Lamictal has seen increasingly widespread use as a highly effective treatment for both Bipolar I and Bipolar II disorders.
It has shown some success in treating
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and
Borderline Personality Disorder as well.
It is an anticonvulsant that differs radically from others of its kind. I'll leave the fine details regarding the way it interacts with the brain to someone more qualified to write about them - chemically, it deals with neurotransmitters differently than other anticonvulsants, and its side effects are suprisingly few and weak when present. The most common is a light headache. Discontinuation of the drug has not been known to cause major withdrawal problems outside of the scope of removing any anticonvulsant, and accidental overdose is almost unheard of. There is a ridiculously small chance of developing a very serious rash across the upper body, concentrated around the neck. I have read that the chances are around 8 in 1,000 in adults, though I have been told by doctors that 9 in 10,000 is a better figure.
As is the case with many mood stabilizing drugs, researchers are not entirely sure as to why it works well in treating bipolar disorder, especially given its initial development as an anti-epilepsy drug. It is relatively new, which makes hard data on it difficult to pin down. However, patients who have not traditionally responded well to other treatments have been known to show a good response to Lamictal.
When taken as a mood stabilizer, the dosage of Lamictal is different; patients are typically started between 15 and 25 mg, stabilizing between 100 and 200.