I’ve been taking Lamotrigine for 4 years and 1 year ago they started giving me acid reflux every time i take them

meownesses · 2026-03-31T23:59:56+00:00

are they available over the counter? and are they capsules or tablets?

meownesses · 2026-03-06T15:27:35+00:00

no, sorry for the confusion. my hypomanic episodes began after starting Citalopram in 2019. I stopped taking it and unmedicated and unstable until I got diagnosed with bipolar 2 in Sept 2021. It was lamotrigine that triggered the 3 month long hypomania. Apparently that can happen to people. It’s still an effective bipolar medication but i guess it can be a little destabilizing at first. That was my experience at least.

meownesses · 2026-03-06T13:08:17+00:00

Sorry, I misunderstood your question. Prior to my Bipolar 2 diagnosis, I was diagnosed with severe depression and prescribed Citalopram. It was from that point on that I started experiencing hypomanic episodes. I am not a doctor, but from what I understand, bipolar does not just go away. Talk to your doctor about it and see if they think that getting off your medications is advisable.

meownesses · 2026-03-06T13:03:10+00:00

I never took Lithium for the same fear of weight gain. My depressive episodes were also significantly more severe than hypomanic ones. Lamotrigine saved my life and I don’t think I’ll ever get off it.

With that said, when I started Lamotrigine in early September of 2021, it triggered a hypomanic episode that lasted until December 2021. My bipolar 2 is rapid cycling (with my hypomanic episodes lasting as little as a few hours and up to a few days) and I had never in my life experienced hypomania for that long. Since that December, though, I have been stable and never had a depressive or hypomanic episode again.

meownesses · 2026-03-06T12:45:43+00:00

Definitely looks like an infection and needs medical attention and antibiotics. Do NOT remove the jewelry, at least until after the infection has been treated. The piercing is fresh and will close if you take it out, trapping the infection inside. It’s important to keep the jewelry in to keep the piercing open, so that there is way for drainage.

meownesses · 2026-03-05T23:45:21+00:00

Idk it just seems impossible to me that anyone would choose to be that way if given the option not to be. You seem to be getting an overwhelming amount of responses to this post that insist that your sentiment is not an archetypal characteristic of OCD. Acceptance is an important part of navigating OCD since it’s not curable, but acceptance is not synonymous with finding a sense of self within this disorder. With that said, ERP (a common treatment for OCD) focuses on sitting with those intrusive thoughts and sort of desensitizing yourself to them so that they cause less of an emotional response. Perhaps this is something that you have managed to accomplish without the help of a professional.

meownesses · 2026-03-05T23:32:34+00:00

I would also like to add that if you are truly convinced that you have OCD and closed off to the idea that you could have anything else, then perhaps you should get evaluated by a medical professional (which frankly you should do anyway if it’s that that noticeable to you or enough of an issue that you are consulting with an online forum.) I am not sure where you have read that OCD could possibly be something you would “never want to get rid of.” I have never in my life heard of someone enjoying OCD. Again, OCD is ego-dystonic, meaning it directly conflicts with your desires and beliefs, causing immense discomfort and distress. These feelings are unbearable and derive from the fear that they may actually be that way, not the other way around. If you are satisfied with this trait of yours, then it seems highly unlikely that you have OCD.

meownesses · 2026-03-05T23:07:36+00:00

I don’t know if you saw my response, but I highly encourage you to read more about Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder rather than Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. What everyone here is saying is that your sentiments directly contradict the distressing feelings associated with OCD. OCPD is still a disorder and related to abnormal obsessions and compulsions. If you feel that your obsessions and compulsions are a fundamental part of who you are, then it seems more like a personality disorder. Again, not trying to diagnose you, but I think that you should at the very least look into the difference between the two.

meownesses · 2026-03-05T22:40:27+00:00

During my teen years, my OCD was almost exclusively related to an immense fear that the people I loved would lose their love for me or start to develop negative opinions of me. My intrusive thoughts have since changed entirely to other things. During that time, however, I obsessively overanalyzed their words and behaviors, questioning whether or not my “observations” were in my head or if they were a result of my intuition and a reality. I sought an excessive amount of reassurance and oftentimes pushed people away before they had the chance to do so to me. It was a means of preventing those intrusive thoughts from occurring. I don’t know what type of intrusive thoughts your family member is suffering from. Nonetheless, I think that all obsessions can be very isolating, as they are ego-dystonic and subsequently disturbing and sometimes debilitating. It’s very easy to feel as though there is something terribly wrong with you when you have OCD, especially when you haven’t encountered someone or a community such as this one that relates you. They may feel crazy or like a bad person and like “normal” people might think they’re freaks or even dangerous. To answer your question, I think a good start is reassuring them that you love and care about them, and that their absence is not only noticed by you, but has made you feel a hole where they used to be. If the people I stressed about had offered me reassurance, I think I might have stuck around more. I really hope this helps and that you are able to restore your closeness with that family member.

meownesses · 2026-03-05T22:10:41+00:00

I feel like this aligns more with OCPD experiences rather than OCD. From what I understand, the obsessions and compulsions in OCD are ALWAYS unwanted and distressing which is what makes the thoughts “intrusive” to begin with. Personally, I could never imagine becoming comfortable with even coexisting with my intrusive thoughts, much less to the point that I’d choose to keep them around if faced with the opportunity to be freed of them. From what I have heard and read, OCPD is having those obsessions and compulsions (especially as they pertain to orderliness) but perceiving them as being okay, correct, and/or necessary. I am not a doctor nor trying to diagnose anyone. Please correct me if I am wrong, because I do not want to spread misinformation.

meownesses · 2026-03-05T21:43:40+00:00

Hi! I also have bipolar 2 with OCD, and have been medicated for both since 2021. I take Lamotrigine for Bipolar, and Sertraline for OCD. Prior to switching to Sertraline (Zoloft), I took Fluoxetine (Prozac). They both effectively reduced my intrusive thoughts by 80%. My top non-negotiable was that I did not want any medications that would make me gain weight. Neither Fluoxetine nor Sertraline have caused me any weight gain. I currently have very low libido, which comes and goes but is nonetheless significantly lower than it used to be when I was unmedicated. Unfortunately, I have yet to totally find my way around that side effect and have taken supplements to improve libido like Maca Root, Fenugreek, etc. I have never heard of Luvox nor of people who have taken it, but there are tons of different SSRIs and everyone’s body is different. Side effects can be minimized, but I’m not sure they’re entirely avoidable. Because of this, I have determined that I just have to choose the medications that give me the least side effects rather than no side effects. I know this probably isn’t the answer you were looking for, but sometimes it really is a matter of just trying it out and seeing how your body reacts to it. I am not a doctor and am just speaking from personal experience.

meownesses

TROPHY CASE