300 mgs of Lamictal, Week 1: From Delayed Sleep Phase into Somnolence

I am now up to 300 mgs of lamictal, what I hope will be a therapeutic dose.  I know that higher doses are used to treat epilepsy -- lamictal was first developed as a anti-convulsant -- but I have no idea whether there are problems if they're used to treat mood disorders.

Fortunately, my mood seems to be pretty good so far.  On the other hand, my mood has improved every time I've titrated up, only to sink again as the days continue to get shorter.  On the other other hand, my daily dip has seemed to even out somewhat, which I figure I can take as a good sign.

My first week at 300 has also changed my side effects dramatically.  My delayed sleep phase is simply gone -- I get sleepy at 11:30, fall asleep around midnight, and usually wake up around 9.  On the other hand, sometimes I sleep too much, until 10 or 10:30.  Nine hours of sleep is what I need to function well.  Ten hours is unusual.

The GI effects that I bitched about so much have also vanished completely.  They came on suddenly at 150 mgs, and continued through 200 and 250.  At 300 they just disappeared.  Yay!



Some previous side effects continue, like my balance issues.  As before, this is most noticeable when doing one-leg exercises during my weight routine.  As before, this is more of a problem on my dominant leg.  At times, they're bad enough that I can feel a bit of back strain during one-leg dead lifts. The back strain is new, but improving; and other than while weight lifting, the balance issues aren't to bothersome.  (And because I want to brag, I'll point out that I use 15 lb weights in each hand, not the tiny barbie weights the model is using in that image  I am mighty!).

The only other side effect that continues is loss of appetite during the day.  My breakfast sits half-finished after two hours.  But by evening I'll be ravenous again, so I guess it balances out.

One completely new side effect is that I've started dreaming vividly since going up to 300 mgs.


My dreams all seem to involve running through a city on fire.  In one, while the fire raged in the background, I was told by a Yoruba priestess of my acquaintance (yes, really; I do live in California, after all) that I needed to have a conversation with my ancestors.  This morning I had a dream that I was wearing a phrygian cap.  The phrygian cap has been around since the ancient Greeks, and has come to symbolize liberty; it was worn by revolutionaries in both France and the American Colonies.

A phrygian cap, drawn by Bastian at Wikimedia Commons

My made of straw -- or rather, half-made of straw.  Some of the straw hadn't been woven in and stuck down my back, which was worrisome because (of course) I was running from a fire.

I do wonder about the fire imagery.  Lamictal or not, I believe that whatever dreams it triggers are going to relate to my own issues or unconscious thoughts in some way.  Fiery destruction ... not of my home, so not of myself, but of a town.  Not my town; my sense is that I don't live there myself.  And my sense is that everyone is escaping.  It's just the buildings are burning, the facades, the artificial shelters people build for themselves.  But why not my own city, my own community?

Oh well.