Lamotrigine questions

[dom]

Hi guys,

I had a meeting with a neurologist who has seen lots of people with VSS however said not many that had the syndrome caused by psychedelics.

 

He has put me on a regime of suppliments and said to go back to him in a few weeks and possibly start lamotrigine.

 

with my symptoms continuing to worsen I see no option but to start a medicine after trying to stay off them for the past 4 years. 
 

I would be massively appreciative if anyone could let me know of their experiences with lamotrigine and how it affected them.

 

thank you 

[brake]

1 hour ago, dom said:

Hi guys,

I had a meeting with a neurologist who has seen lots of people with VSS however said not many that had the syndrome caused by psychedelics.

 

He has put me on a regime of suppliments and said to go back to him in a few weeks and possibly start lamotrigine.

 

with my symptoms continuing to worsen I see no option but to start a medicine after trying to stay off them for the past 4 years. 
 

I would be massively appreciative if anyone could let me know of their experiences with lamotrigine and how it affected them.

 

thank you 

Hi Dom! I found lamictal to decrease my anxiety and depression and visuals however I had some allergies to it. I don't remember exactly what but it was bad enough to discontinue use. If you don't have any allergies or side effects from it, I highly recommend it. Wish you all the best!

[dom]

Just now, brake said:

Hi Dom! I found lamictal to decrease my anxiety and depression and visuals however I had some allergies to it. I don't remember exactly what but it was bad enough to discontinue use. If you don't have any allergies or side effects from it, I highly recommend it. Wish you all the best!

Thanks brake,

When you say decrease visuals was this as soon as you took it or over a long period of taking it? 
 

also I like the idea of decreasing anxiety and depression too. 
 

thanks for your response 

[brake]

41 minutes ago, dom said:

Thanks brake,

When you say decrease visuals was this as soon as you took it or over a long period of taking it? 
 

also I like the idea of decreasing anxiety and depression too. 
 

thanks for your response 

Very soon like a few days or a week 

[dom]

15 hours ago, brake said:

Very soon like a few days or a week 

Thanks for the response brake 

[yarkadin]

17 hours ago, brake said:

Very soon like a few days or a week 

Brake, how exactly did the Lamotragine change your visual symptoms?  I recall Raincat here also mentioned something about "softening" the visual snow and something else...

Here's my problem with this: HPPD, at least for myself, changes on a daily basis.  It's never stable outside of perhaps the timeframe of a full day.  If I go without sleep or bad sleep (as I did yesterday), the afterimages, the snow, the depersonalization, all gets worse.  If I stare at my computer for a long period of time, particular words on a white background, the visual snow gets worse.  If I sleep better, I tend to notice the visuals less.  On rainy days or right before storms (for some reason) my HPPD symptoms all flare up like crazy... it's all over the place... which is why to get some kind of objective marker on how a med reduces or worsens these symptoms takes a lot of careful and focused self-evaluation, I think.  I have experienced this for years so I would KNOW for a fact if some med, after an hour of hitting the blood-brain barrier, does something productive or destructive to these symptoms. 

Klonopin, for example, for me does very little to the symptoms... it might do a little but not a lot, and I have a feeling it is in the realm of placebo.  If it did have a sizeable impact I would think the VSS foundation (as skeptical and cynical as I am about it) would have focused on it, but they certainly are not doing so.

Edited October 3, 2024 by yarkadin

[dom]

1 hour ago, yarkadin said:

Brake, how exactly did the Lamotragine change your visual symptoms?  I recall Raincat here also mentioned something about "softening" the visual snow and something else...

Here's my problem with this: HPPD, at least for myself, changes on a daily basis.  It's never stable outside of perhaps the timeframe of a full day.  If I go without sleep or bad sleep (as I did yesterday), the afterimages, the snow, the depersonalization, all gets worse.  If I stare at my computer for a long period of time, particular words on a white background, the visual snow gets worse.  If I sleep better, I tend to notice the visuals less.  On rainy days or right before storms (for some reason) my HPPD symptoms all flare up like crazy... it's all over the place... which is why to get some kind of objective marker on how a med reduces or worsens these symptoms takes a lot of careful and focused self-evaluation, I think.  I have experienced this for years so I would KNOW for a fact if some med, after an hour of hitting the blood-brain barrier, does something productive or destructive to these symptoms. 

Klonopin, for example, for me does very little to the symptoms... it might do a little but not a lot, and I have a feeling it is in the realm of placebo.  If it did have a sizeable impact I would think the VSS foundation (as skeptical and cynical as I am about it) would have focused on it, but they certainly are not doing so.

A very interesting point, also I saw the VSI people were doing a clinical trial of medication for visual snow and I was actually wondering if it was going to be lamotrigine that they use in that trial.

[brake]

Okay so I mentioned this before, nothing helps my visual static stuff, but the other symptoms get better. The best is 2 milligrams (probably more as well would be good) of Xanax but it's very temporary. Maybe a high dose of Valium would work too but I don't know. I noticed that the effects of lamictal on my vision were subtle but it felt less shaky and trippy and more stable. It also enhanced my mood also. The visual snow though seems super permanent and engraved though. 

[dom]

4 hours ago, brake said:

Okay so I mentioned this before, nothing helps my visual static stuff, but the other symptoms get better. The best is 2 milligrams (probably more as well would be good) of Xanax but it's very temporary. Maybe a high dose of Valium would work too but I don't know. I noticed that the effects of lamictal on my vision were subtle but it felt less shaky and trippy and more stable. It also enhanced my mood also. The visual snow though seems super permanent and engraved though. 

Again interesting, have you ever tried clonazepam? 
 

for me I couldn’t care less about the visual snow however it seems everytime my symptoms have increased as has the intensity/ speed of the snow. 
 

might be ridiculous thinking but for me I sometimes think the snow is the base of the symptoms and all the others stem from the snow.

Sorry if this sounds ridiculous.

[brake]

7 minutes ago, dom said:

Again interesting, have you ever tried clonazepam? 
 

for me I couldn’t care less about the visual snow however it seems everytime my symptoms have increased as has the intensity/ speed of the snow. 
 

might be ridiculous thinking but for me I sometimes think the snow is the base of the symptoms and all the others stem from the snow.

Sorry if this sounds ridiculous.

I know what you mean. Yes I'm prescribed Clonazepam. It's great. It makes life easier. Yeah the actual static is the least worrisome part for me lol unless I'm in a dark staircase at night 

[yarkadin]

8 hours ago, brake said:

Okay so I mentioned this before, nothing helps my visual static stuff, but the other symptoms get better. The best is 2 milligrams (probably more as well would be good) of Xanax but it's very temporary. Maybe a high dose of Valium would work too but I don't know. I noticed that the effects of lamictal on my vision were subtle but it felt less shaky and trippy and more stable. It also enhanced my mood also. The visual snow though seems super permanent and engraved though. 

You did mention the resistance of visual snow to any med a while back, I remember that now.  Sorry that I didn't mention that.  I was thinking of the entire range of visual problems.  What's interesting is that this visual snow SEEMED to have reduced for me the first time I took Klonopin 20 years ago... but as I was saying elsewhere, I was in such a fucked and frail state of mind back then that it's possible I was imagining it.  I still have some texts I stored where I wrote something like I'm "10-20% better".  I was on a regular (but small) dose then.  Maybe the regularity helps.  But ask anyone here who takes Klonopin regularly: it may be a little better, but they all still experience HPPD.

Unfortunately, Klonopin or Xanax at 2mg is unrealistic for many.  Just half a milligram and I'm usually zonked out and fall asleep like a rock.  If a noticeable improvement is only accessible when you're zombified and can't lead a normal conscious life, that doesn't seem much of a cure to me

[LonelySailor]

Hey, i take 25mg of lamotrigine daily. My vision wasn't changed by it, it only got better after 1-2 years off of any drugs. But the medicine helped me alot with depression and dp/dr and had no side effects. I take it along with fluvoxamine, as my psychiatrist recomended beacause the hppd caused a mood disorder for me. He based his recommendations on this article: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-psychiatric-treatment/article/understanding-and-treating-depersonalisation-disorder/6216AE06994D1094873145C016CC1F57

Again, if the visual snow or other visuals are your major concern, I don't know if the lamotrigine will help. Try it anyways, because you may find that these psychiatrical drugs can cause a lot more good than harm. I was very skeptical of them in the beginning of my hppd and thought i could "rawdog" it with no treatment, but as my symptons didnt get any better, i began lookin for doctors. I takes a while to find the perfect medication, and in most cases there is no "perfect" one, but i think they can really help. Of course i say this from Brazil, in which healthcare is public and remedies are fairly cheap because of national laws that subsidise them. Anyways, good luck!

[raincat]

I take 100mg Lamictal in the morning and 25mg at night. I have been on it a few months. It's very helpful for my HPPD! Also very helpful for my anxiety, PTSD and BPD! Best medicine I've ever been on.