It's giving me acne. I've finally noticed the correlation! The more I increased the dose, the worse my acne became. I've never had such bad acne in my life! I usually had a pimple here and there, but this is BAD! =[
I need stop taking this drug immediately! How would I even go about it? I will talk to my psychiatrist about this, but I need to start weening myself off of it TONIGHT! Anyone what I should do? I'm taking 200 mgs. of it. Should I cut it in a half or what?
2007-08-30 08:39:02 · 11 answers · asked by SuperFox 1 in Health ➔ Mental Health
OK so we all no you should not stop taking these meds, especially not abruptly but......... I HAVE!! :)) I was on celexa 40mgs a day. I stopped just like that one day after an argument with my doctor over the helpfulness of this med for my problems. I felt OK for a day or so then got a very dizzy head, it felt like my inner ear had lost balance! I could only describe it as feeling as tho my brain was floating in water. I put up with these feelings for 10 days thinking it would soon stop, however it didn't and i started feeling nauseous as well. To try to counter-act this i put myself back on to 10Mg's a day and am shortly going to decrease this to 5Mg's. I think that yes, although you SHOULD do this with doc's advise etc, it really is YOUR choice. If you want to stop then why not? If you feel that you need them you can always start taking them again! However, i wouldn't do what i did again. The sensible way to stop is to wean yourself off over a month or so reducing the dose every week by a certain amount of Mg's. This is all the doc would do anyway! I would also add that it would be worth trying other meds tho, cause they all have their own and different side-effects. You may not get acne on another med. At the end of the day, it's your life, your mind and your choice, just be sensible about it and think of your options carefully before doing anything. Take care. :))
2007-08-30 09:06:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Abrupt discontinuation of anticonvulsants puts you at risk of SEIZURES even if you've never had one before. Plus there's the med withdrawal and a whole bunch of nastiness caused by abrupt d/c. That's not even taking into account of trigger another BD episode or the message it sends to your pdoc.
Does Lamictal manage your BD? If so, best options are Topicals and/or Antibiotics. Are there any serious side effects? If not, think long and hard. A lot of stabilizers make you stupid, make you nauseous, and have other untenuable side effects, plus they might not work on your illness. Since you are BDII, give yourself a reality check: acne managed with acne meds OR depression. Lamictal is the only stabilizer that really works well for depression.
~bipolar, on Lamictal, Lithium, and antibiotics - problem solved
2007-08-30 15:53:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Are you positive that the Lamictal is what is causing the increase in acne? Acne is not a normal side effect of this medication. If you are positive, then you must talk to your doctor first.
If you are insisting on discontinuing on your own(highly unrecommended) then you have to do it very slowly. It is recommended that discontinuation be done over a period of weeks(at least 2 weeks). Since you are on a 200 mg/day dose, you should first cut down to 150 mg/day for at least a week, 100 mg/day for another week, and so on.
2007-08-30 15:51:49 · answer #3 · answered by MELISSA B 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You shouldn't stop taking it all at once. You really need to reduce gradually - cutting it in half is too extream. You really should discuss it with your psychiatrist first.
You may want to consider keeping the lamictal and just treating the acne at the same time.. I would try proactive- completely cleared up my acne and it would still allow you to keep you bipolar disorder properly medicated.
2007-08-30 16:15:28 · answer #4 · answered by just4a2nd 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don't try to take yourself off the Lamictal because of vanity - what's worse, acne or another Bi-polar episode? Every time you have an episode it's that much harder to get yourself stabilized, talk to your doctor and see if there's an alternative that you can try - or maybe something else to counter the effects of the Lamictal.
2007-08-30 15:46:29 · answer #5 · answered by woodlands127 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
NEVER stop a drug like that cold turkey. You need to be weaned off of it slowly or the reaction could be severe. Whether you start weaning tonight, or tomorrow will make very little difference, let me urge you to wait until you have spoken with your psychiatrist before you do anything about weaning it.
2007-08-30 15:50:15 · answer #6 · answered by essentiallysolo 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You are never supposed to stop your medication without your psychiatrist knowing. Call his office and talk to the nurse about your acne problem and see if there is another medication you can take. They will work with you if there is an alternative.
2007-08-30 15:46:40 · answer #7 · answered by Beckers 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Never stop taking psychiatric drugs without talking to your doctor first. With bipolar, you can end up in a severe manic or depressive state to the point where you could kill yourself! Please wait until you talk to your doctor! Clearing acne isn't worth it!
2007-08-30 15:44:54 · answer #8 · answered by Kir S 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Never lower your dosage without consulting your doctor first. It can have severly harmful side effects. You need to discuss it with a professional, maybe be taken off this drug and put on something new.
2007-08-30 15:45:27 · answer #9 · answered by partygurlone 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Never stop taking any medication with out medical supervision. you should always wean off these kind of meds.
2007-09-01 16:31:25 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋