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 |
| 3 | M | 36 | 1X day | 5/6/2010 | 3 | major depression/bipolar | first 16 months on 150mg, felt great then suicidal,stopped it for a few months, now on 200mg for the last six weeks, I have very significant pins and needles in my hands and wrists whenever I lay down or watch TV in a comfortable position, it is a disturbing feeling even as I am typing now I have pins and needles in my fourth toe. Other than that no noticeable physical side effects. | The first time I was given Lamictal in hospital it seemed to be very effective almost immediately I was stable and functionning well for over a year ( except since that time I started to smoke like a chimney, I was a little smoker previously) then came stressful events and I went down very quickly, suicidal I stopped everything except Seroquel 100mg at night, I got better without medicine against my doctor's advice. Then nine months ago, I was very panicky and fearful, again i was prescribed Lamictal 150mg and I picked up a bit (with Seroquel and Pristic) now I am low again I have been increased to 200mg and 400mg Seroquel 100mg Pristic; I have anxiety, I am self centered and preoccupied, I am now trying to convince myself that I always had a personality disorder I also gained 10 pounds( maybe Seroquel), I want to be lethargic all day and forget the things I need to do, just want to read and watch late night movies, almost scared to venture in the fresh air. I have been treated since 21 years and have been on many things so many I can't recall them including Lithium for a long time. I have almost lost faith in psychiatric drugs, I believe now that they become ineffective after a while (up to a year), then they get lost in the washing cycle of the brain. Naturally I am only speaking for myself, perhaps what I experience is another experience of normality only very twisted as some vegetals in nature can be and this is not a illness. | F | 53 | 9 months 100MG 2X day | 4/8/2010 | 3 | Mood swings, depression, anxiety | short term memory loss, nervousness, stumbling over words, trouble recalling words, loss of train of thought, hair loss, acne, became intoxicated very easily | Initially I thought this drug was helping me but after about 6 months I returned to writing and found it extremely hard to concentrate, recall words and hold conversations with people. I felt very dumb compared to my old self. Would get hiper sometimes out of nowhere. Got a new pimple every day and never before this had I experienced acne. You cannot drink on this drug and it is very expensive if you don't have insurance. Cons outweigh benefits. | F | 26 | 11 months 300 MG 1X day | 4/6/2010 | 3 | Bipolar II/Rapid Cycling | Serious difficulty focusing my eyes when reading or typing. I’m in grad school and enjoy reading but the constant struggle to see made reading miserable. Drug worked well to soften the depressive parts of the cycle and it took the edge off of the manic peaks, but did nothing for reduce anxiety. I was tense ALL the time and had difficulty falling asleep. Usually I can get up and out the door quickly but since taking the drug getting out of bed in the morning is EXTREMELY difficult. My body just doesn’t cooperate the first time around. | Worst side-effect is WEIGHT GAIN. I am very active, work-out 4-5 times a week and eat a super healthy diet. I never had trouble managing weight before so when my weight started to creep up as soon as I got on the drug I was worried. Ironically I had a lot more energy to exercise, but despite an even more rigorous routine I still couldn’t lose a single pound, no matter what I did. Before if I gain a little weight over the holidays I was always able to easily shed it in a few weeks. Since September 2009 I gained 13pounds! I’m off the drug now and looking for other alternatives. Overall I was happy with this med, but constant weight gain is a deal breaker for me. | F | 26 | 6 months 100 1X day | 3/31/2010 | 3 | Bipolar Depression | HORRIBLE Memory Loss, forgetfulness, can't concentrate. | While it's definitely helped with the depression, the amount that it has affected my memory and concentration has made going back to college and into the medical field, difficult and scary for me. | F | 25 | 1.5 years 150mg 1X day | 3/13/2010 | 3 | depression | severe headaches, each day nightmares | I had no mood swings during taking this med, no depressions. | F | 29 | 6 months 250 mg 2X day | 3/6/2010 | 3 | bipolar | Weight gain,very short term memory Ok, within a few hours, but words get mixed up, like I am dyslexic. Inability to remember short term events. It helped well, initially, but I require an increase in dose and became MORE agitated and my liver enzymes went sky high. | This helped, more than any other med I have taken, however, I have found that I am not nearly as creative or sentient to my environment as I was previously. | F | 45 | 3 years 200 mg 1X day | 3/5/2010 | 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 | Bi-Polar and Depression | Runny Nose (Rhinitis), slight sore throat, itchy skin, cough, knife stabbing headache, trouble concentrating and finding the right word, increased irritability, sleeping 10 - 12 hours, groggy in the morning | I did find, as one of the readers said, that the longer I took it, the more used to it I got. I was willing to give it a bit longer but my pdoc said if I had this many side effects after 2 weeks, we should try something else. It made it hard for me to concentrate when reading, I couldn't think of the right word, I was spacier. I didn't like that at all. It also made me sleep too much (I already do) so I took it at night. | F | 54 | 11 days | 12/11/2009 | 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 | Newly diagnosed bi-polar | I haven't started this drug yet and am very apprehensive. I am afraid of hair loss and weight gain...however, I don't want to live depressed either. What to do??? | F | 54 | 0 days | 11/18/2009 | 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 | hair loss, foggy brain at times, weight gain | I loved Lamictal actually. But as soon as I found out it made my hair fall out, I stopped taking it because THAT was making me depressed too...now I'm on Abilify - I miss Lamictal...not feeling too well off of it...pretty worried I might get worst | F | 24 | 2 years | 11/13/2009 | 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 | unipolar depression | word loss, short-term memory loss,confusion slight paranoia, fatigue mid-afternoon, mild headache and jaw-ache, dry mouth and constipation, vivid sometimes sexy dreams, increased libido, feel like I'm feverish sometimes. | Even though I am experiencing some neg side effects, my mood has improved. I am less irritable, less screaming at family, mood is stabilizing somewhat. Took 8 weeks to go from 25 mg to 100mg due to my sensitivity to some meds. I will continue at 100mg dose for a while -- I don't want to increase dose to 150MG yet (which is supposed to be the therapeutic dose). I think it may actually be helping. Except for memory loss/forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating, the other side effects are tolerable. Hoping the forgetfulness goes away | F | 50 | 8 weeks | 9/22/2009 | 3 | bipolar depression | light headed, anxiety, hunger | F | 3 | 5 years | 9/22/2009 | 3 | bipolar II | initially, some nausea and loose stools, but that went away. HAIR LOSS at 5 weeks. | I was on generic lamictal (lamotrigine) at 25mg up to 50mg. At 5 weeks i noticed a big "shedding" of my hair and suddenly my hair on top was thinning. I have NEVER had this happen before and I am healthy with no other issues that could cause this. I did some research and found that anticonvulsants block absorption of certain minerals and vitamins including folate and others. If you are missing folate it affects your hair (that's why pregnant women are encouraged to take it during pregnancy to avoid this). I wish my doctor had told me "hey, take a multivitamin with selenium and zinc and biotin" because this could have possibly been avoided. I am also researching into whether being on brand name could have prevented this. It doesn't happen to everyone, but it doesn't hurt to take preventative measures. Just be aware, folks. | F | 41 | 6 weeks | 9/17/2009 | 3 | Depression/Anxiety | Insomnia, initial dry mouth, vertigo/dizziness, nausea, headaches, hair loss, possibly caused back and chest acne, which I hadn't had previously, fatigue (possibly caused by higher dose of sleeping medication to deal with insomnia). | This medicine originally worked well for me (worked up to 100mg). The initial dry mouth went away after two weeks. The side effects have been more noticeable recently. I have been suffering from bad insomnia for the past week, I had to take 200mg of Trazadone as well as 50mg of Vistaril one night, whereas 25mg of Trazadone used to put me out. Recently noticed the hair loss, probably lost a quarter of my hair. Also, this may be related to the side effect of lowered estrogen levels coupled with the fact that I'm a teen, but I have lost a cup size since on Lamictal. | F | 15 | 4 months | 9/7/2009 | 3 | seizure disorder | weight gain; fatigue; lack of focus; bruise easily and sunburn easily; excessive sweating (possibly because my doctor has combined Lamictal with a mild dose of Tegretol); vivid dreams | On the one hand, I have some side effects I really don't like, especially the weight gain (my diet hasn't changed, but I don't have the energy to exercise like I should). On the other hand,Lamictal has been one of the few drugs (together with a mild dose of Tegretol) that has been successful in my seizure control - taking me from about 2 or 3 a week to one mild middle-of-the-night seizure about every 3 months. As long as I stay away from my triggers (caffeine, aspartame, wheat products), the only things that sets me off are getting sick or having a bad time with monthly hormone levels. | F | 39 | 4 years | 9/2/2009 | 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 |