LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare LAMICTAL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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More on LAMICTAL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTAL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | bipolar II | I have so many horrible side effects from this drug. I thought that I was going crazy, had a brain tumor or was developing dementia before I found this site. Some complaints- dizziness, can't sleep, horrible dreams, exhausted all day, dry mouth, trouble balancing, can't remember ANYTHING, can't spell or recall words, yeast infections, bad anxiety, can't concentrate. | F | 20 | 3 months unsure 1X day | 10/17/2010 | 5 | bipolar PTSD | some sleepiness and dry mouth when started partial dose in a.m | 4th medication attempt for unrelenting suicidal depression episodes. within one week suicidal thoughts stopped and have not returned, even during stressful times. | F | 52 | 5 years 300 mg 1X day | 10/16/2010 | 4 | Seizures | Dizzy, headaches, painful joints, word-finding problems, nausea, fast mood swings, insomnia | At 300mg I was so dizzy I couldn't function. Now on 250mg and I wake up dizzy, almost fell in the bathtub, don't trust myself on the stairs. On 300mg the headaches were never-ending and nothing would help them. On 250 they are still here but better. I can't sleep - I go to bed and sleep 3-4 hours, then I'm up for the rest of the night. Sleeping pills did not change this. Mood swings - I used to be a pretty steady person. Now I get angry, impatient, and cry all in the same hour. Had joint pain all over body at 300mg. Dr. backed off the dose to 250 and now only one finger joint hurts - very painful to use. Unfortunately, seizures were under control at 300mg, but not at 250mg where the side effects are less. | F | 50 | 150mg 2X day | 10/16/2010 | 5 | bipolar type 2 | dry mouth | Lamictal has been very effective at treating my bipolar type 2. What a relief! I am so grateful to have a normal life. | F | 54 | 5 years 100 mg 1X day | 10/13/2010 | 3 | mood | HAIR LOSS, HAIR LOSS, HAIR LOSS! Itchy face, dry skin. I am debating going off of this drug despite the fact that it has worked very well in curbing my mood swings. The only other side effects that did go away was extreme clumsiness, I actually fell down and hurt myself a couple of times at the start of this drug.It is really a shame that I may have to try something else due to the hair loss. | If anyone out there has experienced the hair loss side effect and it actually went away please let me know as I am debating stopping for this reason. | F | 44 | 3 months 200mg 1X day | 10/12/2010 | 4 | bipolar | trouble finishing sentence- word recall | taking folic acid greated helped word recall- still some problems word recall | F | 57 | 365 days 200 MG 1X day | 10/7/2010 | 5 | resistant depression, PTSD, BPD | Unexplained bruising, chronic insomnia (sleep for 2 hours and then wake every hour after that until I get up)hair loss, constant allergic conjunctivitis. | It has been the first drug which has helped my mood. My most recent episode of deep, suicidal depression has lasted over a year. This drug has helped me out of that. My consultant is keeping me on 75mgs for the moment to see if the side effects disappear. She wants me to increase the dose to 150mgs if I can tolerate the drug. I have had mental health problems since I was 18 and none of the drugs I have been put on have helped at all. I am worried about the side effects though. Will they decrease/ go away? I don't want to go bald, I'm fed up with itchy, sore, crusting eyes and I'm exhausted through lack of undisturbed sleep! (I'm on sleeping medication, an antidepressant and Diazepam) Has anyone had these experiences? Would be good to hear from anyone who has. | F | 54 | 3 months 75mgs 1X day | 10/5/2010 | 3 | Bi Polar and Borderline PD | I've had excruciating migraines, severe lower back pain, sleeping problems, the first few weeks I had loss of coordination, fuzzy head, felt like i was drugged- like i couldnt get out of bed. It was very hard to get accustomed to. So after about 6 weeks my doctor prescribed 200mg a day. So now after a week and a couple days on this doseage I feel a little like a zombie- I am still irritable, impatient, loss of memory and the migraines and back pain are still present.Still don't know if its working.. I'll get back to you in a couple weeks..lol | I've got almost 2 months invested into this medication and supposedly its the only mood stabilizer that is "weight neutral" supposedly anyway, I personally haven't noticed any change in weight. The weight thing is a huge issue for me so I'm really hoping this medication will begin to work for me. | F | 36 | 7 weeks 200mg 1X day | 10/5/2010 | 1 | Bipolar Disorder I | Spinal cord swelling, memory loss, nausea, migraines, vomiting, loss of feeling in one are, tightness in shoulders... so many sides effects that there was not way to tell if it did my mind any justice! | After after one week, my neck started getting stiff but I didn't relate it to the medication. By the third week it was my neck, spine, shoulders and head in constant pain. It caused anxiety so bad that I threw up daily after only a few hours of being awake (was/am not pregnant). The nausea continued for the rest of the day. In the 5th week, I couldn't get out of bed because of the pain. I felt like my spine was on fire and jabbing into the back of my skull. My shoulders were so tight that I lost sensation and motor skills in my dominate arm. Thankfully, I received an e-mail that same week telling me that this drug had a rare but life threatening side effect: SPINAL CORD SWELLING. I stopped the medication immediately and with in one week I felt great. I will NEVER take this drug again- ever. | F | 21 | 5 weeks 25 MG 2X day | 9/29/2010 | 3 | depersonalization and depression | No side effects of note which is good. | After being so hopefull early on in treatment, I am now on the fence as to whether or not this medication is really helping or going to help. After a slight response on 25mgs and a really promising response on 50mgs, I have yet to regain the initial benefit. Though my moods are okay, I still have a good deal of dissociation. Given my history with medication perhaps I'll need to go higher (possibly up to 400mgs or even higher)or add an SSRI as I've heard the combination can be quite effective. My doctor wants to wait another couple of weeks before deciding to up the dose or try something else. I would really rather not have to go back on SSRI due to possible weight gain and sexual side effects. But based on the past, they have been quite effective for me, which leads me to believe serotonin plays a major role in my disorder | M | 42 | 2 months 200 1X day | 9/23/2010 Patient History | 4 | major depression, maybe Bipolar II | Short term memory loss and poor word recall. Lethargic. Flat mood (zombie ish compared to previously). Difficulty getting enough energy to do things | It was the only medication (among many SSRIs tried) that made a positive difference. I take Abilify and Nuvigil and Clonazepam as well. The Nuvigil has helped immensely regarding the lethargy and revs me up to feel good and get things done. Lifts mood from lethargic to animated! Major problem is expense of meds; even with insurance , copay is $100/per three of the meds; Lamictal included. | F | 59 | 2 years 200 MG 1X day | 9/22/2010 | 4 | anxiety | I'm going lower to 50 mg and may go off it because of the sensation like I can't breathe right, and I can't inhale deeply, and at times I feel like I'm going to faint. My doctor says it's from anxiety caused by me (not as a side effect of this medication). I've had this smothering feeling since starting 50 mg on the starter pack. Other than that no side effects. | It helped me with being easily distracted but other than that I had no noticeable positive effects. | F | 27 | 9 weeks 100mg 1X day | 9/15/2010 | 5 | Bipolar II, PTSD | Some memory impairment that I have to figure out ways to accommodate. Some sleepiness after taking it. | It has been a miracle drug for me. My psychopharmacologist tried every medication under the sun without success. Within days of starting it my suicidal depression began to lift. I wish everyone could have a similar experience. | F | 59 | 15 years 200mg 2X day | 9/13/2010 | 4 | Bipolar II | After 4 years, I've suddenly experience tinnitus - my ears ring constantly. At the same time, I started to experience involuntary head/neck movement, especially if I'm relaxed. This is happening more and more. It's just a sudden jiggle side-to-side at the bottom of my skull. I feel like an old lady. Other side effects I have experienced from the beginning are massive hair loss and slight dizziness upon standing. | Any other side effects experienced for the first year have completely disappeared. Rapid side-to-side eye movement when I was trying to concentrate on something was very strange, but that no longer happens. The feeling dumb as a rock and not being able to remember anything or finish a sentence lasted about 6 months. The drug saved my life, literally, but the head movements and ear ringing really have me worried, wondering if it will get worse. I dread changing medications since I've done so well mood-wise on this one. I would die if I gained a lot of weight. Plus, there's never a good time in my life to start meds over! But I'm seeing my doctor about it soon, now that I've read all these comments - they were very helpful. | F | 43 | 4 years 400 mg 1X day | 9/9/2010 | 5 | Bipolar | none | M | 51 | 5 years 200 1X day | 9/2/2010 | 5 | Unipolar Depression | The first 2 days when I started it and also when I upped the dose I had a spaced out brain fog thing going on. After that Zero side effects | I have had been in a very dark place for the past 5 years with major depression. I was put on an SSRI Lexapro in the beginning of the depressive episode and had extreme agitation and high anxiety that would not go away. I could only take it for 3 months. Lamictal has so far been a life saver. After 3 days on 50mgs my depression started to lift. Its even better on 100mgs. The Dr still wants me to go up to 200mgs to avoid a relapse. I hope this lasts. | M | 55 | 3 weeks 100 1X day | 9/2/2010 | 3 | Bipolar | head ache, trouble talking sometimes, forgetful | M | 35 | 2 years 200 1X day | 8/27/2010 | 5 | bipolar | Over last 2 years - short term memory loss, word retrieval, spacey, forgetful, can't remember names any more etc These problems MD's do not seem to know about. Have sent me for CAT scan, blood work etc | It has done a fabulous job of stabilizing my mood swings. Given a choice between being "crazy" and being a "zombi" I will take Zombi. Will see my MD next week. I am on a very high dose and maybe reducing the dose will help. | F | 68 | 6 years 75 mg 8X day | 8/25/2010 | 2 | Panic disorder; bipolar I; PTSD | I developed the "life-threatening" rash. A rash on the body caused by Lamictal can somehow spread to your internal organs. | I really liked Lamictal. I thought I finally found a drug to take with Lithium that would make me feel good inside my skin. When I developed the rash, I was told how serious it was, and I was taken off of Lamictal. Am now taking Seroquel and I hate it. | F | 57 | 4 months 400 MG 1X day | 8/24/2010 | 5 | Bipolar Disorder | The only side effect I had with lamictal in the very beginning was feeling spaced out and as if my brain was reacting to it- as if it knew it was being given a drug (it was!) and was "soaking" it in and trying to reconfigure itself to the new drug. This went on for about a week or two. As I titrated up on it- from 25 mgs. to 200 mgs.- each time I would have a bad headache (the famous "lamictal headache")that lasted from 2-3 days and then went away. Each and every time I upped my dosage I had this headache, but ONLY for 2-3 days. Other than that- ZERO side effects-only benefits. I did not gain any weight and I do not feel as if I am taking a drug at all. I love it! | I am bipolar- undiagnosed until I was 48. I am 53 now. I tried a variety of meds, but had bad side effects on all of them. Then I was put on lamictal. I was afraid, because of the rash thing, which I obviously did not get. But at the time I agreed to go on it, I had had it with all the other stuff I had been put on that I wanted to be dead anyhow, so I thought- ok-I will give this drug a chance because I have nothing left to lose. I am so happy I said yes to this drug! I have never had a deathly deep depression since I was put on it, nor have I gone off the charts manic. In truthfullness, I did start drinking heavily after my diagnosis because I could not believe I had a real mental illness. Even with my heavy drinking, the lamictal kept working. But because I was drinking, it did not work as well as it could have until I finally quit drinking in February 2010 and went to AA. I felt great for the 2 months I was sober, and then sunk into a depression- which I found out later is very common when you quit drinking. I was put on Wellbutrin 150mgs to combat this depression. At that amount, I felt better- but not 100%. I ended up having quite a few slips with the booze, until I finally decided- just recently- that if I am ever to have a chance at feeling close to 100%- I can never drink again. I deal with that thought ONE DAY AT A TIME. That slogan is out there for a reason- it works. If you think over the long haul, it becomes overwhelming. I also started going to AA, which I had | F | 53 | 5 years 200 mg 1X day | 8/21/2010 |