I’ve been on the Lamotrigine morning and afternoon 25mg dose for 4 days now, and only the first morning caused me any problems. I went back to sleep after breakfast on that first morning I took a morning dose, and I slept almost 3 hours. That is an extremely unusual thing for me to do. But I haven’t been sleepy since then. It may be helping a little bit, but nothing spectacular. I’m still jerking pretty badly if I’m under even the least amount of stress, which seems to be a lot of late.

One of my triggers seems to be getting in any kind of a crowd, so Church is always very stressful for me. I’m very self conscious about the jerking, and I feel bad for the people who sit behind me, as it must be very distracting.

But I’m not zonked on it, as I was when the Neurontin dose was increased. That’s a good thing. And I know I’m on the smallest dose size the Lamotrigine comes in, so there may be some room for adjustment to lessen the jerks a little bit more. I’m hoping that’s the way it will work out, without putting me in a daze the way the Neurontin did.

I don’t think I’ve ever really explained what the Primidone and Lamotrigine prescriptions are for. They are actually used as anti-seizure meds, and the Lamotrigine can be used with Bipolar Disorders and Depression disorders. The Clonazepam the MDS tried me on first, as well as the Neurontin, were also meds used for seizures and depressive disorders. (Which I thought made it odd that they depressed me!) So it’s kind of like taking a pig in the poke for medicine.

Their use for Essential Myoclonus is considered an off-label use, and from everything I’ve been able to read, the medical profession really doesn’t understand how these meds work in the brain. Evidently when they work properly they calm down whatever erratic electrical signal there is that’s coming from my brain that sets off these muscle spasms.

This is where having a Neurologist I trust is so very important, and a pharmacist who watches over every medicine I take, prescription as well as over the counter. I wouldn’t think of buying some of my prescriptions at one pharmacy and others somewhere else. It’s just too dangerous for me.

So I’m trying hard to be hopeful that my Neuro will find a good balance on my medicines and get me back to where I’m not jerking so much. And I’m fighting the blues, although I certainly haven’t won that battle yet.