LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare LAMICTAL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
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.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 |
More on LAMICTAL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTAL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | Bipolar/2 Chronic depressions | At first I experienced some anxiety, insomnia, upset stomach- went away after about 5 days. Feel good- better than I have in many years- scared about the rash - after 2 weeks I go up to 50mg- think I will stop there. No side effects that I can tell- not hungry- but much better than being too hungry. | F | 38 | 9 days 25 mg | 6/5/2012 | 4 | Bipolar Disorder II | I am posting this because I feel I need to warn people about the withdrawal symptoms of this drug. Yes, it does help stablize my moods (did give me some sense of no emotion though), but what they did not tell me is that it is very psychologically and physically addictive. | If you ever stop taking this drug, do so very slowly and expect it to be difficult. Physically, I've experienced severe nausea, fatigue and headaches. I am having excruciating pain in my shoulders and back and my vision seems to be blurry. Psychologically, I had sudden, very intrusive violent suicidal thoughts, a feeling of being disconnected from my body, being "in a fog" so severely that I can't comprehend what people are saying to me, weird thoughts and a sudden onset of paranoia. This has happened so suddenly (i.e., in a day) that I am attributing it to the med withdrawal and not the disorder itself. My moods are still relatively stable as the meds aren't out of my system yet. I just feel like I'm completely losing my mind. I was on 200mg, tried to go cold turkey and realized that was a HUGE mistake. I've dropped back by 50% every two weeks and should be at this for another week or so. | F | 46 | 2 years 200mg 1X day | 2/27/2012 | 4 | Bipolar 2, manic episodes | I originally started taking Lamictal about 1 1/2 yrs. ago. I went from 25 mg-50mg-100mg-150mg-200, and I was on 200 mg for about a year and last week my doctor increased my dose from 200mg-300mg, because of manic episodes such as; severe anger and irritability, crying-sadness, to make a long story short, I feel like I was on a "Bi-Polar Coaster", and I have been feeling miserable, and making it hard for loved ones to be around me because they never knew what to expect. I have been taking 300 for 3 days now, and I am feeling more groggy, and have the urge to stay in bed all day, also I am getting headaches daily. Is this normal while I'm adjusting to this increase, and will these symptoms eventually subside? | I do think that Lamictal is a wonderful medication. It has helped me tremendously, but I'm just feeling uneasy about these new symptoms I am experiencing since my dose increased from 200mg to 300 mg 3 days ago. | F | 33 | 300 1X day | 1/22/2012 | 4 | Seizures, including Grand Mal | My dosage was increased to 250 MG a day 3 months ago. Before that was very low and had no side effects. When I started the higher dose, got VERY curly hair right away (which I LOVE!) I have gained weight but not sure if it is from this medication or not yet. | I love this drug, still not totally seizure free since my Grand Mal 3 months ago but it is helping and we are titrating it up. This is the only seizure drug I could handle, have tried a dozen if not more. Aside from the weight gain possibly being from this drug, I haven't noticed any other side effects except for the curly hair. I went from poker straight hair all my life to very curly hair, something I've always wanted. So no (or almost no) bad side effects, actually helps my seizures and curly hair. Total win-win situation. :). Couldn't be happier. | F | 30 | 1 years 125 MG 2X day | 2/4/2012 | 4 | Migraine headaches | I hadn't had any side effects while taking Lamictal in Italy years ago. Now I started it again, I bought the same brand in Bulgaria and had several side effects: first 3 days - feeling dizzy and confused, which subsided, then - feeling sikc (a common side effect, as I se), which subsided again, then - 3 days of headache and now - feelin restless, not sleepy (I have been sleeping less than usual but I am not tired at all) | F | 37 | 2 weeks 50mg 1X day | 6/11/2012 | 4 | Bipolar II | Slight short-term memory loss on brand name. When switched to generic (as insurance made me), started having body aches and depression came back to point of suicidal thoughts. | I had GREAT success with the brand name Lamictal but when switched to generic "Dr. Reddy's Lab," my depression came back along with body aches like I had the flu. I began tapering off the 200 mg I was on and at 100 mg, the aches were gone but the depression not only came back but so did slight hypomania in rapid cycling form. My recommendation is for anyone considering going on this med it to be sure your dr. says "no substitutes" on your RX form and gets you the brand name form. I had came across crazymeds.org and there it is said that the "Dr. Reddy's" is so useless, it's like a placebo. This med worked great under the BRAND NAME. If you wanna try this med, get the the real thing. Also, it was after being switched to the generic that I quickly gained 10 lbs. I read this has happened with others. | F | 35 | 8 years 200 mg 1X day | 1/6/2012 | 4 | Bipolar II | Itchiness, hair loss, jumbled words, memory loss. Most settled down soon after starting on this though hair loss continues. | Changed my life for the better. SIDE NOTE - any other bipolar folk also hypermobile like me? It has helped my neuropathic pain associated with that enormously too. Am not a researcher, but I have Ehlers Danlos Hypermobility type and there may be some association with mood disorders/bipolar, so I'm interested to know! :-) Contact me and let me know, I've enabled email comments (I hope, at least I tried to!) | F | 49 | 1 years 50mg 1X day | 11/30/2011 | 4 | Bipolar II | Hair thinning and brittle, insomnia, hypermania at higher doses, random suicidal thoughts | This is a wonder drug for me. It stopped my severe depressions and stabilized manics somewhat. This medication did appear to have caused my hair to become increasingly thinner and brittle, and I have had a lot of hair loss. Didn't notice it until about 1 yr. Have to take it in AM because PM dose causes insomnia. Tends to lift mood, which means I do still struggle with some manic phases, but the depression is completely gone. | F | 41 | 2.5 years 100 1X day | 12/2/2011 | 4 | Bipolar II | Weight gain! Sweating, and vivid dreams. In 3 years I consistently went up in weight. About 60lbs in three years. The meds did help stabilize my mood a lot though! I'm currently working with my psychiatrist to wean off this drug and zoloft. | F | 17 | 3 years 75mg | 1/22/2012 | 4 | bi-polar deppression | Only side affect is forgetfullnes of names. Good side affect includes help with sleep and normalizing sleep/wake patterns | Only depression med that feels natural -as in I don't feel like I'm on a drug of any kind. If you dislike the feeling SSRI's give you (which I do) you might be pleasantly surprised to find that no strange brain feelings or numbness or just "general SSRI weirdness" seems to accompany this med. Doesn't blunt my feelings or creativity. | F | 32 | 40 days 100 mg 1X day | 9/29/2011 | 4 | bi-polar 2 | None yet,some symptoms that I can't say if they are from ageing(eg memory problems I already had), aching on waking or sitting still for a long time. Some may be from other like it is winter and i developed chilblains on my fingers which we first thought was 'the Rash". Also had tender breasts and a longer period than usual but this may be early menopause. Slightly itchy back of neck. Nothing too major so far and I started on 100mg a day. | Have been feeling the most stable I have felt in a long while. I seem to be a lot more tolerant with my 5 and 8 year old children and don't seem to have such severe volatile outbursts.I hope this continues as my marriage was being severely affected. | F | 43 | 9 weeks 100 1X day | 7/12/2011 | 4 | treatment-resistant depression | drowiness, sun sensitivity (which resulted in a sun rash), intense itching, and the feeling like bugs were crawling on or under my skin | The sensation of bugs crawling on my skin increases depending on my dose. It started at 100 mg, about a week or 2 after my sun rash healed. Splitting the dose helps and makes me more comfortable during the day, but taking the second dose in the afternoon or in the evening makes me extremely uncomfortable... which makes sleep almost impossible at night. I hope this is temporary, otherwise I might have to consider discontinuing the medicine even though it is helping with my depression. I have no signs of the SJS rash though, so hopefully it will stop at the itchiness. Also of interest is that I only started getting side effects by the 6th week of being on it. I didn't have any at all initially. | F | 25 | 4 months 150 mg 2X day | 9/6/2011 | 4 | mood stabilizer Bi-Polar Borderline | Vivid Dreams- profuse Sweating. | I have taken Lamictal 3 years ago for almost 2 years- 400Mgs- but the DR I was going to then had me on Mirtazapine which made me gain 75 pounds! I qoit taking all the meds, and lost the weight, but also went back into a deeeeeep depression, mood swings, and crying every day with much sadness. This go around I am exercising and watching what I eat.as of yet have not gained not even one pound. I am holding my breath. also taking Klonopin- and Zyprexa. | F | 42 | 3 months 300 1X day | 9/4/2011 | 4 | epilepsy | scalp itches, a few headaches, dreams, dry mouth, some all over muscle aches | Took Dilantin for 30 years for idiopathic seizures and started the switch to Lamictal about 2 months ago. Currently taking 200mg twice daily. The biggest side effect for me so far is the itchy scalp. Drives me crazy! A few headaches here and there but they go away. I have been dreaming more and can actually remember my dreams in great detail now. I like that. Frequent dry mouth but water and gum fix that. Muscle aches a couple of times out of the blue that felt like I had been run over by a train. Not sure if that is Lamictal related or not. As for my seizures, only time will tell if it works. I like Lamictal so far and hope that I can continue taking it without any problems. | F | 45 | 2 months 200 2X day | 6/11/2011 | 4 | Bipolar | Tried to go off this drug under supervision of my psychiatrist. I was going to go down slowly. I went down to 150mg. Very soon after, I had SEVERE anxiety and sadness. It was not normal. I did not know what to do or if I could handle it, so I decided to go back to 200mg. I am fine, but would love to be off of it for good if I did not need it. Seems I do, though. | F | 35 | 3 years 200 mg 1X day | 7/10/2011 | 4 | Back Pain from Herniated Disk | Numbness, tingling, in face and jaw, (normally have it in body from herniated disc), nausea, dizziness, maybe headaches, tiredness, fatigue, memory loss. | I was surprised to read the other person's review who was prescribed Lamictal for back pain. I did not experience that with Lamictal, but I did have a similar experience with amitryptline and zanaflax or something like that. I didn't feel I had any emotional side-effects with Lamictal, which is one reason I liked it. (With others I can notice a sharp descent into depression.) It's very important that readers know that each individual will react differently to medications. I tried lots of different meds for back pain, but when I combined lamictal with ultram, I was able to tolerate my pain and yet be able to function. I think the idea is that it controls muscle seizures in your back or something (and of course the effect on the brain chemicals). Everything else just made me feel depressed or way too tired. I like to be alert and awake, and will tolerate some pain in exchange for being able to have a life. It's interesting that I've read about lamictal and hormones, because I'm just starting pre-menopause and I feel like my lamictal side effects of the numbness and tingling are getting stronger. I'm considering having my doctor wean me off this to see how I do. Probably will. But, I did want to post my positive experience with this drug and back pain so other might consider it. I would recommend giving it a try - and if it doesn't work - just go off it. But make sure you wean yourself on and off, it makes a difference. I'd also like to tell readers to trust your judgment more | F | 46 | 5 years 50 2X day | 5/25/2011 | 4 | Bipolar Disorder/Mania | It makes me really tired and I always take it at night. This combined with Prozac has done absolute wonders for keeping my Bipolar under control. | It is PRICEY, but there are patient assistance programs out there. Also, buying the generic costs considerably less. | F | 23 | 1 years 100mg 1X day | 4/30/2011 | 4 | Bipolar 2 | Massive headache for 3 days whenever they upped my dosage. Weight gain!!!!!! | F | 21 | 24 months 400 2X day | 3/31/2011 | 4 | bipolar II | First week: Small rash. Discontinued drug for a week, then started at lower dose. With each dose increase: mild dizziness for 2 days, vision changes (seeing spots and flashes of light) First few months: some memory loss, depression, agitation, insomnia, vision changes, serious suicidal thoughts. Ongoing side effects: increased energy (not manic), weight loss, excess vaginal discharge (very annoying!), slightly altered depth perception, very different reaction to alcohol (drastically lowered tolerance and worsened hangovers). | I take the generic lamotrigine. For the most part, I like it. I don't have my mood episodes entirely under control, but they are much milder and shorter in duration. I don't think I'm quite as intelligent as I used to be, but I can concentrate for the first time in years. I tend to think that objects are closer than they are. I can still safely drive. When I'm tired, I feel dizzy instead of sleepy. It took me awhile to figure that out! I would not recommend drinking while taking this medication. Maybe alcohol is fine in small doses, but binge drinking is incredibly painful and I believe it contributed to me being suicidal. | F | 20 | 8 months 125 2X day | 3/20/2011 | 4 | Cyclotimia | Terrible "garlic or union-like) body odor specially when I exercise and sweat(in the last 6 months, and getting worse, after 2.5 years of no odor, sporadic incontinence (only lately and about 5 or 6 times, and even being into sports and dancing at least twice/week) change in taste in foods!, sensitivity to light and noise, permanent tiredness, difficulty getting up in the mornings (very physical, not due to depression)insomnia, slight and sporadic hand tremmors, sporadic nausea and dizziness, short memory and sporadic medium term memory problems, cognitive problems and fuzzy feeling, need to urinate too frequently and then little quantity... | Even I have become much more stable than before taking Lamictal, and being conscious that I might have to take it indefinately, I have lately developed many more side effects than in the beginning. I would like to reduce the dose slowly and try to live without it, but I am also scared, as many of the people that wrote here, that it might bring me back to my previous mood changes. I have a mild cyclotimia, but nothing had worked before I took Lamictal. Prozac really made me ill and fluvoxamine didn't do much... I also took Vandral which didn't work either. Until I read the comments here (and I have read many) I hadn't realised I had as many side effects as I do. I would really appreciate if anyone could write to share anything about body odour as a side effect. It is important for me as I go salsa dancing weekly and this is a problem as it really puts people off. It took me a few weeks of asking the male friends I dance with until I finally got them to confess! I started with 25mg, then increased to 200 (100mg am, 100 mg evening. I take it with Citalopran 10 mg (started with 20 mg) but couldn't sleep well so Citalopran was halved and Lamictal taken only in the morning (200)for 2 years. I know take 150mg only in the morning and it seems to work well. | F | 40 | 3 years 150 mg 1X day | 1/19/2011 |