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 | bipolar II | my anger went from passive to aggressive and i wake many times during the night. i cry a lot more than i used to, a couple times a day. it seems to have helped majorly with my depression, but might have made the mania worse. i think that i am gaining weight from it, but its only been 3 weeks or so, so i am not sure. | I take 50mg in the morning and 50mg at night, i am sixteen so i dont know if it has different effects on differently aged people. | M | 16 | 3 weeks | 11/15/2007 | 3 | Mood Stabilizer/ Cognitive Loss | Felt like a fish was swimming on the sides of my head, doc's think that was a seizure, I don't, I first blamed it on Cymbalta which I quit, now I get these feeling's maybe 3X year but not as severe, Inital dose was 200 mg X day, I decrease to 125mg 2X day, I think this has helped. | I don't think this drug does much for me, when I quit it I got so edgy and mad I had to take one. As someone had mentioned the lumps, I have 2 behind my ears on my head, no explaination from drs.given, also I seen a person was precribed Folic Acid, I was not told Lamictal decrease Folic Acid, I was prescribed this also, the diag of BP was ruled out, as at 55 yrs of age, and this memory loss and inattention started when i was 47, I take Ritalin, Klonopin, Lamictal, Thryoid med, and 81mg of Lithium at bedtime to sleep, If I would be listening to the doctors I would be taking 400 mg of Lamictal aday and 650 mg of Lithium, +the other drugs, Lithium does not mix with the other drugs, so I only take it at bedtime, don't take the Lithium with the drugs I have mentioned or you may get a terrible feeling in your head and have to lay down, or sleep to get it too pass, I had to, I could not deal with that feeling and go on. | M | 55 | 4 years | 4/8/2008 | 3 | Bi polar 2 | I have been on the medication a year now. I have written in several times before-this is an update. | After slowly dosing up to a dose of 150 mg in am and 100mg in pm, I experienced severely swollen lymph nodes in my neck. I had this happen before and had to dose down over several weeks then dose back up. Unfortunately it came back again and I will have to find a replacement for it. Other than this disappointing side effect, I really enjoyed the medication. I felt more stable on it than I had felt in years previous without it. Just don't mess around with the dosages at all or you might have an unintended reaction to it. | M | 30 | 1 years | 4/12/2008 | 3 | seizure | anxiety attack vertigo feeling and unable to think clearly. nevertheless seizure stop | have gradually reduced the portion of lamictal after hearing magnesium supplement can cure seizure.now after 1 wk w/o lamictal and on magnesim supplement alone I feel fine. the side effects are dissapearing | M | 44 | 4 years | 4/18/2008 | 3 | Bipolar | Hairloss. If you are conscious about your hair, then I would not recommend it. Noticed hair thinning significantly. 100mg | M | 26 | 5 years | 11/19/2008 | 3 | epilepsy | Hair loss, vivid dreams | Not too many side effects so far. It has been an ok drug. The main one I am concerned with is hair loss which seems to be getting worse. I also have more dreams, and vivid ones. | M | 25 | 2 months | 11/10/2008 | 3 | bi-polar | drowsiness,poor coordination, anxiety, | In first stage--3 weeks--100mg with 150mg Zoloft. No positive effects yet, but I remain hopeful. For now I feel like I'm in state of suspended animation. | M | 70 | 21 days | 4/29/2008 | 3 | Bipolar II | Initiallly when I started I was very sleepy. I kept increasing my dosage and stayed at 200 mg for about a year and half. It was great because I was having normal reactions to stressful situations, not getting hysterical, as before. Everyone I knew noticed a change in me. I am very happy with what it CAN do for me. But the side effects are pissing me off. While I was upping the dosage, I did get dizzy spots, headaches, memory problems, etc. but it went away. I just upped my dosage to 300 mg because I felt like I was backsliding, feeling irritable, getting depressed, and having mood swings, living “inside my head” again. Now I am having the same issues with the dizziness, headaches, and everything all over again. But I am also feeling really manicky. Now it is noticeable at work and just caused me to be pulled into a meeting with my boss about it. So, yeah. I give it a “3” because it is good and bad for me. | M | 29 | 18 months | 3/18/2009 | 3 | Mood stabilizer | light headedness, stiffness in joints , body aches and excessive sleepines | i was prescribed 100 mg for the past 6 months , initially i felt that it changed my life , i was a new person .. but it gradualy caught up with side effects like excessive sleepines , not able to conenctarte and deliver at my work , In fact i was fired due to my inefficieny , i tried my best to manage the side effects , Recently ,my doc want to increased the dose to 200 and was asked to wait and see for a couple of weeks , i am in the waiting course now , hoping that i will give good results , I am too early to recommend this , but it seems to be working , i am taking 200 mg at night to manage my sleepines side effects , Let me wait and see .. Thanks for everyone who is posting thier experience | M | 37 | 6 months | 6/19/2009 | 3 | Trying to get off Lithium | Just stopped it after 4 days. It gave me a boost of energy and kept me from Binge eating. But I was saying things at work that I normally wouldn't say (negative) and I started to seem more irritable to my wife. THese are too very bad side effects that I cant have. I told my Dr. and he instructed me to stop it for 1 week to see if it was the Lamictal or other triggers. Does anyone have any advice on how I should handle the irritability? Lithobid sucks and I need something to replace it. | M | 42 | 4 days | 7/22/2009 | 3 | Epilepsy | Headaches, vivid dreams, loss of appetite, insomnia, irritability, memory loss, mental fog. | This medication helped control my seizures somewhat, however it takes nearly five months to safely titrate to a therapeutic dosage. The side effects that I experienced were minimal compared to those experienced on Topamax or Keppra. My new neurologist took me off the lamictal because she thought Depakote was more suitible for my type of epilepsy. I start depakote next week, I really hope it works. | M | 21 | 30 days | 7/22/2009 | 3 | Siezure control | New user | M | 53 | 2 days | 8/14/2009 | 3 | type II BPD | Inability to focus vision on fine details, some discoordination with fine motor tasks, abnormal liver functions, high triglycerides and cholesterol, and CRIPPLING BACK PAIN | I was excited to try this med as, like many people with BPD, I have a hard time taking SSRIs. It's claimed to be more effective against depressive episodes than more regularly prescribed BPD meds like Lithium, and it was. However, I gradually developed back pain during the slow dose increase used to start this medication. It started as a slight stiffness in my back, and I assumed I was just out of shape. Then it became painful, and I assumed I had hurt my back somehow, but didn't think the Lamictal had anything to do with it. By the time I got to 200mg, I was basically crippled and wondered each time I bent over whether that would be the time I wouldn't be able to stand back up- at 37 and fairly healthy, I knew something was wrong. In spite of pointing this out to various doctors and nurses, none of them seemed to make the connection, and it wasn't until I did my own research that I found that a VERY HIGH NUMBER of people have similar complaints, something like 1 in 12. At 200mg I had my blood checked, which revealed abnormal liver functioning, and high triglycerides and cholesterol. The doctors (all psych trained) didn't find that odd either. I have stopped taking the med and hope that sometime in the next month or so my back will recover and that the damage isn't permanent. So PLEASE recognize that your doctors are not all-knowing gods, and that the side effects of this med can creep up on you VERY slowly. | M | 37 | 3 months | 8/23/2009 | 3 | Bipolar II | Cognitive impairment | It is a curse knowing that you no longer know what you used to know. I take 200mg/day, and it has effectively dulled my mind to the point where I can only halfway function in my field. It seems also to have decreased my ability to play musical instruments. My mood is stable, but I am starting to wonder if it us worth what I have lost: I have two Master's degrees and I am only about fit to work in fast food. | M | 39 | 4 years | 10/11/2009 | 3 | seizures | Headaches dry mouth | M | 41 | 4 months 150 | 3/22/2016 | 3 | Epilepsy | I have developed constipation after 7 years of using it. I experience dry scalp and skin every once in a while. My depression has worsened after starting Lamictal. I have had a lot of trouble gaining weight since on it. | On the upside, I have been seizure free for years. I have muscle spasms, however, they are very infrequent. The side effects are absolutely horrendous, but I do like not having seizures. | M | 21 | 7 years 100 | 2/10/2016 | 3 | flu like feeling, congestion, foggy memory, vivid dreams, anger | I have been on several meds for PTSD, celexa, wellbutrin, cymbalta and now lamictal has been added. I am scared it will change me, I am afraid of angry outbursts while overcoming side effects, if anyone can help with advice let me know--i just want my confidence energy entusiasm and hope back--i feel stupid thinking i can get that from a pill. Am i just lazy? I am also in recovery, 12 years clean and sober. please offer advice | M | 57 | 6 weeks | 11/15/2009 | 3 | bipolar | dry mouth could not think properly stuttered alot vivid dreams sweat at night dry hair | works oka for a while but will change for wellbutrin | M | 41 | 360 days | 1/11/2010 | 3 | Grand Mal Seizure | August 2009 while in the ER due to a 4 to 5 minute seizure (1st ever) my husband was given the loaded dose of Dilantin (in addition to morphine and Ativan). We saw our Neuro a few days after discharged from Hosp and she gave us a schedule to taper off Dilantin and start Lamictal XR 50mg and increase over 5 weeks to mtce dosage of 200mg. He's been taking 200mg of Lamictal for about 3 months now; some hair loss, dry scalp, has had several styes in one eye, more significant hand tremor (which was much less pronounced prior to Lamictal). His appetite did seem to increase initially, but he did not gain any weight. He's had cognitive decline for almost 6 years so not sure if Lamictal is adversely affecting memory. I don't like the fact he may have to be on anti-seizure medication forever, but don't want him to experience another seizure either. | M | 65 | 3 months | 11/29/2009 | 3 | Bipolar/Mood stabilizer | Seemed to have some benefit with little noticeable side effects EXCEPT that i have recently been increased from 200 to 400mg/day. At this dose I've noticed hair loss/thinning (alopecia) occurring about 2 weeks after increase. Significant+++. Dry skin, itchy scalp and lower legs++, hair loss particularly scalp and legs. Also have recently developed patchy epidermal skin flaking on fingers (mild) but no rash except for excoriated skin from itching++ | M | 55 | 5 years 200 mg 2X day | 6/8/2014 |