LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)

Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)

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 ANTICONVULSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

LAMICTAL  (LAMOTRIGINE):  Lamotrigine is used alone or with other medications to prevent and control seizures. It may also be used to help prevent the extreme mood swings of bipolar disorder in adults. Lamotrigine is known as an anticonvulsant or antiepileptic drug. It is thought to work by restoring the balance of certain natural substances in the brain. This drug is not approved for use in children younger than 2 years due to an increased risk of side effects (such as infections).   FDA Approval Date: 1994-12-27 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

Results are sorted by length of time drug was taken longest to shortest.

Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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More on LAMICTAL: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTALCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 4  seizures slight dizziness - sometimes Reduced but didn't eliminate simple partial seizures until I added the "Keppra" suppliment. M 42 3 years
4/19/2007
 4  Bipolar Disorder Rash around mouth and nose. Difficulty remembering things. Difficulty sleeping at times. Whenever there was an increase in dosage it made me very tired. Uncoordinated. Shaking or trembling of hands. Left sided headaches that could become migraines. I have found this medication to be the most effective in helping me cope with this disorder. I am much more stable than I have ever been but my lifestyle has changed. 3 yrs ago I moved and I quit using drugs, left a very abusive and frightening man, associated with people considered normal for most peoples standards, went to school and successfully completed school for massage therapy, I have had the same job for 3 yrs, lived in the same house for 2 yrs, have a solid network of friends (most of whom know of my 'condition') and have had the same phone number for 3 yrs. These are all firsts for me. I have fought my diagnosis since the beginning not wanting to believe something is wrong with me. I have a wonderful psychiatrist and psychologist. I've been seeing them for 3 years as well. One of the side effects that concerns me is that my hands shake, being a massage therapist and having hands that shake tends to make clients lose faith in your abilities. Massage is not my full time job F 37 3 years
9/5/2007
 4  Bipolar II Weight gain! Sweating, and vivid dreams. In 3 years I consistently went up in weight. About 60lbs in three years. The meds did help stabilize my mood a lot though! I'm currently working with my psychiatrist to wean off this drug and zoloft. F 17 3 years
75mg
1/22/2012
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 4  Cyclotimia Terrible "garlic or union-like) body odor specially when I exercise and sweat(in the last 6 months, and getting worse, after 2.5 years of no odor, sporadic incontinence (only lately and about 5 or 6 times, and even being into sports and dancing at least twice/week) change in taste in foods!, sensitivity to light and noise, permanent tiredness, difficulty getting up in the mornings (very physical, not due to depression)insomnia, slight and sporadic hand tremmors, sporadic nausea and dizziness, short memory and sporadic medium term memory problems, cognitive problems and fuzzy feeling, need to urinate too frequently and then little quantity... Even I have become much more stable than before taking Lamictal, and being conscious that I might have to take it indefinately, I have lately developed many more side effects than in the beginning. I would like to reduce the dose slowly and try to live without it, but I am also scared, as many of the people that wrote here, that it might bring me back to my previous mood changes. I have a mild cyclotimia, but nothing had worked before I took Lamictal. Prozac really made me ill and fluvoxamine didn't do much... I also took Vandral which didn't work either. Until I read the comments here (and I have read many) I hadn't realised I had as many side effects as I do. I would really appreciate if anyone could write to share anything about body odour as a side effect. It is important for me as I go salsa dancing weekly and this is a problem as it really puts people off. It took me a few weeks of asking the male friends I dance with until I finally got them to confess! I started with 25mg, then increased to 200 (100mg am, 100 mg evening. I take it with Citalopran 10 mg (started with 20 mg) but couldn't sleep well so Citalopran was halved and Lamictal taken only in the morning (200)for 2 years. I know take 150mg only in the morning and it seems to work well. F 40 3 years
150 mg 1X day
1/19/2011
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 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  Bipolar Tried to go off this drug under supervision of my psychiatrist. I was going to go down slowly. I went down to 150mg. Very soon after, I had SEVERE anxiety and sadness. It was not normal. I did not know what to do or if I could handle it, so I decided to go back to 200mg. I am fine, but would love to be off of it for good if I did not need it. Seems I do, though. F 35 3 years
200 mg 1X day
7/10/2011
 4  Ultradian Cycling Bipolar The decrease in sex drive (i.e. no sex drive at all) is one of the worst side effects I have experienced. I have to take Levitra (40mg to 60mg) just to hold an erection for any amount of time. I am also borderline DPD (Dissociative Personality Disorder) with anti social (sociopathic) tenancies, PTSD, and low grade Schizophrenia. I have to take 400mg to 600mg of Seroquel (an atypical anti psychotic) a night just to keep myself functioning. I don't know if I am experiencing hair loss because I have been slowly loosing my hair since I was 16. I randomly break out in extremely dry skin (especially on my face and scalp), and I have outbreaks of red spots all over my torso almost monthly. That lasts for a few days, but there hasn't been any negative effects from that. It also has caused me insomnia. Over all, this medication has saved my life. My Mood cycles cycle extremely (and I do mean extremely) fast. I documented 52 Major mood shifts in a 10 hour period before I started taking this medication. I still cycle, but it has slowed down a lot. I now only cycle once or twice a week now. Randomly I do start cycling fast again, but those only last a few days to a week at most, and these episodes only happen once or twice every 2 months. I continue to document my mood swings, hallucinations, and flash backs (PTSD) almost religiously as to help with my ongoing therapy. I was deployed to Iraq for 16 months, and again to Afghanistan for 12 months while I was in the Army. My symptoms started worsening during and after both deployments. My combat experience was extensive, and I continue to cope with a lot of what I saw/did. The Lamictal also helped a lot with my nightmares and flashbacks. All in all, this medication saved me from suicide and from violence in the civilian world. The pros have outweighed the cons and I like this medication. M 24 3 years
400mg 1X day
4/2/2010
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 4  Bipolar - Rapid Cycling with OCD I am taking Wellbuterin, Abilify, Prozac40mg,Lithium 1200 mg, as well as 300 mg. Lamictal. With so many meds it is hard for me to say for sure what med does what, but I know when my 2 Pdocs started me on this, they were very hopeful. My manic swings seem to have leveled down although I still get some short term depression. I know when I don't take the Lamictal my world gets very confusing with the depression and the manic moving so fast. I dont have anger issues with anyone other than myself. I do self mutilation. This has stopped with the Lamictal & other meds. I know the Lamictal has been a positive. I haven't experienced any hair gain or loss or any of the other things described here. I am lucky. I do want to sleep in the afternoons, but would never try to guess if it was this med or that med or the disease itself.. If you have been prescribed Lamictal, try it with confidence. F 53 3 years
10/22/2006
 4  Bipolar II Very few early on. Lately, they have become more troublesome: poor memory recall & difficulty spelling, fatigue, weakness - muscles burn like I've had a major workout after only minor exertion, irritability & confusion if I miss one dose. Lamictal worked like a miracle drug for the first two years. However, I've noticed its effect on my depression has diminished in the last year. M 34 3 years
1/2/2006
 4  depression memory loss, inability to find the right word or follow simple directions,like stick out your tongue. I'm concerned enough to consider stopping Lamictal. After trying all the other meds over the past decade+ I've had better sucess for a longer period of time than with any other depression med. I don't want to stop HOWEVER, if this memory thing doesn't get better I may have no choice. I'm concerned memory may not improve even I do stop. F 52 3 years
10/13/2006
 4  Seizures Irritability, moodiness, anger (worse with dose increases, affecting my family). Also night sweats, difficulty concentrating, lack of motivation, dry and itchy skin, dry (damaged, breaking) hair. Not quite depression, but not really happy or fining joy in things. Have not had a grand mal on it but think I have had some infrequent partials. Changing to another med now due to loss of quality of life (irritability, anger). Tried adding B complex vitamin and fish oil. Helped mood a little but no where near enough. Did not help dry skin. Not tired on it or confused but now realizing some memory issues. Weight neutral for me (though lack of motivation makes me exercise less). F 41 3 years
150-175 mg 2X day
6/8/2013
 3  Bipolar Disorder I actually take 100 in the morning and 200 at bedtime, but it didn't allow me to put that. Anyway, drowsiness was a huge problem for a year or two when I started this medicine. I was having a lot of nausea for awhile too, but not positive if it was from the lamictal or other meds. I think now it may actually be causing my insomnia but I'm not sure. Also, painful menstrual cramps. It's hard to swallow, and disgusting if you can't get it down. haven't been stable for any long period of time while on this medicine, so not sure how well it's really working. F 22 3 years
300 mg 1X day
3/15/2012
 3  Epilepsy Gained 2 stone. Short-term memory loss. Lethargy. Acne. Mood swings. F 41 3 years
75 mg 1X day
3/1/2013
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 3  seizure disorder and bipolar disord constipation. good seizure control but faster and more severe mood swings, especially "bottoming out" depression. oddly, an increased dose actually improved word-finding problems that some attribute to the med, others attribute to seizures. I now take it in combination with depakote. F 46 3 years
12/26/2006
 3  Yes I have been on this medication for several years now. Dry mouth, insomnia, memory loss, some kinds of cognitive loss, reduced sense of smell & overall sensory perception. All these go away within 2 days if I stop the medication so I doubt I am imagining it. There IS withdrawal if I miss a dose for more than a few days and for me, it consists of acute anxiety accompanied by some confusion and irritability. So, with all of this, why the heck would I continue with it? Because it has not caused any sexual side effects (important for me) and keeps my mood relatively stable without causing me to become completely numb and disconnected to the world as other medications have. However, withdrawal symptons are a MAJOR problem if I miss a few doses and this potential scares me if I were to lose the bottle during a nice vacation. M 41 3 years
12/22/2005
 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 I Constepation, insomnia, acne, terrible memory, weight gain, hair loss, red bumps on chest, headaches It's okay. I mean, I still feel the shifts in my bipolar. But I'm probably not as crazy as I would be without it so yeah, it's chill, fo' sho'. F 16 3 years
200mg 1X day
5/17/2010
 3  Bipolar I feel dizzy, not energetic, monotone, my memory is not so sharp and I have trouble focusing. Over all it has kept me very stable and worked but I do not want to deal with these side affects for my whole life. Everyone is different though. F 19 3 years
100mg 1X day
7/21/2010
 3  bipolar I've been taking this drug for 3 years. At first I noticed no side effects, the drug was new, and I was told the only thing to look out for was "the rash". After the first year I noticed the lethargicness and lack of energy. After the 2nd year I noticed I was unable recall words and would forget things I did or things that happened after a few days past. I've had a few incidents where my vision went completely batty. Eyes bouncing side to side, I felt like I was on a rollercoaster from hell. And now that I have a new job that is fast-paced and high profile IT job, which is very dependent on memory, I'm realizing I have severe short term memory loss. And anything that happened more than a couple days past, might as well never happened. I'll only remember bits and pieces, as if it was a dream. Its very embarassing. The energy factor is also a major problem. I get way backed up on my bills when I have more than enough money to pay them in the bank, a combination of memory loss a The goal of the drug is to balance mood, and it does an excellent job at that for me. But there is this real detached feeling, I dont feel passion about anything, and I am incredibly horny all the time. But memory loss is my biggest concern. I used to have a razor sharp memory, wit, and intellect. I buit my own business with no college degree, while working as a pizza delivery driver. But the mania got worse and worse. Now within 3 years of these meds, I feel like I'm 80 years old. No energy, no passion, no memory. Who are we without memory? Lately I have to write EVERYTHING down, I'm sure my coworkers think its odd. I'll forget what I'm doing, or some small (but important) detail in seconds. It slows me down, and puts our operation at risk (Ok, I'll just say it - I'm a principal systems administrator for a large internet company, one false keystroke/password change/setting adjustment/button click and I can bring down multi-million dollar web sites causing untold damage$$). Everything our team does is audited by the government, and internal auditing teams. So...its not the kind of job where there is a lot of room for memory problems. This medication is scaring the crap out of me now that I have this job. M 35 3 years
600mg 1X day
1/30/2011
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Patient History
 3  seizure Memory loss--some long term but mostly short term--lots of trouble with names. Trouble concentrating and reasoning sometimes. Numbness in my face and confusion when I forget a dose. It feels like anesthetic has been injected and the skin on my face is sagging. Low tolerance for stress compared to before I started the med. My job performance has definitely been affected. The side effects are intermittant--some good days and some not so good. Menopause and stress complicate things. In fact STRESS is a huge factor. I have regained some ability to concentrate since my dad passed away after 6 years of taking care of him. Meditation, exercising, not overscheduling myself, and eating right help. This is literally the only medication I have ever taken, and it has completely stopped my seizures which started three years ago. So I guess the side effects are better than having seizures. Still, I am very worried about not being able to work at some point. Right now I depend quite a bit on friends and my students to help me on the bad days. I guess I would give up driving if I could have my brain power back. But I don't know what it would be like to live with seizures. I have a benign brain tumor which is apparently the cause of those. There are risks if I have brain surgery, principally that the tumor is near my speech center. And, I am told there is no guarantee the seizures would go away after the tumor is removed. F 56 3 years
200 MG 2X day
7/8/2011
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