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Despite the considerable use of lamotrigine and gabapentin for treating patients with refractory bipolar disorder or depression, there have been few controlled studies of the drugs' efficacy. These researchers randomized 38 inpatients with refractory bipolar or unipolar mood disorders to a series of double-blind, crossover, 6-week trials of lamotrigine, gabapentin, or placebo (mean dosage at week 6, 274 mg of lamotrigine or 3987 mg of gabapentin).
Thirty-one patients participated throughout the entire study (6 patients with unipolar depression, 11 with bipolar I disorder, and 14 with bipolar II disorder; 23 rapid cyclers and 2 nonrapid cyclers). On a standardized physician-rated scale, response rates (much or very much improved) were 52 perc…