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 |
| 2 | Bipolar 1 | Initially, dizziness. That's it. | Anything I ever read about this drug is positive. Most of tthe posts on this site are positive. When I was diagnosed, Lamictal was (and still is?) considered the best drug out there for b/d. So I took it. Nothing happened. Three months went by. Still, nothing, even after increasing to the max dose. So my doc put me on Topamax (miracle drug for me, none of the bad side effects that most people report), but kept me on Lamictal "in case" it was doing something. So I'm still on Lamictal, but my doc and I joke about whether it's really doing anything. It was so difficult to get me stable, she just doesn't want to mess with anything. The point of my post is this: if you don't respond to Lamictal, don't worry. You're not the only one. Our bodies are all different. | F | 27 | 3 years | 5/4/2006 | 2 | bipolar | the more i research typical bipolar medications the more depressed i become. for most people it seems that the side effects are as bad or worse than the disease. ever since becoming medicated ive gone from an A student to a C- student, a size 2 to a size 6, i live most of my life at half brain function, and i no longer enjoy the things i used to love. not to mention that i have so much difficulty communicating with people that i've lost most of my friends. i know these arent exactly "side effects" but they are a product of this medication. i think im just gonna stop it and see what happens...the worst scenario would be another manic episode, or perhaps a deep depression, but anythings gotta be better than this sorry excuse for a half life that i lead. | F | 3.5 months | 5/3/2007 | 2 | to treat bi-polar depression | nausea, vivd and morbid dreams, insomnia | F | 17 | 6 months | 5/8/2007 | 2 | Bipolar Disorder | Memory loss, muscle aches, dyslexia, sore throat, slight fever, tremors, headache, somnolence, uncoordinated, dizziness, disorientation, forgot how to drive in my own neighborhood. | I took Lamictal at night and the next day I felt foggy. The second day I had trouble spelling and typing, usually I'm very accurate, but I couldn't remember how to spell words I use every day. Had trouble at my transcribing job. I took it one more night and on the 4th day, I lost it. I had heart palpitations waking me up at night, woke up with severe back pain, then slept till 12:00 noon. Got heart palpiations again, later in the day, thought I was haing a stroke. I was in my car and couldn't remember which lane to make a left from and this was up my street. Couldn't remember how to drive, got panic attack, fortunately had an ativan and took that. Pulled off the freeway called my shrink, I was breathing heavy, crying, anxious and disoriented. She told me not to go to work and get off the pill. I'm very disappointed. I heard it was the only mood stabilizer that doesn't cause weight gain and I've tried many others. I gained 50 pounds on Geodon, Abilify and Trileptal and others. I finally lost 40 back and was very happy about that, but couldn't stop shopping way over my meager disability budget, got depressed when I guy broke up with me and suicidal. Prozac made me shop more and more manic, maybe a little happier. Lamictal did make me feel calmer for a few days and I thought it might help, but it's not for me, I had a severe reaction and not a safe one. | F | 45 | 3 days | 8/16/2005 | 2 | adjunct to antidepressant | Short-term memory loss. We all misplace our keys now and then, but I began to lose track of EVERYTHING that I wasn't wearing. It was a frightening experience for me. | F | 65 | 3 months | 3/9/2007 | 2 | bipolar 2 mixed episodes | incredible nausea all the time i've been on it for 4 days and i usually workout every weekday and i've felt way too sick. i bought expensive dance shoes and forgot them in the store. i hit my head against the car door when i was trying to sit down because i'm so dizzy. i can't even tell if it's helping me mentally. i feel more calm and neutral but i'm so consumed with how my stomach feels i may be distracted from feeling depressed | if anyone has any suggestions rereview or something i really want this drug to work but i feel terrible | F | 21 | 4 days | 11/5/2005 | 2 | depression, anxiety, dissociation | Lamictal is, I swear, making my hair fall out. And it is the only medication in a long line of meds I've tried that I REALLY have a hard time tapering off of. The hair loss is embarrassing, and it doesn't seem to stop, even now that I'm down to 100mg/day. Plus, when I have tried to stop taking it, even with very, very minor tapering, I get horrible, awful, headaches. It seems like if I try to go under 100mg, I get these awful headaches. | I don't think this medication helps my depression at all, and I think it is misprescribed as a "catch all" med, when it really is designed for bipolar disorders. It is, as far as I know, doing nothing for my depression. But going off of it causes me to have awful, awful, crippling headaches. And I become weepy and in general I don't want to set aside 3 weeks of my life to feel crappy to taper off of this medication. | F | 30 | 1.5 years | 10/13/2007 | 2 | Bipolar Disorder | Almost constant very bad YEAST INFECTIONS; ITCHY skin ("crawling" sensation that makes it hard to fall asleep); SEVERE,CHRONIC CONSTIPATION; HEADACHES; CRYING at least once a week, usually for no apparent reason; BRITTLE FINGER NAILS; CONFUSION and DIZZINESS; There are so many I'm sure I'm forgetting some. | After being diagnosed bipolar my doc put me on this one because I didn't want to take lithium or depakote (I didn't want the weight gain). It made a huge difference in stabilizing my mood, but I also started crying a lot. I mean, a LOT. Less suicidal ideation, but basically it was like it stopped my ups but didn't do much to help my downs. Plus, god, the yeast infections are horrid. One was so bad that a nurse told me that I had herpes; well, I didn't, but that was a frightening experience. Now I'm switching over to Lithium- no serious effects but nausea, and I've stopped crying. I can't wait to get off this damn lamictal and stop itching all the time. | F | 24 | 1 years | 10/13/2007 | 2 | Depression | Increased Sweating, Headaches, Weight Loss, Increased Irritability, Fatigue | I’ve been on anti-depressants for many many years. It is incredibly frustrating when your doctor does not acknowledge the side effects you are experiencing are related to a medication change. I am so glad other people mentioned the sweating...my doctor refused to believe it was related to the medication. | F | 26 | 9 weeks | 6/28/2006 | 2 | possible Bipolar 1 | EXTREME AGITATION - ANGER, increased anxiety w/physical symptoms, increased suicidal thoughts, memory loss, I have trouble reasoning and comprehension, have to read things over finding that I've read them without paying attention, increased dehydration, severe mood swings (crying so much!), word retrieval issues, headache, sleepy a lot, decreased appetite-yet craving chocolate, sugars, carbs, alcohol (I'm a non-drinker) | I am hoping for things to get better. I've read a lot of positive things on this site, so I'll hope for that for myself. I'm going to stick it out through the 4 week time to see if I will work. I haven't noticed any positive effects. I was prescribed Lorazapam .5mg at the same time, and I had to start taking it 3 days ago. I'm needing more of it each day to combat the severe anger and crying bouts. I'm so scared. I just want to be better. Life really shouldn't be like this! | F | 26 | 8 days | 11/15/2005 | 2 | mood disorder | verrry dry mouth, felt very unbalanced during exercise. | At 200 mg, this drug worked for the first week but nothing after that. | F | 41 | 40 days | 2/17/2006 | 2 | depression | made me worse. depressed and had no control over myself. broke out into a rash after about 3 wks. | i wrote a comment on 6/8/2007 and i had only been on it for 9 days. im not taking it anymore. i wanted off depakote so bad cuz we decided that was the cause of my weight gain, but the depakote worked so well w me, kept me under control. as i was winging off of it and slowly getting on this one, after the 8th, i was being dealt with hard things and i couldnt handle them and just fell apart. i litteraly didnt eat a bite of food for 7 days, and i broke out in a rash, on my chest and on my arm. im not even going to consider trying it again. depakote works for me. | F | 24 | 3 weeks | 6/26/2007 | 2 | Major Depression, Anxiety NOS | Memory loss! Lethargy/fatigue. Foot & leg pain every time I stand up. Typos like nobody's business. My conversation is necessary business only - not sure if it's because I can't think or if it's because I don't care. I think my boobs are bigger too; my pre-pregnancy bras fit now. Isolating. Female "sexual side effects." ERGH! | Titrating up & at 150mg 1/day. Also on Wellbutrin 150-300mg/day =D *if i remember my pm dose.* I also just stopped 2.5 mg Zyprexa (sleep & anxiety) to isolate SEs. I formerly never had a problem remebering meds. Once I forgot to pick up my daughter; there's nothing so terrifying as hearing your spouse say. "Where's Olivia?" I think I am sight-reading at the piano better, which might be because I'm thinking less and just doing it - no more thinking about other possibilities, in music or in life. I'm able to do things that used to make me anxious because I just don't care, but I still lie awake at night having my awful obessive morbid thoughts. I am feeing guilt, shame and anxiety about not being "normal" and about not doing anything with my day. I'm very confilicted & frustrated. | F | 38 | 2 months | 7/29/2006 | 2 | Epilepsy (Partial Complex) | Loss of libido - this was a gradual thing that happened over about 3 years until it completely disappeared - have since changed to Keppra but libido still hasn't come back. Also taking Neurontin which has made me lose the ability to orgasm. Other bad things: loss of personality & creativity, tiredness, memory loss. | These drugs have ruined my sex-life and I'm only 25! I am so depressed. I feel like a total alien. It's really annoying that I have to keep taking epilepsy meds even though I only had 1 seizure...4 years ago! I have MS too. My only advice to epilepsy sufferers taking Lamictal is to be aware that if it starts reducing your drive (even slightly) then change meds straight away cos you don't want this to happen to you! I would do anything to get mine back! | F | 25 | 3 years | 10/14/2008 | 2 | Major Depression/Anxiey NOS | Boy do I STINK! I'm getting sick of smelling myself! Pretty much negates the benefits of bigger boobs. Did I mention the memory loss? I don't remember.... | I think the numb-brain is going to boot me off of Lamictal, (at least 150mg/day). I forgot a psychiatrists appointment of all things. I was a bit scattered before I started, but now I'm barely functional, like getting to the car without my keys in hand. It takes me a good 20 seconds to remeber what day of the week it is. Foregetting the kid is pretty much a deal breaker for me. Mindfulness, my @$$. | F | 38 | 2 months | 7/29/2006 | 2 | Replace Lithium, Keppra, Klonopin | Cannot take more than 200 mg. without fluid retention and pain in wrists. Experiencing headaches. | My psychiatrist, a good one, was under the impression that this drug was the answer to everyone on multiple medications for depression, unstable moods, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping, after 6 months of treatment. We found out that removing Lithium from my treatment after the 6 months put me right back to severe mood problems. Not sure I see any benefit from this drug. | F | 53 | 7 months | 1/5/2007 | 2 | mood stabilization | Constant thirst--I was drinking several gallons of water a day, and would wake up in the night due to thirst. | I didn't take it long enough to experience any of its intended effects. | F | 25 | 1 weeks | 1/15/2007 | 2 | Seizures | 100mg. 2xday did not stop seizures. Increased to 125mg 2xday. Experienced acne, severe headaches, nausea, 10 lb. weight loss, nervousness. | Switched back to Depakote even though I do not like the weight gain. | F | 43 | 3 months | 10/23/2004 | 2 | Seizures | 100mg. 2xday did not stop seizures. Increased to 125mg 2xday. Experienced acne, severe headaches, nausea, 10 lb. weight loss, nervousness, sleeplessness. | Switched back to Depakote even though I do not like the weight gain. | F | 43 | 3 months | 10/23/2004 | 2 | soft bipolar | Severe night sweats, horrible & very vivid dreams, initial energy burst but now lathargic, rash-like redness/flaking around mouth, nose & eyebrow, definite weight fluctuation, memory & recall difficulties, zone out sometimes. | I am on 400mg of lamictal and 150mg of wellbutrin. I notice that my dosage seems to be higher than most. At first I felt almost manic (positive way)but now I am finding my compulsive/impulsive behaviors surface. I don't think lamical is very beneficial at this point. I am planning to get off it. | F | 39 | 1 years | 4/23/2007 |