Hello to Everyone,
Wow, thanks so much for the nice comments. It has definitely been a tough week. I made it to all of my appointments- saw all of the people I said I would see and basically kept functioning, but work definitely suffered. I started with the correct meds two days ago and I’m already feeling better.
I receive a lot of blog comments with questions. Please feel free to offer tips to the person asking the question as I think that we all have ideas on what can help manage this illness- and advice for those we care about people with the illness! I will answer all I can in the next week.
I will be back in action soon. I know the new meds will really help. I have a book proposal due, lots of email to answer and an article to write for BP Magazine. I have to get myself in gear!
julie
PS: If you are new to this blog, you can start at the bottom and read up- I started to get sick about a month ago and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I finally realized it was my generic Lamictal and I switched back to the regular stuff and am doing a lot better! It’s important to note that most people do fine with generics- some of us don’t!
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Hi Julie!
So glad you are already feeling better! Great news!
Take care!
Hopeful Heart
I had the same trouble with the generic Lamictal. I felt much better after switching back to the name brand. My p-doc had a tough time convincing the insurance company that there was indeed a difference. Fortunately they agreed to pay for it. It sure is an expensive medicine and would hate to be paying full tilt.
Best to you.
Chip
Hi Julie,
I just read your newsletter about the generic lamotrigine and wanted to let you know my experience.
I live in Australia, where generic lamotrigine has been available for some time. Lamotrigine is not approved for the treatment of bipolar disorder here, so is not covered by any insurance. The full price for Lamictal is almost $200 for 56 tablets. The generic is $60, so I have been taking generic LTG from the beginning.
The first few weeks on it I noticed an improvement. It was slight, but I hoped over time it would increase. Three months after I began taking it I went away for the weekend and forgot to pack my meds. Fortunately, I had my prescription with me, so I found a pharmacy and had it refilled, however, they gave me a different brand of generic. After about a week of taking the new brand, I noticed a HUGE difference. I finally started feeling normal! It was a huge relief. I thought it was just that I’d been taking the medication for long enough though, and didn’t put it down to the change in brand. Then last year, my pharmacist changed brands without consulting me. I figured generic was generic and didn’t worry too much about it, but slowly I began to get worse and worse, until I was overwhelmed by a debilitating, paranoid depression. Then I had to change pharmacists again, and switched back to my previous generic brand. Within weeks, I was back to normal.
Since then I’ve done a lot of research into the different inactive ingredients in each brand. I discovered that the generic that works for me has virtually the same inactive ingredients as Lamictal.
This information is probably not particularly useful for those in the U.S. (as I understand it, Teva is the only generic lamotrigine available there, is that right?) but for those in Australia and the UK, I would recommend doing your homework about generic – some are definitely better than others!
Thank you Kate. I love hearing from people around the world. I think that the generics you get are different… this really does bring up the question- why aren’t we educated on this by our health care professionals! At least we could then monitor our own mood swings. I think it’s a great idea to look for the inactive ingredients that work. I will pass that idea along.
Julie
I read your email and thought I would visit your blog to leave a message saying that I’m happy you’re feeling better. I really appreciate your candor and honesty. It’s helped me to understand so much more bipolar disorder.
Hi Julie
I know you aren’t a pharmacist but…
I started taking Lamictal 2 years ago. It worked, and has continued to work very well at 50mg.(Isn’t it great that there’s not even a pill that size!)
Here’s the thing. When my depression was first diagnosed I was put on setraline(generic Zoloft) at 50 then 100mg. This never worked at all but I was told to keep taking it WITH the Lamictal. My psycho-pharmo provider keeps insisting that I should still take the Zoloft – because “better not to tinker with something that is working” and that both drugs may well be working together.
Web searches have not shed much light on this. So I wondered if you or your any of your readers have dealt with this.
I’m not sure if I’m taking something I don’t need – or I’m a patient who is not compliant!
Fran
Oh, wow. I had no idea about the variations in the generic. I will pay better attention.
However, about Lamictal and its generics in general. When I was first placed on Lamictal, I did very well for the first week or two. The higher the dose, the more manic (my psychiatrist actually decided it was ADHD!) I became. Then I started getting all kinds of muscle aches and pains. While I’m no spring chicken, I’m not aged. I was beginning to feel about 90 years old.
I researched Lamictal and found that the aches and pains could be a side effect. I called the psychiatrist — and never got a call back.
Since then I have gotten my generic lamictal from my general practitioner (not something I generally recommend) and have stabilized my dosage at 15 mg every other day. This has minimized the adverse side effects while keeping my moods pretty stable.
Thank you, Julie, for your website. It was a wonderful resource for me when my granddaughter was in a major manic phase and nobody had identified it.
I, too, have been in your position where generic Lamictal was not effective for me. I switched last fall sometime, maybe October. After about 5-6 wks on it I visited my dr. who had written the Rx for me. I had not been doing so well–depressed more, irritable, etc. All she said was, “I’m switching you back to Lamictal”, generic Lamictal has been cited lately of NOT being the same as name brand, and she did not even hesitate to tell me this. Well, I did begin to feel my old self again. This has been my best winter (live in midwest) in about 15 years–not solely due to Lamictal, but a combination of changes in my lifestyle.
Anyway, I just wanted to validate that generic Lamictal can, indeed, be the cause of returning symptoms. Listen to your dr. or suggest to your dr. if they have not heard.
I AM doing well now and last year was a tremendous year of change, but I came through just fine and am still doing well. Thank you to my God, for answering my prayers.
Thanks for getting your newsletter out despite the mood swings. I read every one.
My pdoc told me she’s had a negative report from the majority of her bipolar patients regarding generic Lamictal. When she went to a conference, someone asked what she thought of the generic Lamictal. She said she rolled her eyes and the entire audience laughed. I think even the M.D.s are having a tough time with this generic Lamictal.
Hope you feel better soon…
Vicki
I agree with you (and I told my pdoc this): bipolar is never predictable. It is like the weather. General forecasts but never more than a day or two ahead.
Spring is on her way. Look out for the next mood swing. But I’m feeling good right now… productive and
I was recently put on generic Effexor and my mood seems as good as it was on regular Effexor. Yet…I wonder if there is something different going on….My psychiatrist says there is absolutely no difference with the ingredients in each pill. I’ve been taking the generic now for over a month and as I said, my mood is quite stable.
Hi Jeff,
Many people take generics with no problem. I think the issue is taht the generic Lamictal is only a few months old. It has not been on the market very long at all, and I get the feeling it was not tested very well in terms of the inactive ingredients. I know a lot of people who take generic antidepressants with no problem. They have been around a long time. I just want to get the word out that we have to be careful with the Lamictal- I have not heard of too many issues with other drugs. People can let me know if there are other issues! Your psychiatrist is talking about active ingredients- you can explain that the inactive ingredients and how and where the pills are manufactured can be the problem. I am proff that the meds are not the same at all! And my mom is proof, that people can take generics with no problem. It depends on the person! thanks for writing. Julie