2024: Please note that Dr Miric is not taking new patients at this time.

Medication

16 Nov 2014

All about Lamotrigine/Lamictin for non-psychiatrists

Lamicitin is an antiepileptic which is registered for use for Bipolar Disorder 1- maintenance phase, and Epilepsy. It is commonly used by psychiatrists to treat Treatment-resistant depression, Bipolar Spectrum disorders and mood instability associated with Borderline Personality Disorder. Lamicitin works on voltage sensitive sodium channels and gated sodium and calcium channels / sigma opioid receptors. What do you need to know about Lamicitin which your patients are taking? Pros Generally considered to be one the best drug on the market for Bipolar Disorder II, due to its antidepressant and mood stabiliser effect. Weight neutral. One of the safest meds to […]
25 Nov 2014

I really don’t want to take psychiatric medication

“I really don’t want to take any medication/ I’m not happy with taking medication” is a statement I hear on an almost daily basis from my patients. I get it, I get why taking psychiatric medication can be really hard for most people. When I ask my patients what their reason is for not taking medications, I hear a variety of answers, most of which are misconceptions. The truth is that when most people finally consult with a psychiatrist they have tried many other avenues of help: – exercise, natural medications, therapy, and trials of psychiatric medication that haven’t helped. […]
29 Dec 2014

How does my Doctor choose my Antidepressant ?

I can only really comment on what I think about when deciding to start a patient on these medications, based on my experience and studies. This is not medical advice, more my opinion on the thought process behind the science. I have made it quite simple so if you have specific questions you can comment below/email me or ask your treating doctor. I try and match up my patients with the medication I’m prescribing. This helps them stay on the medication if they experience minimal side effects and benefit from the meds. This is not always an easy thing to […]
09 Feb 2015

What are antidepressants?

The term ‘antidepressants’ can get confusing because although antidepressants were originally marketed as treatments for depression, they have been found to work in other conditions. They are used in anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social phobia, premenstrual syndrome, insomnia, pain relief, headaches/migraine prevention. The three main neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) they target are serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Different medications affect different neurotransmitters in the brain. Molecules of the antidepressants bind to nerve cells in the brain and affect their basic functioning. Here is a picture of a nerve cell in the brain. Put very simply, it is a […]