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 |
| 4 | bipolar II | Vivid nightmares, severe joint pain especially on the knees, increased irritability. | At 225mg it cured the manic episodes and it worked wonders on the lows. Some trouble focussing and difficulty spelling. I had to bring the dose down to 150mg because of the joint pain. At this dose the pain is manageable. The mania is more noticeable at 150mg. Tried to add lithium, bad idea. | M | 38 | 3 months | 3/26/2006 | 4 | Fast cycling depression/bipolar II | Vertigo, headaches, clumsiness, confusion, short term memory issues, mood spikes, increased appetite, zoned out feeling, acne increase, going from a week of teenage style horniness to not wanting to at all. Basically everything you can imagine but the rash. But, overall my depression is getting better. | This is the first medication I've been on. When I've upped the dosage I got a week of feeling great, then slowly I would start getting crazy mood fluctuations that spiked all over the place. I began overreacting to things and I had no clue why. Sometimes I would cry, get angry or depressed without a trigger, or with a mild trigger. I would be confused about it. I could see that it wasn't a proper reaction, but it was so overwhelming I had a hard time coping. It's getting better as I learn. I used to not be able to tell it was an overreaction. I am much more hopeful than before. | M | 31 | 11 weeks | 12/1/2006 | 4 | Bipolar II | mild acne, headache, nausea, tremor, muscle aches. All subside gradually for the most part. | Excessive washing worsens the acne. The acne simply resolved when I let my skin oils naturally balance. Strange but true. When you wash your skin too much (hair included!) it stimulates the glands to produce more oil. Pain relievers have no effect on the muscle and headaches. | M | 51 | 4 months | 9/21/2005 | 4 | mood stablizer | none | Helps calm me, taken with Adderall | M | 55 | 7 years 150 2X day | 4/28/2012 | 4 | epilepsy | Dizziness in the morning | I use lamictal in combination with deprakine (mo: 2xlamictal, 1x deprakine 500mg EC, evening: 1x lamictal 100mg, 2x deprakine 500mg EC). I drink quite a bit of coffee in the morning, and on occasion I get dizzy. It goes away when I drink a lot and eat a few sandwiches | M | 52 | 6 years 100 mg 3X day | 7/24/2013 | 4 | Bipolar Depression | VERY mild. Hot flashes and felt like I had a fever, but passed. Emotional numbness at higher doses (>100mg). Otherwise none really. | I was prescribed this years ago after starting a new psych, who diagnosed me as bipolar, about 10% manic and 90% depression as the problems. The best thing about this is that 1.) it's very mild and 2.) works very well at fighting the depression part of BP. Didn't dull me out like several others I tried (Depakote ER, Zyprexa, Trileptal, Tegretol), and after about 2 weeks after starting it I noticed just an overall improvement in my mood. Didn't propel me into a manic state, just an overall brighter attitude and outlook on things. I've been on up to 200mg and my psych has for years changed the dosage until we finally settled on 100mg as the most effective for me. | M | 29 | 4 years 100mg 2X day | 11/8/2012 | 4 | Major Depression/Bipolar 2 | Depression has improved. Mood is not as stable as I would like. Still have a lot of agression/anger. Also taking Abilify 20mg, Mirtazapine (Remeron) 45mg and Wellbutrin XL 450mg. | M | 52 | 6 months 200mg 1X day | 2/16/2013 | 4 | BiPolar II | It's hard to distinguish what side effect comes from what drug therapies I'm on. Dizziness, weight loss, erratic sleeping patterns. | Best addition to my pharmaceutical war chest yet. It helped me begin to get an idea of what normal people are like. It doesn't erase may disorder difficulties but I had made my life, and those of my family, easier. I've been on Lamictal for about 5 years. The first few years at a lower dosage and upped it to max 2 years ago when I realized I was suffering from an ongoing low level depression for a lengthy time. Much better now. I take it in conjunction with a heavy dose of Lithium, which I've been on over 10 years. I started on Welbutrin for way too many years and a dabble with Depakote. Depakote was the first drug that made me feel truly 'drugged'. Lamictal and Lithium has been ideal and the side effects worth the benefits. BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY. | M | 45 | 5 years | 10/24/2005 | 4 | Seizures and Bi Polar Disorder | Insomnia mostly, occasional itching but not bothersome | Taking 100mg and have been for almost 9 months now - It is a 2 for 1 drug for me as I need it for both. I have had (almost) 4 seizures since I started taking it, the last was the worst as I was driving! The insomnia problem was fixed by taking the meds at 7:30p.m. because it generally keeps me awake for about 5 hrs after and that puts me out around 12:30 I still cycle sometimes but "the highs and lows" are more managable except for extreme "triggers" (death, loss, Katrina... etc) | M | 44 | 9 months | 8/12/2006 | 4 | Seizure | Most prevalent side effect has been vivid dreams that seem to occur every night. | I was diagnosed 2 years ago as having had a seizure, which I had never experienced before. I have been taking 200mg per day since that time with no recurrence of seizure symptoms until about a month ago. This occured immediately after a week-long vacation during which I missed about 3-4 doses. The missed doses were only my evening dose. Since I take Lamictal twice/day, I always took my morning dose. Around that time I had been experiencing very vivid dreams that occur nghtly. They started before the last seizure; however, their prevalence and intensity has increased over the last month or so. Since I have had only one additional seizure since being diagnosed over 2 years ago, I am assuming the drug is working. But the dreams are driving me nuts. | M | 61 | 2 years | 12/29/2005 | 4 | bipolar | restlessness at night...not sure it was the lamictal, wild dreams, taken in the morning, seems to have me crash around 5 to 6pm...gonna start takin it at night. slow start to get on. | I must say, I was highly suicidal and recently started having anxiety attacks. I almost killed myself cause I was on nothing, and finally my girlfiend dragged me to the doctor. Lamictal was the choice, and I living to tell this story. The suicidal thoughts have receeded and I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. My ups and downs from being bipolar are less dramatic and I feel like this is working...just got up to 100mg a day....so we shall see, but for anyone who is struggling to hang in there, be patient...try it out. It saved my life. | M | 25 | 60 days | 12/29/2005 | 4 | mood disorder | Significant stuttering with increased doses. We have had to balance the the benefits and the stuttering side effect by adjusting to a lower dose. | M | 16 | 8 months | 1/11/2006 | 4 | bipolar II mixed | mild nausea, some confusion | just upped dose to 50 mg and have experienced fairly rapid results with calming negative racing thoughts...am taking with 90mg cymbalta (doc's idea)... was taking cymbalta alone but descended into an anxious depressive state with much agitation...so far minimal side effects with grateful improvement...also use 100mg seroquel for sleep...will continue to update in two weeks | M | 50 | 10 days | 12/9/2005 | 4 | seizures | nothing that we haven't dealt with from other seizure meds. probably fewer side effects than before | Our son was diagnose with epilepsy in August of this year. He has had 12 "big" seizures, of which 6 were grand mals (tonic clonic's and the other 6 have been complex partials). He has had absent seizures for years and is still having a couple per day, but nothing like before. He also experiences myoclonic jerks a few times per day. His first med. was depakote and that was a nightmare. He was like a "mean drunk". He couldn't function at all and was still having seizues. We added topamax and that doesn't have the best side effects. It causes trouble with school and some aggressive and impulsive behavior. He is going down on the depakote and will be totally off it next week. He is maxed out on the topamax. We started lamictal a month ago and are going up on it very, very slowly. He did have a seizure on it, but we are not at max. dose yet, so I wasn't surprised. If I had to say whether or not to give lamictal a try, I would say to do so. | M | 11 | 1 months | 11/13/2005 | 4 | Temporal lobe partial seizures | Mental slowness/fogginess, decreased coordination, headaches, neck pain, and EXCESSIVE night sweats | I haven't found a good dosage that relieves all of my symptoms, I have headaches/neck pain, and then increase my dosage, which causes mental slowness/fogginess, decreased coordination, and even more severe night sweats. | M | 30 | 8 months | 3/7/2006 | 4 | bi-polar | I have not experienced any side effects from this drug. I drink regularly and also smoke pot on occasion. These do not seem to effect the drug or cause any side effects. | I am pretty happy with this drug and it controls my mood swings very well. It works best when combined with good diet and exercise. However, I have read accounts on here that seems like it would be impossible to ever go off this drug without major withdrawal side effects. | M | 27 | 5 years 100mg 2X day | 11/22/2010 | 4 | Bipolar/Depression/Anxiety | None when taken as prescribed. However, if I miss a dose, in about 4 hours I feel incredibly lightheaded, weak, jittery, foggy, "dumb", etc. Really disconnected from the world, almost like it doesn't exist. | This drug has worked wonders for me. I haven't had a panic attack in a couple years, whereas I used to have them every other day. My mood is much more stable. I still experience depression and anxiety, but most of that can be attributed to life being life...not a chemical imbalance. | M | 23 | 3 years 300mg 1X day | 1/11/2011 | 4 | Major Depression / Bipolar II | Some loss of short-term memory. The the generic manufactured by Cadista (white round pill) was horrible. | I was taking the brandname 200mg Lamictal and it was working very well for me, after about a year the pharmacy switched me to the generic made by Teva (it was a blue diamond shape). I had no noticeable difference with the Teva generic. About 6 months later the pharmacy switched to a different generic manufacturer, Cadista (It is round white with the imprint 'J 248' on it). After about a week I noticed a huge drop in mood and was feeling very depressed and emotional out of nowhere. Initially I hadn't made the connection that my problem started happening right after I switched to the Cadista generic. Then I switched to the brandname Lamictal and the problem went away. Insurance wouldn't pay for the brandname, so I had to pay a huge amount out of pocket. A few months later I asked my doctor to prescribe me brandname 'XR' version. Since there isn't a generic of the 'XR' version, my insurance pays a higher percentage than they will for the original immediate release Lamictal brandname (since there is a generic for the immediate release). This makes it much cheaper than the immediate release brandname Lamictal. For me it's worth paying more for the brandname and not having to worry about the pharmacy switching between generic manufacturers whenever they want. I hope my 'XR' tip for insurance coverage will be helpful to someone. It turns out I think the XR version is better for me anyway. | M | 30 | 2 years 200 MG 1X day | 8/18/2010 | 4 | depression bi polar mood swings | none | did the job, no side effects. helped but not cured depression, no mania anymore, excellent drug. i have been told 600 mg is way too high a dosage by other dr. i am afraid to go to lower dose since all is well on 600 | M | 63 | 3 days 200mg 3X day | 7/15/2010 | 4 | Mood Disorder, depression | MEMORY LOSS. Some Long term but mostly Short Term. I CAN NOT remember anything. I can not believe memory loss is not listed as a side affect. | other than memory loss, I feel the drug is working somewhat. I am also taking a low dosage of zoloft. | M | 41 | 1 years 150 1X day | 7/19/2010 |