# Lamictal (antiglutamate) may help DP/DR



## Doberg (Sep 12, 2013)

I find this rather intriguing you guys (and girls). I have been researching for hours now. I will try and sum this all up with a brief explanation. According to many articles and researchers, the neurotransmitter "glutamate" may play a key role in ptsd, dissociation, schizophrenia, prolonged stress, depersonalization and the alike. Many have wondered about the "anticonvulsant phenomena" have you ever wondered the science behind this? Why is it seem to help us out so much? Well the thing is, Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that excites nerves, too much can cause dissociative symptoms and may lead to mental illness. I found out why my doctor wants me to begin lamictal, this med will decrease glutamate which is believed to be the main neurotransmitter responsible for the brain changes evident in dp/dr and other mental health issues. Glutamate is increased when we are under psychological stress. When we feed fears we uptake on glutamate levels when we experience trauma we uptake glutamate levels. I cant even explain all I want right now, my brain is too fried from researching but just know that glutamate excites brain cells and is increased by stress, fear and the alike. Decrease glutamate and increase GABA and you should find yourself in better position to deal with the underlining cause of this change (Trauma, repression or chemical imbalance caused by drugs etc)

Glutamate when excessive has been linked to the development of mental health issues, it can create a state of constant dissociation and can alter the balance of chemicals in the brain. It is produced by fear, stress and anxiety. Glutamate is something you should research.


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## Doberg (Sep 12, 2013)

http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/19/excess-neurotransmitter-in-brain-may-trigger-schizophrenia/53880.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamic_acid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamotrigine

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10553033

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22405206


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## Swansea (Jun 11, 2013)

Another good article.. from the perspective of bipolar but goes into the idea of glutamate

http://autoimmunethyroid.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/gaba-and-diy-for-bipolar-disorder/


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## Doberg (Sep 12, 2013)

Nice... I think this one is another good link as well, the more I research the more convinced I am to give lamictal a fair shot or die trying

http://www.cnsspectrums.com/aspx/articledetail.aspx?articleid=176


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## odisa (Sep 2, 2013)

Hypoglutamatergia is the current theory for Schizophrenia, which contradicts this. Furthermore, NMDA antagonists putatively induce dissociation (albeit some sources claim this is because of the transient stimulation of Glutamate, from which I infer to be a homeostatic intervention to compensate for the antagonized receptors. Interestingly, this would support the idea of NMDA agonism for dissociation mitigation, though by attenuating glutamate release rather than stimulating it). Also, Glutamate is the precursor of GABA, thus decreasing glutamate levels may reduce GABA, perhaps quite paradoxically.

<n.b. I know only that the proposed mechanism via which Lamotrigine would reduce Glutamate release is via sodium and calcium channel inhibition>

I'm on the same page with the brainfog currently, but TL;DR is that I think the opposite of what you propose would improve dissociation.
One prime candidate I see for this would be *Pregnenolone Sulfate*.

One thing to keep in mind is excitotoxicity.

I'll try to add more once my mind is in a collaborative state.


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## Rawry (Jan 7, 2013)

I personally have had great success w/ lamictal. I didn't notice any positive effects (with the exception of a more stable mood that reduced the lows that previously led to drug abuse) until I reached a dose of 200mg. I feel as though my experience is unique to others but a little while after being on that dose I had a flood of old memories come into my brain. It was truly awesome considering so many of my past memories were incredibly foggy or simply non existent. I couldn't remember memories from when I was very young that I used to be able to nor could I remember the majority of high school and college was a bit blurry as well.

I didn't realize how many memories I couldn't recall nor how many remained in my mind until this rush of memories came back to me. After the inital intense experience, more and more came back to me over the next three days and then somewhat leveled out. I was still consistantly recalling more and more as time went on however. I've found this drug GREATLY reduces my visual snow and helps stop random/illogical trains of thoughts. I imagine this has a lot to do with ketamine abuse (although my DP/DR/VS came from a traumatic tripping experience with many drugs involved) and general dissociative drug abuse.

Besides all of the positive benefits listed above I most certainly have reduced DP/DR and a reduction in anxiety because of this. I am much more spacy without this med and am very happy with it. I have zero side effects from with the exception of what I assume would be a reduced spectrum of emotions. I feel as though the increase in human connection cancels this out but may effect non social aspects of my life.


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