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 | Bi-polar II | insomnia, unexplainable anger, irritation, road-rage (never been an issue!), mental fog, low energy, trouble articulating thoughts at times, acne, itchy skin (but no rash), unbalanced--clumsy. | I'm considering going off Lamictal as I can't live in a mental fog on a daily basis nor can I live without articulating my thoughts, especially since I'm a writer! I just assumed the low energy and mental fog were early side-effects that would go away. After seeing the comments here though, it doesn't sound promising. I feel worse than when I was in deep depression. | F | 29 | 19 days | 10/3/2007 | 2 | petit mal seizure/absence | Burning sensation skin on face, chest, and back. Red bumps on chest. Feeling of intense burning on my skin, itching and sweating. Agitation and could not sleep. Mild dizziness and lack of appetite. | Aside from the unbearable side effects, my mind felt "together" for the first time in years. I am sorry I cannot take this med. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS...IT IS A VERY POWERFUL MEDICATION. I WAS TAKING ONLY 1/2 OF A 25 MG TABLET!!!! THANK GOD I DIDN'T TAKE THE WHOLE 25 MG MY NEUROLOGIST WANTED ME TO. | F | 57 | 2 days | 9/29/2006 | 2 | PTS/Depression | Almost immediate hair loss as dosage increased. Was up to 150mg per day. Now, 18 months later, my thick, beautiful hair is 1/3 what it was, and still falling out. I have severe leg cramps, almost every night, I have the "runs" every morning, sometimes all night, I have horrible nightmares, fatigue, chest pains (like I'm having a heart attack, dry skin, feeling like I have to urinate, and nothing happens, getting up all night to urinate (go figure), no appetite, cannot breath through my nose, clogged ears (feel like I'm under water) and imaginary conversations that are very scary and make me even more anxious and depressed. | When I first started taking Limictal, the only side effect I was told about was the "rash". It seemed to be working after a few months, I dropped at least 12 lbs. (but that could be from the loss of appetite and "runs") so I continued. When the hair loss and night sweats got worse, I cut down the dosage. It did not help. There was only a brief period of feeling more stable, and that it was helping, followed by such depression that it outweighed it's initial benefits. My hair is still falling out. I have had no support from my psychiatrist. She thinks that it's benefits outweigh the depression I feel from the side effects, mainly the hair loss. After going through chemotherapy, losing ALL of my hair, and finally having it grow back - this is unbearable. After reading many other Internet sites, and talking to doctors who are really informed about the side effects of this drug, I am feeling hostile, so therapy has not been that great. Since it is August, and sh | F | 54 | 18 months | 8/28/2007 | 2 | BP 2 | I feel like the "Village Idiot," experiencing problems with writing, reading and speaking. When writing even the simplest word, letters become transposed or a letter disappears. When I read, I don't see a word correctly and completely misinterpret the meaning of the sentence. In speaking, I grasp for words and choose the wrong ones. People wonder what's wrong with me, since I can't even follow a conversation. My normally excellent memory is vaporizing. I feel confused, in a haze and moronic. I'm on a very low dose (50 mg), and my doctor wants to raise me to 100 mg, but I've been unwilling to do so. He hasn't heard of these side effects. I'm glad that I googled "Lamictal side effects" and see that many people are experiencing the same problems. | Lamictal hasn't really done anything positive for me. I'm now on just 50 mg, which is well below the therapeutic level. I also take 1350 mg of Lithium and some Thyroid meds. The side effects that I mentioned have made me even more depressed about my situation, since losing my intellect is devastating for me. | F | 51 | 4 months | 8/28/2007 | 2 | Prescribed for depression/anxiety | Terrible headaches, tachycardia (heart pounding) and palpitations, and severe pulsatile tinnitus. | I suffer from anxiety, depression, and migraines. I was first given Paxil. It worked for depression but not the anxiety, and the sexual side effects and weight gain were unacceptable. Then I was given Amitryptiline. This raised my anxiety (heart pounding and palpitations), and worst of all, gave me high blood pressure. Since there is a family history of bipolar, the doctor then put me on Lamictal; at about the same time my family doctor prescribed Metoprolol for the high blood pressure. Lamictal was quite effective for mood stabilization. However, it did not help with anxiety/palpitations, made my life-long headaches worse, and gave me terrible pulsatile tinnitus. The Metoprolol stabilized my blood pressure but further contributed to the headache problem. (Despite what my family doctor claimed, beta blockers are NOT all the same, and only some work for migraine prophylaxis. Both Metoprolol and Lamictal are on the ototoxic list to be avoided if you have tinnitis. I am now off the Lamict | F | 58 | 12 months | 8/25/2007 | 2 | schizoaffective disorder | overall extreme fatigue | did help with my symptoms of mood swings but 100 mg was too much for my body weight(155); could not function with such extreme fatigue (knees buckling while standing, dizziness); may return to 25 mg; am trying lithium now | F | 19 | 6 weeks | 4/11/2007 | 2 | Bipolar I | Itching, tired, fingers swollen, dry mouth, irritable and acne. | I am so tired. I get up from a nap and want to take another one within an hour. My husband doesn't understand why I am itching all the time, and I don't either. Did not know of some side effects until reading this. Also, got acne which was very strange for me. My fingers have been hurting at the tips and read someone else had this side effect too. I do not feel any better so I think I am going to have to quit and I am actually very frightened to be on it now after reading so many of the side effects. Glad it works for some though, just not for me. I have to start a new job in 2 weeks, so very concerned about taking this anymore. | F | 36 | 28 days | 11/11/2007 | 2 | mood stabilizer | frequent vomititng, poor vision, memory problems, tremor, a sense of overall "blankness" | I've just discontinued this drug after taking it for 18 months, and trying all different dosages with the help of my doctor. It was taking to help me with mild depression, and anger outbursts. I know that when it works, it works well, and is a godsend to many people. But if you are one of the few where the day to day side effects make you feel terrible, please be sure to press the issue with your doctor, and get your blood work done. It's been a few weeks since I've stopped, and I feel like me again:) I'll continue to work on my treatment another way. | F | 32 | 18 months | 11/14/2007 | 2 | daily migraines | Everything was ok until I started taking 150 mg from 100 mg. I had a horrible nightmare that seemed so real that I was crying uncontrollably and was terrified to go back to sleep. Never has something like that happened to me. | I am still taking 100 mg to see if it helps my headaches but I will NOT up the dosage to 150 mg again. My dr. had asked if I had any weird dreams before the dosage change and I hadn't at the time, but now I know that it did cause that dream incident. | F | 31 | 7 weeks | 10/26/2007 | 2 | Bipolar II | Increased slowly dosage and have been at 300 mgs for 9 months and I have slowly increased the following side effects; hair loss, severe memory problems-I think the person I am talking to is someone different and I confuse people's names. Horrible concentration, anti-social, severe anxiety, have trouble driving, feelings of unsteadiness, mania, irritability, paranoia | As time wears on this medicine is actually starting to scare me. If my irritability increases any more I fear of regaining sanity. The gradual increase of these side effects almost makes one think it is my imagination, but talking to other professionals it is not my imagination. Driving is the scariest. | F | 40 | 18 months | 10/22/2007 | 2 | migraine prophylaxis | bleeding between menstrual cycle increased headache severity increased headache intensity no effect of migraine frequency symptoms of mania (elevated mood, rushing thoughts, increased energy) | F | 25 | 15 days | 9/7/2007 | 2 | Bipolar/anxiety | I was on Lamictal for 9 days before I had any real side effects. It began with a rash on my hands, feet, arms and a mild headache, so I stopped taking it. The next day the rash was covering my entire body, I went to the dr. and I have Stevens-Johnson syndrome. I'm on steroids for a week and if that doesn't get rid of it I have to be admitted to the hospital. Please go to the doctor if you have similar symptoms bc it can be disfiguring or fatal if not treated immediately. | I didn't get far enough into the treatment to see any progress or other reactions. | F | 22 | 9 days | 8/18/2007 | 2 | Bipolar/Rapid Cycling/Depression | The first two weeks on 25mg were fine. The moment I bumped up to 50mg, I won the Lamictal Lottery with a brand new itchy rash on legs and one hand, folliculitis, and a heaping side of raging acne for dessert. | I can see (from my first two weeks) how it could be a beneficial drug to some if you happen to not be one of the 8 in 1000 allergic to it. worth the risk of trying! | F | 24 | 16 days | 8/3/2007 | 2 | Bipolar II | Excessive hair loss/thinning | I was hopefully after being diagnosed as Bipolar II that this would help. I was tapering up on my dosage, and when I reached 100mg on week 5, I noticed my hair was coming out and thinning at an alarming rate. I could not run my fingers through my hair without pulling out at least 30-50 strands. I immediately tapered off it, finishing about 2 weeks ago, and my hair is awful. It's finer than my one-year-old daughter's hair (which sucks, because it's down to my mid-back), and though the loss has slowed, it's still significant. This may sound shallow, but I am getting married in 5 weeks, so this is very disappointing for me. I will work extra hard to figure out a way to control my disorder WITHOUT meds that destroy my hair. If I'd have known, I never would have started on it in the first place. | F | 26 | 6 weeks | 7/12/2007 | 2 | Bipolar II - Mood Disorder | My skin was clear until I started taking Lamictal. Almost immediately, I experienced acne on my face, neck, chest and back. At lower doses, I experienced insomnia, lack of appetite, headaches, was accident prone and noticed my misspellings with my typing. At higher doses, I started having problems with my eyes, dry eye, uveitis/iritis, break-through bleeding while on birth control, migraines, pressure inside my head, extreme fatigue and sleepiness during the day despite consumption of massive amounts of caffeine. | At a lower dose I noticed that my moods were evening out and that my highs and lows were muted. But at higher doses, I experienced more erratic mood swings, coupled by unexplained crying and meltdowns. In the end, I started feeling so terrible that I felt like I hit a wall and could not go on. It was at this point that I decided it would be best to taper down on Lamictal immediately. It's simply not the miracle drug for me. | F | 36 | 8 months | 6/22/2007 | 2 | ABSENCE SEIZURE / PETIT MAL | Causing serious learning problems at school, lack of concentration, short term memory loss as well as behavior problems. | My daughter does not get the seizures anymore, please be careful not to use a too high dosage. | F | 7 | 6 months | 7/10/2007 | 2 | MIxed state bipolar disorder | One week into taking the 25mg starting doseage, I began to feel as though I had a cold, then it progressed to more flu-like symptoms with a migraine that lasted for about 5 days. 3 days after starting to feel ill, I got a rash that started on my thighs and then began to spread to my lower legs, back and arms. I became feverish. I called my psych and she sent me to a dermatologist (conveniently it was her husband). He biopsied a piece of tissue from my thigh and called several days later to tell me it was a reaction to the medicine (Stevens Johnson). I stopped taking the meds the day I went to the dermatologist. | I cannot say that this medicine worked, but also cannot say it did not work. Since I'm allergic to the medicine I guess I'll never know since I had only been taking it for 2 weeks when I had to cease taking it. Lucky me - the 1 out of 3000 it's prescribed to that has a reaction. I was so hoping that this would be the "magic pill". My family physician tested my thyroid just the other day to rule out hormonal problems and said he could prescribe seroquel, but I'm terrified of taking that, putting on weight and feeling tired all the time. | F | 31 | 12 days | 6/4/2007 | 2 | major depression along with PTSD | Itching all over my body from head to feet....mostly eyes, stomach, arms, & back without rash. Nausea & made food taste horrible. Almost throwing up. Horrible nightmare that went along with the PTSD issues I am dealing with. Throat feeling like flu without it being sore (just swollen feeling) & running nose with mild temperature. Next night couldn't sleep (maybe trying to avoid the nightmares) or beause I felt so horrible the day before I didn't get out of bed. | This all happened after only 2 25mg doses so pdoc dc'ed & prescribed antahistamine for reactions (allergic to benedryl, so trying atarax (vistaril). | F | 54 | | 2/16/2007 | 2 | Bipolar II | At 50mg (slow increase to 150mg). Memory impairment - difficult to manage more than one thought/idea at a time, impaired conversation skills b/c can't organize thoughts and respond. (excludes casual conversation) | Also taking Zoloft 100mg (5yrs) & Lithium 900mg (1yr). I am almost done with grad school and trying to write my thesis. Not being able to think clearly is debilitating. | F | 27 | 8 days | 9/27/2007 | 2 | depression | dizziness, headache - brain fog, lethargy. Weight gain due to lack of energy. I'm not sure if any other females have expereiced this but I am having very painful recurring yeast infections. | Thinking of getting off Lamictal. If it wasn't sexual side effects with anti-depressants, it is yeast infections with lamictal. | F | 27 | 2 months | 5/11/2007 |