Thanks for your suggestion

[xanweaner]

It sounds like you tried all the common SSRI's - have you tried a tetracyclic - mirtazapine? I take it - aka - Remeron. I react horribly to SSRI's - they make me agitated and a mess, and mirtazapine was the only AD I could tolerate.

I also take a low dose of Lamactil with it - 40 - 50 mg.
Good luck...do some reading on the site about both of these two drugs and ask your Dr. for his opinion.

[Faex24]

Sorry folks I meant Lamictal.