Adam's being put on Lamictal

[GinaMarie]

Our Psych put Adam on Lamictal starter pack for Adam's moods. I want to start him this weekend before school starts back up now that he is back from being with his dad.

I've heard about the rash and I've told and told Adam how he HAS TO take this EVERYDAY (7 days a week) not like how he takes his ADHD meds just for school...

Is it better for him to take it at night or during day? Im thinking at night cuz it says it causes drowsiness and might be easier to remember.

What are other things to know about this drug?

Thanks,
GM

[peglem]

Allie takes Lamictal and it has been a good med for her...BUT, Lamictal is famous for causing insomnia! Give it in the morning...really. Allie's on a split dose, but we dose higher in the morning and her evening dose is given @ 6:00 PM, because it really keeps her up otherwise. I hope it works good for your son. Go up very slowly (as I know the starter pack does). Allie started a slow increase at the end of November and by the time she was up to the new dose...wonderful differences in her ability to tolerate change and keep calm. One other thing- we take name brand. But when the pharmacy tried to switch us to generic (Lamotrigine), we had trouble and the doc switched us back to name brand only.

[peglem]

One other thing- its common to have headaches when you start lamictal, but they usually go away once you get stabilized on it. Kinda odd since one of the things they give it for is migrain. Anyway, Allie did get headaches with this but motrin worked well for them and once she was stabilized on her dosage this affect went away.

[GinaMarie]

lol Figures he is staying the night at a friends and I had him come take it bout an hour ago before I read this. lol

He is going to take 25 mgs once a day for the first two weeks then take 50 mgs (2 - 25's) weeks 3 and 4 and then take 100 mgs week 5.

He has gotten bad with being violent with Noah and me! He threatens to kill people. He shoved me back a couple weeks ago and I fell and hurt my back even more than it already is bad. He got in physical fight with my 18 yr old bout month ago.

He is always punching Noah.

He is taller than ALL of us and getting stronger than me soon.

I just keep emphazing with him that he CANT skip any of these and told him if he takes ALL like he should he will get a prize.

NOW if I wanted to change him to days.. would I give him one in the day tomorrow or should I wait til Sunday? Would giving him one tomorrow morning be to soon if he took one tonight? or should I do tomorrow afternoon then Sunday morning? I just figured nights would be easier to remember before bed. Once he leaves for school and if he forgets its hard to get one to him especially if I have to leave into town for appts myself.

Thanks for your help :)

GM

[peglem]

I'd probably give the next one (saturday) in the early afternoon and then Sunday morning. I'm not sure 25mg is enough to affect sleep (my kids don't really sleep much when they spend the night with a friend anyway) and I don't think we really saw any effect until 50mg...then only slight, but at 50, it did cause sleep problems. Allie was a scrawny little 70 lbs at that point.

Those ragey/aggression things are so scary and hard to deal with- hard on the kid who's doing it too. Its so hard to know how to deal with the behaviors and to know how much of it is beyond behavior management controls. I know with Allie it seemed more like a seizure...something grabbing hold of her, even when she wants terribly for it to not happen.

I don't remember how old your Adam is... Like I said before, I sure hope this is the right med to help him. Allie right now, with her recent increase, takes 150mg AM and 100mg PM. She was previously at 100/100. I was hesitant to increase it, but am so , so glad we did.

[GinaMarie]

Adam is 13 but is at or just about 5 ft 9 in and weighs about 120 I think or 130. He has no fat.. just tall and lean. I'm STILL trying to get a firm Dx of Aspergers on him yet also have wondered of Bipolar. My mother AND ex Mother-in-law are BOTH bipolar and I know its hereditary. I've wondered if Im bipolar.

I've told the school and people for years about Adam's behavior but Adam is so "perfect" for everyone else because he is so quiet and to himself. He doesn't talk much and doesn't cause conflict. He wont confront anyone except us at home (yet). If something bothers him outside the home like at school, he holds it in til he gets home then blows or tells me I better take care of things.

The school didn't believe me til he was in 5th grade and the teacher (who used to be my 7th grade teacher when I went there) gave an assignment telling them to tell about a time they felt like punching someone in the nose. Well Adam didn't have the mental capabilities to know you DONT write what he wrote... :eek: . He wrote how he was going to kill a boy because this boy took his girlfriend and Adam wrote in detail how he was going to do it. :eek: . Long story short... THANKFULLY because I keep in CLOSE contact with all my kids teachers and staff and I also believe because I had been TELLING them about Adam having problems... The school put Adam in counseling instead of expelling him..

They believe me a LITTLE more.. YET I still think they dont believe me as much. :(

I DO hope this helps also.. I just hope he doesnt get in his MOODS and NOT take it like when we tried Abilify with him. He refused to take it. :rolleyes:

I'll see about changing him to days and hopefully we will do good at remembering at him taking it. Weekdays are ok as long as he goes to school. its the weekends and days he doesnt have school are harder to remember. On school days he can take it when he takes his Vyvanse for ADHD.

Thanks.
GM

[The Pogue]

I hope it brings some relief to both of you.


(((hugs))))