LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare LAMICTAL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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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 |
| 3 | JME (Juvnile Myoclonic Epilepsy) | I find that lamicatal was a little more worse than depakote. On depakote I had no problems with mood or anything like that and my periods weren't too bad, I could control the cramps with just one advil. Also I didn't have lightheaded spells like I do sometimes and my mood has been a great concern lately as I no longer feel like I used to. My PMS mood swings have gotten worse. I also started to lose my hair well it falls out easier than it used to. | It's okay. I mean not for everyone but I do think that I had better reactions with depakote. I didn't mind getting my blood checked every so often as to these mood swings and light headed spells. | F | 18 | 1 years | 11/13/2008 | 3 | seizure | I had my first(and only so far) tonic clonic seizure in June - started w/ Keppra & Dilantin. Dilantin made me so dizzy, I walked like I was tipsy. So, switched to Lamictal (now taking 100mgs/day) about 2 months ago. Mostly I feel well other than dry mouth and recently extreme nausea - feels like the first trimester of pregnancy (but @ 56 I now that is not the case). | Overall I feel better with the Lamictal than I did w/ other medications. After reading some of the other blogs here, my problems seem insignificant. One of my major issues is to think that I have to be on this drug for the rest of my life because of ONE seizure. But I am afraid to stop. I would not want to have a seizure while driving, and thank God I didn't the first time. But having to stop driving for 6 months has made such a total change in my lifestyle. Just to be able to get back to that is enough to make me continue w/ this med. | F | 56 | 2 months | 11/17/2008 | 3 | Border personality/mood stabilizer | Flush face, short term memory loss, some problems with tremors and word recollection, dry-mouth and headaches | I've been on and off this medication for several years now. What has been happening is that the memory loss is too much to handle along with higher education. Short term memory improved significantly after stopping this medication. Now that I have graduated, I'm trying it again. So far dry mouth in the morning, headache and memory loss. | F | 28 | 30 days | 11/19/2008 | 3 | Mood Stabalizer | Weight Gain, Irritabilty/Depression when I miss a dose | Lamictal by far has been the best mood stabalizer for me, however I am stuggling with the weight gain. Since February its been about 15 lbs. I'm thinking about switching meds because I delt with extreme weight gain before with Depakote and I don't want to go through that again. This is just my experience with the medicine... I know some people loose weight on it. | F | 24 | 9 months | 12/19/2008 | 3 | bipolar 2 | brain fog (esp. with each increase in dosage), decreased coordination/balance, hair loss, blurred vision, NEED to eat otherwise i get sick, feelings of withdrawl if i wait too long (1-2 hours) to take it, insomnia | it has definitely stabilized my mood which now has helped me notice that i have a lot of anxiety (which i never noticed because it was hard for me to differentiate between hypomania and anxiety). so now i realize that i need something to help my anxiety and irritability and don't really want to increase the lamictal. my side-effects become more noticeable with each increase. i felt i could deal with the side effects (esp. the brain fog) because i'm a stay-at-home mom. every once in a while it makes it really difficult to drive and is kind of scary. for some reason the brain fog has been especially bad the past few days and i can't seem to shake it. in regards to the insomnia, i take my lamictal in the morning and i take trazodone at night to help me sleep which is 100% necessary. the other day my husband noticed that my hair was thinning (an upclose evaluation) which would make sense seeing as how small clumps of hair would fall out with each shower. this has seemed to tape | F | 30 | 1 years | 12/19/2008 | 3 | Bipolar/Mood Stabilizer | This medication made me feel like a zombie practically everday,blurred vission,day dreamed minutes at a time I had to snap myself out of them becuase it would mostly happen when I was around people,painul migranes,contipation,less driven,very weak and tired,loss of short term memory,slurred words sometimes not being able to finish a sentence. Overall I did not feel normal,let alone alive! | Lamictal seemed to work the first couple of weeks, I felt more friendly,I began to talk more. Although,after months of taking it my moods became worse, I became lazy and I was not able to work out like I am use to. The worst thing about this medicine is that you really do feel like a zombie just roaming around not really able to face reality. Another bad thing was the slurred speech and not being able to describe or express things very well, and that was embarassing!! If you are taking this medicine write down how you feel everyday, and how you felt before you were on the medication so you can keep a record of the positive/negative effects it may be having. That was my mistake, I probably would have been off of it by now! Good luck | F | 23 | 5 months | 12/19/2008 | 3 | Bipolar11 Psychotic | I find that it makes me have pain in my hips and legs also I experienced bad neck and shoulder pain yesterday for the first time. I have been taking the 25 mg for 3 weeks now and will be going up to the 50 mg this week. I like that I feel more clear headed from it and it controls the anger to a point, I have had some minor outbursts the first week from it and some memory issues. I don't like the pain I am getting and if it keeps it up I will probally go back to depakote. I stopped the depakote because the Dr. said I was sleeping way too much and I could not stand how hungry I was all the time and the xtra weight I put on. After reading through all the side effects I am hoping that I will be one of the lucky ones and it will help me and the pain issues will go away as I cannot take the pain like this. | I guess I will give it a longer trial period and I'll post any new side effects, or if the worst side effects go away with an increase of medicine, because I see some say the dosage can make a big difference. As for now I'll grin and bear the pain. | F | 49 | 3 weeks | 1/19/2009 | 3 | Depression | Nap attacks, night sweats, acne all over, hair loss, itchy scalp, eye twitching, severe constipation, anxiety. | 100 mg twice a day. It is useful -- but the side-affects never receded. Ever. I wasted all those years and all that money going to dermatologists, etc. Not one physician in any field I went to knew anything comprehensive or definitive about the physical side affects. | F | 49 | 6 years | 1/19/2009 | 3 | Diagnosed as Bi-Polar | dry mouth, lips. Hair dryed out, upset stomach, hart burn and finally bladder infection. | I was doing really well at first from 25 to 50 than 100 MG. Than shortly after the increase to 150 MG I started to experience heart burn. Now I have a bladder infection. I decieded to ween my self off of Lamictal. I not longer have heart burn the dry mouth but now have the bladder infection to deal with. | F | 58 | 6 months | 1/23/2009 | 3 | depression | insomnia, muscle weakness, feeling dazed at times, itchy skin, very bad facial acne and now on my scalp, which I never had in my life, easy bruising, some hair loss and hair has become very dry and lackluster; increasingly blurred vision to the point where I have to squint to be able to read some texts, gritty and watery eyes, occasional involuntary muscle jerks, talking in sleep, violent and horrific dreams, feelings of flatness, impulsive, irrational behavior, hostility and anger, irrational suspicion and oversensitivity, difficulty with memory, spelling, and also forgetting words and names mid-sentence, bloating, water retention, sugar cravings and most recently, a bit of weight gain | Although I have an extensive side effect list, I have to add that I'm also on 300mg of effexor and 300mg wellbutrin, but I know that those never caused these side effects. It can be helpful for many people in treating epilepsy and bipolar disorder, but I do not have bipolar, even though my doctor decided to diagnose me as being bipolar. I've only had depression with anxiety, but never mania. | F | 29 | 1 years | 4/29/2008 | 3 | Bipolar II | intense anger, cycling through depression and rage, vivid nightmares including dreaming frequently of dieing. | My doctor coupled this with risperdal for the anger and its been doing well so far. I still feel somewhat over-emotional, but the nightmares are gone and ive felt more in control. | F | 16 | | 3/2/2008 | 3 | possible Manic Depressant | My skin itches..arms, legs, back, neck, ears.. also, lumps in my glands, i can swallow fine, but lumps.. lump by my ear and lump in my neck haven't been diagnosed with anything.. but heard that it wouldn't cause me to gain weight.. which if I did. would make me sad and depressed. I feel its helping | PLEASE someone tell me if this passes.. or have you had the same things go on.. does it get workse?? i don't want to stop taking but I'm scared of the consequences of it.. have been on it just starting my 3rd week.. started at 25 mg.. bumped to 50 mg.. tried takin 25 mg in morning and 25 at night.. supposed to bump to 100mg in 2 weeks.. | F | 28 | 2 weeks | 2/29/2008 | 3 | Epilepsy | Weird dreams and I don't mean intermittent but every night what seems like all night. I wake up afraid. Also night sweats, hair loss, slight memory confusion (not sure if this is leftover from the Topamax), some indigestion problems, weight loss | This works for my epilepsy. I was on Topamax a couple of years ago which literally made my IQ decrease about 75 percent. I never fully recovered. I was then on Keppra which made me insane so comparitively Lamictal works great. It's the dreams that are making it hard, that and the hair loss. | F | 40 | 6 weeks | 3/16/2008 | 3 | the "Bipolar 2" theory | BAD effects: nervousness, irritability, DEPENDENCE ON THE DRUG!! (not taking it (for me) results in: severe severe withdrawals. Almost lost my job because of the withdrawals- madening agitation, tremors, heart palpitations, panic attacks, suicidality when I taper down. After several tries, I will be checking myself in to an inpatient facility to go off. (I have been on psych meds for 13 yrs.. so it might make it harder as my body is very dependent now). I would like to have a kid one day and as for now, I do not have this option. Lamictal is a grade 'D' on the safety during pregnancy scale by FDA. These drugs are not safe for pregnancy - cause birth defects/withdrawals in infants. ////GOOD effects: I lost almost 40 lbs :D in about 6 months!!! At first it was kind of scary. I was taking other medications at the time (klonopin, adderol, ativan, provigil, lexapro, trazadone (now I only take trazadone)) my hair was falling out, I was getting my period twice a month and bruising easil | great things and definitely confuse me about stopping the medication, but these drugs just cannot be good for you. I like having emotions. I feel less creative since I have been on meds. I lost my dark edge. I'm like in this neverneverland now of emotions. But I have taken many psych drugs.. the vast majority actually, and this one has helped me the most. But still on a quest to get my mind and heart back. The one I was born with. I pray that this is a possibility for me. After 13 years of mind numbing and dumbing-down (and it literally does physically feel that way (btw-my brain felt constricted the first few days I was on it- migraine too), I don't know who the h*ll is under all this. So, basically, I give this drug a good rating. If I had seizures - something I deem more of a valid reason for taking this, I'd say - good drug. But for a disease that isn't even a disease but rather a theory, I think people (including me) need to walk through their problems and stop looking for a | F | 31 | 2 days | 3/16/2008 | 3 | Junior Myoclonic Epilepsy | Extreme weight gain (10 lbs), hair loss, freaky dreams, memory loss, irregular sleeping patterns (only sleep for 4 or 5 hours), eye twitching, and can't stop taking it for even 2 days or else will have a gran mal seizure | Controls the epilepsy, but also makes it worse since you can't miss doses. All other epilepsy meds cause even more weight gain, so guess I have no choice. | F | 26 | 3 months | 1/22/2008 | 3 | Bipolar | oversleeping one night/not sleeping the next, feeling lethargic all the time, weight gain, never hungry | This is the second time I have been on Lamictal, the first time (I was on it for 2 months) my dosage was taken up to 100mg and I cannot remember the exact side effects but I did have a toenail that fell off for no reason, now reading people's reactions, perhaps it was the medication. I was sleeping all the time and in general just "bored." I am becoming very easily frustrated with finding a medication that will work! My doctor says to be patient, and we will build up to 400MG. | F | 23 | 11 days | 1/23/2008 | 3 | Bipolar II | problems finding the right words. Dullness. I have been sicker than usual colds/sinus (could be eratic weather). Right eye is very dry and blurry (I am worried about the eye toxicology reported here). Achey ( I was in a car wreck this year but not a severe one). I miss highs and lows/feel its all gray/Depression has been dominant. Some anxiety. | I am only taking 100mg a day. I have been taking it at night... perhaps it would be better in the morning from what I have read here. I am wanting to stop use to see how I feel off of it, though it did help me get through a period without completely selfdestructing. I think my dose could be too low or wrong med... but Prozac made me manic... though I was quite sharp. This has kept me in an uninspired middle zone. | F | 33 | 1.5 years | 2/22/2008 | 3 | Bipolar II | Severe drowsiness, "drugged" feeling for a long time every morning, difficulty focusing, especially in the morning. | I have seen a big difference in the way I feel since I started taking Lamictal, along with Zoloft. I haven't had any depressed or manic episodes. But my life circumstances have also changed drastically since the manic episode that put me on the drugs in the first place, so I'm going to ask my doctor about lowering my dose significantly to reduce the side effects and see how my symptoms are affected. | F | 30 | 6 months | 3/31/2008 | 3 | Major Depression, Perimenopause | Up to 50mgs, no side effects 100 mgs daily...very sleepy. Had to take at night. | When I started Lamictal the first month I thought it was a miracle. I felt solid and didn't even think about how I felt. Then I got my period and increased my dose. All my Depression can back worse than before. I am not diagnosed BP but my hormone flucuations mimic it. I'm hoping the higher dose will pull me through my next period with less depression. The depression hasn't let up yet so it better hurry up. I'm also on Lithium and Zoloft. Worked for years until I hit Perimenopause. Now it's like I'm starting all over again. | F | 46 | 35 days | 4/17/2008 | 3 | bipolar depression | none really that I could tell | I can't say anything truly bad about this, but I can't say anything good. It really didn't do anything to help me. Moods still weren't stable after taking some 2 months. | F | 30 | 2 months | 4/7/2008 |