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 Satisfaction lowest to highest. 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 | Anxiety, PTSD, Mood swings | Worse anxiety, suicidal thoughts, weight loss, extreme mood swings, no sex drive, crying for no reason. Lack of motivation. | I hate this medication. It is horrible. Major mood swings, Very Manic one day and depressed the next.I feel as though I am going crazy, Fuzzy head, dizzy, loss for words. Racing thoughts, can't articulate my thoughts. I feel like I am on a good one times 10. I feel worse than before I started taking it. | F | 39 | 2 weeks | 12/13/2007 | 2 | misdiagnosed bipolar disorder | little dry mouth only | For a year I took this medication for a condition that I didn't even have. It totally flattened me out, made emotionless and careless. It also turned me into a selfish, arrogant person and almost destroyed my marriage. It might be a good medication though if you're truly bipolar. | M | 31 | 1 years | 12/3/2007 | 2 | Bipolar | I've experienced flu like symptoms, tremors, dizzyness, clumsyness. The main one being and times I feel lost, like I'm not in touch with reality. I'll do something then 5 minutes later, forgot what I did. | I havn't been taking Lamictal long enough to get any effect of it but have stopped taking it, by doctors orders, due to the side effects, and their effects on my daily life. | F | 22 | 7 days | 12/3/2007 | 2 | bipolar, gen anxiety disorder | Extreme irratibility over the smallest things. Small bumps on my face (seem to be going away now). Rapid mood swings from calmness to anger to depression & suicidal thoughts. | I was & still am on Wellbutrin. I saw a prior post that also described extreme irritablity and they too were on Wellbutrin. I'm normally a pretty laid-back person who really tries to keep things in perspective. This totally floored me, but I think this is NOT a common side effect after doing some research. | F | 34 | 30 days | 11/19/2007 | 2 | Bi polar | Insomnia, extreme dry mouth, slurred speech, lack of concentration or inability to concentrate when others were talking, trouble writing. Possible hair loss when I saw the comments of others and realized lots of my hair fell out after I washed it. | The insomnia was the worst. Had difficulty falling to sleep if I fell asleep at all. If I did fall asleep, woke up several times during the night. The slurred speech might have been caused from being on lamictal, geodon, clonzapam, zyprexa and zoloft at the same time. | F | 52 | 3 months | 11/18/2007 | 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 | 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 | 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 Rapid Cycling | Aggitation, Anxiety, Nausea, Insomnia, and ultimately Hypomania | This drug was a blessing initially, but turned out to be a disaster. It had a great calming effect when I started it or increased the dose, but then there was a huge antidepressant push with increased anxiety and aggitation as time went on. It ultimately gave me pretty bad hypomania. Has this happened to anybody else? Help! I want to take it but can't. | M | 33 | 9 months | 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 | 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, 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 | 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 | 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 | Bipolar, depression | After upping dosages from 100mg to 200mg for the last few months of my taking it, lamictal brought me to a truly unbeareable level of social anxiety. And racing mindedness/stress in general as well. Made me get very analytical and snappy of everything. Extremely unstable moods, dulled me up nicely (word recall problem/focusing), made paranoi worse. Also- had to pee 24/7 + drink water all the time, made me feel like I had the flue (a nasty toxic feeling). All of these symptoms stopped or got much much better with disuse. | Helped depression a lot. Made me manic though.. Did not sufficiently control my moods by any means. I quit this drug cold turkey which led me to having horrible siezures which have not stopped leading me to realize I may have a siezure disorder. DO NOT STOP THIS DRUG COLD TURKEY!!!!!! | M | 21 | 2 years | 9/15/2007 | 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 | 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 | 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 |