LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)

Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)

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 ANTICONVULSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

LAMICTAL  (LAMOTRIGINE):  Lamotrigine is used alone or with other medications to prevent and control seizures. It may also be used to help prevent the extreme mood swings of bipolar disorder in adults. Lamotrigine is known as an anticonvulsant or antiepileptic drug. It is thought to work by restoring the balance of certain natural substances in the brain. This drug is not approved for use in children younger than 2 years due to an increased risk of side effects (such as infections).   FDA Approval Date: 1994-12-27 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

Results are sorted by Gender with females listed first (reviews with no gender reported listed before females).

Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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More on LAMICTAL: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTALCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 5  grand mal seizures weight loss, which i don't mind at all :) , some trouble with remembering names and finding the right words, i thought it was just me but i noticed after reading some of the comments that it is a side effect of lamital, it has worked great for me, no more seizures. I am on 100 mgs of lamictal once in the morning and once in the afternoon,total 200 mgs a day, compared to 200 mgs of dilantin 3 times a day totaling 600 mgs a day. I was on 600 mgs of dilantin and it didn't help me,I was on dilantin for a little over 3 years i had 2 seizures while on them, i have had a total of 3 seizures, none since starting lamictal though, i had gastric bypass a little over 5 years agao and lost 165 pounds, went from size 24/26 to size 00s, i never had any seizures until after the gastric bypass, and it did say that they could be a side effect, but i would do it all over again, ( the gastric bypass surgery not the sezures) :) F 54 6 days
3/11/2007
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 5  uncontrolled PGTC seizures sleepy, hyper, lost sex drive, nauseated. dose 250mg, 2 times a day. total = 500 mg. I also take dilantin and topamax. Lamictal made my partial complex seizures go from many per week to 3-4 in a month. I am really happy with that. Topamax is controlling the granmals/tonic clonics really well, and dilantin has now brought the partials down to 1 or 2 a month and sometimes even none. I'm getting close to no seizures. =) Lamictal is a good drug. F 28 3 years
11/10/2006
 5  Bipolar No side effects except serious hair loss and night sweats. I have never had a better medication or felt this good ever. Unfortunately, I have lost 25%-30% of my hair since starting the drug five months ago. I did not realize it until two months ago. This hair loss has upset me enough that I do not want to continue the Lamictal. I'm really bummed about it. Can anyone report to me that the hair loss stops at some point? Thank you. F 46 5 months
12/16/2006
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 5  Bipolar- mania dry mouth, slight rash (occasional) this drug, combined with lexapro, is the first combination that has successfully enabled me to function normally in daily life. I do not feel like a robot or have any severe side effects. i feel balanced and healthy. F 18 10 months
9/1/2006
 5  depression/bpd traits problems with concentration, difficulty thinking of words, "blurry" thinking, decreased enjoyment of music and art lamicatal has helped me more than any other pharmaceutical that i've been prescribed (zoloft, effexor, xyprexa, abilify, seroquel, etc.). i also take 300mg of wellbutrin a day and the combination has really helped me escape constant thoughts of suicide and urges to selfinjure. I have healthier eating and sleeping habits than i've had in years. the side effects are frustrating but for now worth the positive impact lamictal has made on my emotional state. F 20 5 months
10/26/2006
 5  bipolar II Can't find the right word for conversation. Need to urinate, but only a little comes out. Newly diagnosed. Been on Wellbutrin for 8 years for misdiagnosed depression. I use to enjoy the "high" Wellbutrin would bring, but the lows became to low and the "high" more like anxiety. Very hopeful for this med. Want to feel "normal" F 37 8 days
2/9/2007
 5  Bipolar II Migraine in the a.m. if I don't take it within the same 1-2 hour window at night; depression/irritability hits only when I don't get enough sleep/exercise - that's a LIFESTYLE choice; my hair grew back with Lamictal (thank God!) after losing 1/2 of it on Wellbutrin and Topamax. Was misdiagnosed clinically depressed and prescribed Wellbutrin XL which I took alone for 1.5 years - life went from bad to horrible with manic episodes. Went to a diff. Dr. who gave me Rx for Topamax (aka DOPAMAX) which combined w/Wellbutrin made my manic episodes far more aggressive and depression more suicidal; Topamax put me to sleep every afternoon - was impossible to keep a F/T job. Finally found a decent doctor who took me off both and started me on 25 mg Lamictal and worked up in small increments to avoid any "rash". So far I've stabilized at 225mg. This stuff works when I combine it with a healthy lifestyle and some cognitive therapy - there's no miracle "cure" for Bipolar! F 41 1.8 years
4/1/2007
 5  moodswings and anxiety I quit Wellbutrin and started Lamictal. Now I'm warm for the first time in my life. Unfortunately, I lost quite a bit of sexual responsiveness, either from quitting the Wellbutrin or from taking Lamictal (or both). No other side effects, except that food tastes absolutely delicious now, which is very enjoyable, but of course I have to be careful about gaining weight. This is a miracle drug for me. I am free of all the anxiety and irritability that were making my life a living hell. I am free of the shame and self-hate, and I even have confidence in myself now. The moods have leveled out pretty well -- there's still a slight up and down but nothing compared to what it was. I am also free of the alternating loving and loathing of my partner. I think this has saved my relationship -- no small thing! F 50 37 days
2/25/2007
 5  BPD 1 Not too many but since I am just on 25mg and only at day 8, I can honestly say I have felt no side effects at all. Possibly some leg/hip pain at night, but since I just had spinal surgery 3 months ago I can't be sure. I have been newly diagnosed with BPD1. My mother had it when I was growing up. She was an alcoholic on top of this. I have been on this trip a long time and the few normal episodes I have had were great. Most of the rages and deep dpressions I learned to deal with on my own. I never felt as though i was insane, just different in my thoughts and feelings than others. Since childhood I have been on any and every drug that I have seen listed on this site so far by others who are on this medication. None worked for long or it made me sick and I stopped taking it. Now I am currently on Zoloft 100mg, seroquel at night, 200 mg, ( no weight gain ) lamictal 25mg. I have high hopes this takes the spikes out of my life forever. I can wait and see. Peace to you out there in BPD land. My prayers are with you all. F 44
9/14/2006
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 5  type 2 rapid cycling bipolar Whenever the dosage was increased i had incredibly vivid dreams, this has now levelled off. some muscular effects, need to "stretch" a lot. Lamictal has worked very well for me. I have maintained a low dose of 150mg per day, so im still a little up and down, so i have a chance to learn to control myself. my depression is so much better and my thoughts less racy. F 29 3 months
11/23/2005
 5  Bipolar II rapid cycling Clumsiness, difficulty focusing, difficulty with word retrieval at times, lose my balance on occasion or randomly drop things, developed purpura on legs after a year(but maybe unrelated), vivid dreams and intrusive images in head when overtired at night. No more headaches after a year but continued body aches and fatigue at times. I think this medicine saved my life. I've struggled with episodes of major depression and hypomania since 14 years old. Since that time, I experienced "anxiety attacks" that caused depersonalization and dissociation. The lamictal has had no affect on the dissociation and depers., unfortunately, but within a month I found myself crying at feeling happy. I still do on occasion very unexpectedly. I have never felt this way before in my life. Maybe at moments but not like this. I feel like I connect with other people now; I'm able to think more clearly and my thoughts feel "cohesive." I still get depressed and slightly "up," but it's amazing how the highs and lows seem to stay in a more normal range relative to most people around me. It's like I now have a ground to stand on and a roof over my head. F 24 10 months
12/29/2006
 5  cyclothymia None, I love this med! Have not had any itching or rashes. Sometimes I sweat at night, but I just shower more often now, and use perfumes. The dreams I have at night are better than pleasant, always about love and feeling good. I get headaches but not any more than I had before I started taking this. I am finally able to concentrate on a regular basis, so I went back to college and am getting all A's and B's - never could do that before. I have had cyclothymia for 20 years and was never able to find a medication that worked. This is the first that has actually worked. My moods are very tolerable now. I am as creative as ever, and am finally able to keep a job, be consistant with my projects and meet deadlines. I have not had any mood swings in the past year. I take 400 mg a day. Also, eating healthy and drinking lots of water really helps contribute to feeling good. I also drink detox tea occasionally to keep it from building up in my liver - its good to do that even if your not on any meds. F 35 1 years
1/6/2007
 5  Grand Mal/Petit Mal Seizures blurred vision, memory issues, nausea, dizziness Lamictal has helped tremendously! i've had seizures since 14 yrs and have "made the rounds" from phenobarbital, dilantin, tegretol, zarontin, clonopin, etc etc etc. Although the transition from the tegretol/zarontin to Lamictal was very difficult (it took 6 months to finally be on only Lamictal) it was definitely worth it. Only problems that remain are the constant blurred vision where I have to really try to focus to see well, very poor peripheral vision and memory issues (although my kids tell me i'm just old) F 49 4 years
1/4/2007
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 5  BP Type II I experience "jiggling of the eyeballs", mild clumsiness, loss of words immediately followed by forgetting what I was talking about, repeating myself, night sweats, nightmares, minor acne on my chest, a little buzzed if I take it in the morning, and frequent urination with very minimal results. I’m fighting a depressive funk right now—first one in almost a year. I saw the psych yesterday and he upped the Lamictal from 300 to 400mg. I started this dosage last night. My only concern right now is this is only my second night taking 400mg Lamictal and within a few hours my palms became really itchy and my joints ached—it has subsided within the past hour and now they feel kind of numb. I’m so glad I found this site as now I know what is probably causing this itching. I will be calling the psych tomorrow about an adjustment in dosage. Overall, some of Lamictal’s side effects are really annoying, but it sure beats the hell out of the constant weirdness I felt most of my life. F 38 6 years
2/4/2007
 5  Depression My depression has controlled my life, for the past 18 years. I have tried almost every anti-depressant on the market, but something was missing. I've been taking Lamictal in conjunction with another anti-depressant, and it has made all the difference. F 56 2 months
3/6/2007
 5  Bipolar II I'm not sure these symptoms are related to lamictal, since I was experiencing them to some extent prior to starting the drug: mild word retrieval problems (I'll hear the "wrong" word coming out of my mouth although I know what I want to say); hair loss (which was already happening). Otherwise, no side effects I am taking 75 mg/day of lamictal as well as 900 mg/day of neurontin. The combination has been excellent and I feel calm and stable. I am also involved in yoga breathing (through the Art of Living Foundation) and I've found that this "cocktail" of neurontin, lamictal and yoga breathing has helped me enormously. I started taking lamictal a few weeks before my mother took ill and was slowly increasing the dose while my mother was dying. I'm pleased that I was able to get through one of the highest stress times of my life with calmness. I'm also pleased that the medications/yoga didn't take away my capacity to experience authentic emotions--sorrow at my mom's illness and passing, tears, appropriate mourning. It's hard to know whether my side effects (impaired concentration, work retrieval issues, hair loss) are connected with lamictal or with the stress of losing my mother and now, several weeks after her death, having to reconstruct my life. On the whole, so far, I highly re F 47 3 months
10/12/2005
 5  bipolar 2 really vivid movie-like dreams, some memory problems, word retrieval issues, a bit stronger body odor worth every side effect. after 13 plus years of trying every drug out there, this is the first one that has really helped me. i take 300mg of lamictal plus 25mg of seroquel and 3mg alprozalam all at night and 50mg of zoloft in the morning. so this is what normal feels like! F 36 1 years
10/18/2005
 5  Bipolar Disorder NOS i'm on 100mg/day, with no bothersome side effects-- it wakes me up in the morning and gets me moving, so if i want to go back to sleep right after i take it, i have trouble falling asleep. i've noticed some weight gain, but then again, i don't have a "healthy lifestyle" at all, so i wouldn't take my word for it. emotionally, it's cleared up my depression without making me feel like a zombie. this is the first medicine that has been able to do that for me-- i've tried 7 antidepressants before this. i feel almost "normal" and level-headed. i posted on here a few months ago, right after i started taking lamictal. i just wanted to post again and let everyone know how it was working for me, especially since recent posters have had such bad experiences. my life is completely different now-- it's amazing. i can finally get out of bed and go to classes and work-- so what if i'm getting a little chunky? also, since i'm a broke-ass student, my shrink faxes my prescriptions to the UK, where Lamotrigine is available in generic. i pay less than $100 for 56 100mg pills. i don't know if this is something that just anyone can do, but i can dig up the info if anyone's interested. F 23 6 months
12/2/2007
 5  Bipolar Disorder Hair loss (one big nickel shaped bald spot in the center of my forehead)-happened only once and grew back, hindered word retreival, short-term memory loss, decreased concentration, decreased creativity and motivation, INCONTINENCE (didn't start until 2 years into it). I thought it was from artificial sweeteners, but I am just finding out that there may be a link between Lamictal and incontinence. I also have the urge to go and them am disappointed to find only a few drops. I realize that Lamictal is not a miracle drug, but it has done the job of making me feel what I believe is "normal", and my mood is much more stable. Although (and I think someone else wrote this) I don't cry or feel elated very often. However, the benefits outweigh the negative side effects immeasurably. F 28 4.5 years
10/22/2006
 5  Bi-polar II Very vivid dreams, but they are enjoyable. Some headaches, but not too bad. The worst problem is trouble finding the right words. I am not used to that, but am trying to overcome that part. I have been on anti-depressants for years. Finally saw a psychiatrist who said probably not just depression. I feel normal for the first time maybe ever. Any side effects worth it to me to feel like I'm on an even keel. Please give it at least 2 months if no physical side effects. F 47 9 months
4/2/2007

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