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I experience possible cognitive improvement by lamotrigine and clomipramine

do you experienced cognitive improvent by Lamotrigine, Clomipramine or other psychoactive meds?

  • Yes, thanks to Lamotrigine

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes, thanks to Clomipramine

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • Yes, thanks to others (please state which ones on the thread

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Not at all

    Votes: 3 60.0%
  • I havn't experienced cognitive impairment due to ME

    Votes: 1 20.0%

  • Total voters
    5

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
Messages
591
Location
argentina
I never received any treatment for ME, but as I developed OCD in my teenage years 2 years after developing ME due to the unbearable fear that undiagnosed ME symptoms caused to me, I have been taking lamotrigine, clomipramine and clonazepam as OCD treatment for 9 years to this day.

That combination works extremely well for OCD to the point that I barely remember I actually have OCD, my simptoms are extremely mild when originaly, before this treatment, they wer, as stated by the only OCD speciallist in my country "extreme". I had hundreds of obsessions and compulsions every day, while now I maybe have one per week and it barely bothers me.

The thing is, I have cognitive symptoms due to ME, including short and long term memory impairement, difficulty thinking and solving problems, concentration problems and even mental confusion sometimes (this last one if I dare to do physical exersice). I feel that these symptoms improved as I started taking lamotrigine and clomipramine, and they worsen when I stop taking them for a few days.

I think It would be likely that these medications that alter brain function at the neurotransmiter level could improve my cognition, specially as I have a somewhat confirmed low brain serotonin by a platelet serotonin urine test (brain serotonin is absorbed by platelets on the whole body and in the brain, so it is a good marker of low brain serotonin).

My ME is also somewhat confirmed by a cardiopulmonar exercise test with CO2 measurement, done two times, the first with normal results (in the test, I runned for 10 minutes) and the second one, 24hs later, showind "muscular, cardiac and respiratory impairment akin to whats found in persons with cardiac and or respiratory insuficiency, miastenia gravis, etc.

What do you think on the effects of this medications on cognition? does anybody tried them? maybe you should! altough is just a conjeture based on my subjetive experience
 
Last edited:

L'engle

moogle
Messages
3,200
Location
Canada
I haven't had any experience with either of those. Glad they help you! Do you feel it helps your mental stamina and ability to function longer, or more just helping with memory, confusion etc (not that that is a minor thing!)
 

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
Messages
591
Location
argentina
I haven't had any experience with either of those. Glad they help you! Do you feel it helps your mental stamina and ability to function longer, or more just helping with memory, confusion etc (not that that is a minor thing!)
stamina remains as low as usual sadly :(
 

Sea

Senior Member
Messages
1,286
Location
NSW Australia
I feel that these symptoms improved as I started taking lamotrigine and clomipramine, and they worsen when I stop taking them for a few days.

It could be that the medications are helping with the cognitive issues, however it could also be that you are in withdrawal from the meds when you stop for a few days and that would cause a worsening of symptoms.

My daughter who has treatment resistant major depression, anxiety and OCD is on Clomipramine which helps only the OCD. She couldn't tolerate Lamotrigine and only has Diazapam occasionally. As well she has severe fatigue, exercise intolerance, PEM and cognitive issues and pain. She is currently being investigated for fibromyalgia and/or ME/CFS in addition to her other diagnoses.
 

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
Messages
591
Location
argentina
It could be that the medications are helping with the cognitive issues, however it could also be that you are in withdrawal from the meds when you stop for a few days and that would cause a worsening of symptoms.

My daughter who has treatment resistant major depression, anxiety and OCD is on Clomipramine which helps only the OCD. She couldn't tolerate Lamotrigine and only has Diazapam occasionally. As well she has severe fatigue, exercise intolerance, PEM and cognitive issues and pain. She is currently being investigated for fibromyalgia and/or ME/CFS in addition to her other diagnoses.
Oh, sad to heard that. Having confirmed mental diseases on top of organical ME/CFS makes things really hard, as no doctor would believe your physical symptoms are not caused by the the mental issues but by a coexisting organic one. I always think, is like they think that if you have a mental disease you are immune to organic ones, how ridiculous! I feel I'm a victim of discrimination, as I am considered to not deserve any medical atention for organic issues due to being a "mental patient", do you experience similar things with your daughter?
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I had a dr who believe that ME/CFS was a psych illness who put me onto those meds.. I reacted terribly to both meds in different ways.. one.. the one he had me taking in the morning.. made me very sleepy, tired and confused to the point it was 10times harder to function.. so left me non functional

while the other one he had me taking at night, had a very strange affect on me and gave me like blood thirsty compulsions which I had to struggle hard not to act on (it caused me to want to be peeling skin off of people wanting to see like rawness of skin stripped bodies, very weird affect on my mind bringing in a strange blood lust thing). I'd never had a drug cause any mental health reaction like that to me except this drug

I also got a chest rash to the lamotrigine within 24 hrs of taking these which kept spreading. It turned out that rash can be extremely dangerous with lamotrigine so dr had me stop immediately the drug on finding out I was getting a rash.

"Lamotrigine may cause rashes, including serious rashes that may need to be treated in a hospital or cause permanent disability or death."

I noticed no positive affects in any way with these drugs. I think you are the first person Ive heard of these drugs helping..
 

Sea

Senior Member
Messages
1,286
Location
NSW Australia
Oh, sad to heard that. Having confirmed mental diseases on top of organical ME/CFS makes things really hard, as no doctor would believe your physical symptoms are not caused by the the mental issues but by a coexisting organic one. I always think, is like they think that if you have a mental disease you are immune to organic ones, how ridiculous! I feel I'm a victim of discrimination, as I am considered to not deserve any medical atention for organic issues due to being a "mental patient", do you experience similar things with your daughter?
So far we're doing ok. Her psychiatrist is the one who wants her investigated for Fibro/ME/CFS. As far as general doctors go we've already had plenty of experience in determining whether a doctor is going to be helpful or a hindrance and we move on when necessary.
 

me/cfs 27931

Guest
Messages
1,294
Have taken both Lamotrigine (Lamictal) and Clomipramine (Anafranil) in the past. Can't say I noticed any cognitive improvement on them. However, it has been nearly 25 years since I've taken Anafranil. The last time I took Lamictal was about 8 years ago.

I can't say I've experienced anything more than short term cognitive benefit from any psychoactive meds, and I've been on about 3 dozen of them. At best, they help me feel less distressed about how low functioning I am (is that a good thing?).

For me, brain fog is probably the most debilitating part of ME/CFS. So it's unfortunate that nothing seems to help, except pacing and LDN.
 

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
Messages
591
Location
argentina
Have taken both Lamotrigine (Lamictal) and Clomipramine (Anafranil) in the past. Can't say I noticed any cognitive improvement on them. However, it has been nearly 25 years since I've taken Anafranil. The last time I took Lamictal was about 8 years ago.

I can't say I've experienced anything more than short term cognitive benefit from any psychoactive meds, and I've been on about 3 dozen of them. At best, they help me feel less distressed about how low functioning I am (is that a good thing?).

For me, brain fog is probably the most debilitating part of ME/CFS. So it's unfortunate that nothing seems to help, except pacing and LDN.
Sad to hear that... I also tried like 30 psychoactive meds, but none of them with the exception of lamotrigine and clomipramine had any effect on any ME symptom. Sadly I must add, clomipramine seems to worsen POTS symptoms, so I am now taking it at nigh, as I don't care about being dissy or ligheaded when I'm asleep.
 
Messages
12
I never received any treatment for ME, but as I developed OCD in my teenage years 2 years after developing ME due to the unbearable fear that undiagnosed ME symptoms caused to me, I have been taking lamotrigine, clomipramine and clonazepam as OCD treatment for 9 years to this day.

That combination works extremely well for OCD to the point that I barely remember I actually have OCD, my simptoms are extremely mild when originaly, before this treatment, they wer, as stated by the only OCD speciallist in my country "extreme". I had hundreds of obsessions and compulsions every day, while now I maybe have one per week and it barely bothers me.

The thing is, I have cognitive symptoms due to ME, including short and long term memory impairement, difficulty thinking and solving problems, concentration problems and even mental confusion sometimes (this last one if I dare to do physical exersice). I feel that these symptoms improved as I started taking lamotrigine and clomipramine, and they worsen when I stop taking them for a few days.

I think It would be likely that these medications that alter brain function at the neurotransmiter level could improve my cognition, specially as I have a somewhat confirmed low brain serotonin by a platelet serotonin urine test (brain serotonin is absorbed by platelets on the whole body and in the brain, so it is a good marker of low brain serotonin).

My ME is also somewhat confirmed by a cardiopulmonar exercise test with CO2 measurement, done two times, the first with normal results (in the test, I runned for 10 minutes) and the second one, 24hs later, showind "muscular, cardiac and respiratory impairment akin to whats found in persons with cardiac and or respiratory insuficiency, miastenia gravis, etc.

What do you think on the effects of this medications on cognition? does anybody tried them? maybe you should! altough is just a conjeture based on my subjetive experience

The thing is that some of people with CFS/ME symptoms may have a typical depersonalization/derealization problem, which cause same effect as CFS. Try to search, they have their forum. DR/DP can be treated with Lamotrigine but not always.

The classic DP/DR symptom is a fog and 2d reality, but it could different. Lamotrigine works with glutamate in our brain and stops it from being opiod addicted to derealizing our life. It's a very rough explanation.
 

gabriella17

Senior Member
Messages
165
Location
Phoenix, AZ
I take lamictal, and I've noticed the opposite. This seems really weird to me that lamictal would improve cognitive function, because everything I've heard points to the opposite. I'm actually wondering now if it's making a lot of my ME symptoms worse. Here's the list of side effects from drugs.com:
Link: https://www.drugs.com/lamictal.html

Call your doctor at once if you have:

the first sign of any skin rash, no matter how mild;

changes in your menstrual periods;

low blood cell counts - flu-like symptoms, swollen gums, mouth sores, skin sores, rapid heart rate, pale skin, easy bruising, unusual bleeding, feeling light-headed;

possible signs of brain inflammation - fever, chills, headache, neck stiffness, increased sensitivity to light, purple spots on the skin, confusion, drowsiness; or

signs of inflammation in your body - swollen glands, severe tingling or numbness, muscle weakness, upper stomach pain, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes), chest pain, new or worsening cough with fever, trouble breathing.

Common Lamictal side effects may include:

headache, dizziness;

blurred vision, double vision;

tremor, loss of coordination;

dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea;

fever, sore throat, runny nose;

drowsiness, tired feeling

back pain; or

sleep problems (insomnia)