LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare LAMICTAL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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More on LAMICTAL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTAL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | F | 31 | 1.5 years | 8/23/2008 | 5 | Bipolar II - rapid cycling | The first few months I had some issues with getting to sleep and vivid dreaming, but this was remedied by taking it in the morning. The first month I experienced some mild euphoria which occasionally bordered hypomania, and when I increased the dose I would often experience some hypomania for a short while (a day maybe). I had some difficulty in word recall and moments of "going blank," which would increase briefly each time I went up in dosage, but it's leveled off to fairly minimal, definitely manageable. I titrated slowly starting at 25mg (very important), and reached 200mg in a few months. I'm currently at 250/300 due to increased stress in my life, but 200mg worked fine normally. After a couple months, I really had no side effects at all except some continued difficulty in word recall. | This drug has been great in helping with stabilization of my moods, which often fluctuated a few times a day. And comparatively to the other mood stabilizers out there, the side effect profile is awesome. The word recall thing is annoying but it's better than feeling manically suicidal one hour and planning world domination the next. Some people get tired on it whereas others get insomnia if they take it at night, so experiment at first. Side effects are minimized if you start low (25mg) and titrate real slow, and you're less likely to have a bad reaction. I promise you, just stick with it for a couple months and the worst of it, if not all, will go away. Oh, and while I did get a little extra sensitive to certain cosmetic products at first, unless you get "THE" rash, keep with it (with approval of your doc of course) | F | 20 | 1.5 years | 2/1/2008 | 5 | Bipolar I | weight gain, vivid dreams,trouble sleeping | I was previously on Seroquel and had major problems. When taking Lamictal I noticed a difference almost immediately. I am now on 400mg a day, and would not even think of coming off. Any side effects are worth my calm. | F | 32 | 1.5 years | 4/4/2008 | 4 | Bipolar (type II) | Memory problems, fatigue, possible decreased sexual interest. | When at the right dosage, lamictal has helped me to be able to function at a normal level. Has anyone else had a decrease in sexual interested while on lamictal?? | F | 21 | 1.5 years | 1/16/2010 | 4 | Unipolar depression | A bit of insomnia. A bit of fatigue at the beginning of my treatment. | It worked better than any SSRIs for me. I felt the effect right in the moment of my first dose. | M | 54 | 1.5 years 50 mg 1X day | 2/17/2021 | 4 | BiPolar II | Weight loss, which seems rare. I remain 40lbs down from my life-long "husky" weight(now at the impossible recommended BMI). At 45, I am not complaining. I also lost my appetite. I forget to eat breakfast and/or lunch. If I am preoccupied, the hunger just goes away. This is especially true if I am very stressed. The stomach just knots up closed. My weight does not seem to be affected by what I eat. CANNOT CONCENTRATE OR FOCUS! Horrible! Misspelling words, forgetful, it takes me forever to write a work email. As I write this, I am supposed to be finishing a work assignment. Insomnia is random, sporadic, and comes in 3-4 night cycles. I need to kill the cycle with a sleeping pill on day one. If I am up after 11, it is hard to fall sleep, and I've gone from a hard sleeper to a light sleeper. I even remember my dreams now. Alcohol headaches! More than 2 drinks, and I get a shooting pain right above my left eye. Every time. It's like a sharp needle. And sometimes a bad han | This medicine, combined with Welbutrin (300MG), has made a huge difference with my BiPolar II. I've maxed out the dosage, so I am hoping this will work forever. | M | 45 | 1.5 years 400MG 1X day | 5/11/2010 | 4 | depression | Hands shaky, fatigue, sometimes dizzy, body aches (which are the worst when it happens). | Haven't had a depressive episode since started taking medication 1.5 years ago. I seem to have episodes of side effects that have increased with time. These usually dissipate after a week or two, but return in the future. Though the side effects are a pain, they are not worth stopping the medication. I am at 200 mgs. a day. | M | 37 | 1.5 years | 11/22/2006 | 4 | Bi-polar 2 | I have been on Lamictal for a year and a half and have had excellent results - I am finally able to sleep (am not distracting by my thoughts which I can not stop), can concentrate, am no longer paranoid, or obsessing about what people are thinking about me. But about 3 months ago we increased my dosage due to some PB symptoms, from 200mg to 300mg - but I have adjusted back to 200mg. I was having the following side affects: short term memory loss which was constant, dizziness, and increased muscle twitching. Not to mention the extremely high cost - wish it was a preferred medication. Currently I am on 300mg Wellbutrin and 200mg Lamictal. I am hoping to go off both medications and am looking for others that have done the same. I am hoping that with regular exercise, changes in my diet and vitamin therapy I will be successful. What have others done? | I am concerned about the long term side affects. If you have been weaned off Lamictal please contact me . . . | F | 43 | 1.5 years | 8/31/2007 | 4 | Epilepsy | Started in the beginning with severe nausea/dizziness, rash, swollen glands. Eventually went away. After reading this, I realize why I have bad night sweats and acne. It also may be interacting poorly w/ my birth controll pills, which causes me to have periods at least 2 out of every 4 weeks. Also possible sexual side effects. | I've had less than 10 big seizures in my life (2 were caused when I took herbs (don't do that). I used to be on Depakote but switched b/c this was safer. Overall, it's great for the tonic-clonic, but I'm having the jerks that didn't start until about 6 months ago. I just came off of Depakene, which I took for the jerk-type seizures. I stopped b/c it made them worse and it is more dangerous. I'm getting married soon and this is the safest drug in the case that i would get pregnant. I just wish I would have known that all of these side effects were from my meds..it's not going to be fun getting married with acne and a 2 week period. :( | F | 24 | 1.5 years | 4/24/2007 | 4 | BiPolar | Memory loss, difficulty articulating thoughts, extremely bad body odor and possible hair loss. No sleeping problems possibly due to the combination of Lamictal, Trazadone and Lexapro. | Stabilized mood swings to a degree. Realize I need to do more than rely on the medications to improve my mental state, but the medications at least give me a good base in which to take care of myself better. | F | 56 | 1.5 years | 2/23/2006 | 4 | anti-seizure | lack of concentration, but it worked because i had no reoccuring episodes | most the of the worst side effects have appeared after i stopped using lamictal, huge lack of concentration, constantly tired, depressed... i wonder if it normal to still have these side effects almost 4 months later | F | 21 | 1.5 years | 3/21/2007 | 4 | Bipolar type II | Possibly tinnitus | 200mg/daily in morning. This drug has been a wonderful drug for me. I do not experience any side effects that are clearly caused by Lamictal. The reason for one point loss is the fact that I have tinnitus that may have been caused by Lamictal, yet there's no way of knowing if it caused it. I could go off of it, but I do not wish to go on any other meds! Lamictal is the absolute best mood stabilizer if it works for you. I have had no noticable side effects like I have with the millions of other bipolar medications I have tried. | M | 20 | 1.5 years | 2/8/2007 | 3 | bipolar II | I am never quite sure if certain things that I feel are the result of Lamictal or just me, however after reading everyone else's comments and identifying with many of their complaints, I guess I will conclude that it is all Lamictal's fault...Up until a week ago, I was taking 200 mg of Lamictal, and the only side effects I experienced for a year were MEMORY LOSS and TROUBLE FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS. I also developed CYSTIC ACNE, which I had never experienced before, and for which I am now taking an antibiotic. However, recently my bipolar symptoms have worsened, and my doctor has increased my dose to 300 mg, and I am feeling EXHAUSTED and DEPRESSED and I am getting HEADACHES. I am hoping that these side effects will disappear after my body gets used to the increased dose... | If anyone has more questions about lamictal or would like to talk to someone else with bipolar II please email me. I don't know anyone who has bipolar and would really like someone to talk to who understands what it is like. | F | 21 | 1.5 years | 3/25/2007 | 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 | Bipolar Disorder | Mania, insomnia, increased libido, anxiety, nausea, heartburn, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, cognitive problems | At first it made me manic, then along with Seroquel, it kept me stable and functional for a year before it stopped working and I become depressed again. | M | 23 | 1.5 years 400mg 1X day | 10/16/2013 | 3 | Seizures | Acne, insomnia, vivid dreams, INCREASED sex drive | All in all a good medication. I have not had any serious side effects- acne is the most irritating. | F | 29 | 1.5 years | 11/12/2008 | 3 | Bipolar II | problems finding the right words. Dullness. I have been sicker than usual colds/sinus (could be eratic weather). Right eye is very dry and blurry (I am worried about the eye toxicology reported here). Achey ( I was in a car wreck this year but not a severe one). I miss highs and lows/feel its all gray/Depression has been dominant. Some anxiety. | I am only taking 100mg a day. I have been taking it at night... perhaps it would be better in the morning from what I have read here. I am wanting to stop use to see how I feel off of it, though it did help me get through a period without completely selfdestructing. I think my dose could be too low or wrong med... but Prozac made me manic... though I was quite sharp. This has kept me in an uninspired middle zone. | F | 33 | 1.5 years | 2/22/2008 | 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 | 1 | BP, PTSD | Weight gain, memory loss, trouble with words and ideas and formulating thoughts, acne, vision changes, headaches, irritability, forgetfulness, misspelling words more and more, feeling like I'm in a fog, lethargic, can't concentrate | I am an editor, so having problems with words, thoughts, ideas and spelling is more than a HUGE problem for me. It's devastating. I found this site as I was searching for answers to all of my problems; not realizing they were all side-effects of the drug. Now that I see how many people have the same symptoms, I can only conclude that this drug, while it may seem to work for some things, can cause real harm to the brain. I am not on any other drugs, so it can't be explained away by other causes. There is a reason Lamictal isn't prescribed much anymore. It's not just that the new drugs are the new hip and cool ones to take, it's because this drug is dangerous. I thought the weight gain and acne were bad enough (I can no longer fit in any of my clothes as I recently titrated up to 300 mg), the memory and word problems are far worse and far scarier. I will never take Lamictal again, and I will caution anyone else I know to never start taking it. | F | 44 | 1.5 years | 5/1/2007 | 1 | Bi polar | weight gain? dislexia, irritability, fatigue, vivid dreams | i was taking lamictal in conjunciton with Zoloft for about a year and a half or so. the zoloft was for OCD. there were no rashes or anything like that, but i noticed that the longer i took it the less it worked. i was at 200 miligrams at one point and still nothing. i didn't want to increase the dosage. i've stopped taking this medication mainly because my psychiatrist flaked out on me and i was never able to get a refil. the good thing i have to say about this medication is that it helped me to "focus" i was more easily able to tell when a mood swing was coming. so becauase my mind has been opened to that i can still sense when it's going to happen even though i'm not on medication. i'm currently getting accupuncture for my depression and the mania sort of worked itself out. i still have some pretty big swings here and there, but my bi polar disorder has improved greatly since i've stoped taking this drug and started accupuncture. being bi polar sucks and it's totally a ca | F | 24 | 1.5 years | 7/18/2006 |