LAMICTAL CD Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)Average Rating: 3.1 (135 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare LAMICTAL CD with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on LAMICTAL CD: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTAL CD | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | bipolar II | sore thorat, terrible cough, overall feeling fatigue, body aches | Although I was not on Lamicatal that long, I starting experiencing cold and flu symptoms when increasing the dosage. My mood was better, but unable to function because of feeling tired and sick with flu symptoms constantly. The body aches were unbearable. I do not recommend this medicine | M | 41 | 3 weeks 50 1X day | 6/12/2010 | 3 | Bipolar Disorder. | great loss of sex drive when going from 75MG - 100MG | I started lamictal for depression and bipolar disorder..and I really wasn't noticing anything, like it hadn't helped my feelings and moods at all, and after increasing my dosage to 100MG, I completely lost ability to get wet, once we start I am able to get wet and then I'm fine, but initially, I can't get horny. | F | 13 | 2 months 100MG 1X day | 5/18/2010 | 3 | anxiety | Joint pain/arthritis, speech/verbal confusion, difficulty focusing | Before I started taking Lamictal I was seeing a doctor who managed the County Psychiatric Hospital. He had me taking alprazolam, ambien, xanax and adderall all at the same time.( WTF? )Before that I had tried lorazepam, Lexapro and Cymbalta. Nothing worked. The thought was that my anxiety was triggering depression and I couldn't focus so I took something for that, and then I needed something to make me sleep. Didn't work. I was total zombie for months and I was suicidal. Up and down.. I was scared and paranoid all the time. I felt so terrible I wanted to die. I found a new doctor who put me on Lamictal. It completely evened me out and I felt like a human again. The anxiety I had was gone and I was so happy to have my life back. It really seemed like a miracle drug. HOWEVER... a few months ago I started experiencing joint pain and swelling. My knees give out. I sometimes have to walk backwards up the stairs and I am not over weight. I can hardly get out of bed in the morning. My feet turn inward - cant put them flat on the floor. I feel like someone threw me down the stairs when I wake up and I have a hard time gripping things. An example: I was carrying a gallon of water into the house and when I sat it down sharp pains started shooting up my arm. After just a short bike ride my knees give out and my wrists hurt. I can't put pressure on them. I have back pains. I have to be on my feet at work. I have a pretty physical job and now I'm in so much pain at the end of the work w | F | 25 | 1 years 150 mg 1X day | 5/10/2010 | 1 | epilepsy | Hair loss, depression, suicidal thoughts, lack of interest, easily confused, problems speaking, confusing left and right, aching teeth, irregular periods | Listen to your symptoms and yourself, NOT your doctor. Look at how many people have life altering side affects from this drug. Is it worth it? Stop thinking it won't happen to you...it happened to me and my hair has been falling out for 4 months | F | 28 | 1X day | 3/25/2010 | 4 | Bipolar I | Short term memory loss | The drug helped me greatly, but the memory loss was the reason why I eventually discontinued taking it. It had an immediate positive effect on my moods, though. | F | 22 | 3 years 150 1X day | 2/21/2010 | 2 | mood disorder | I have increased appetite-I've gained 20 pounds in the last 2 months since being on lamictal. I have bizarre muscle and/or joint pains that come and go within minutes. I have terrible night sweats, I wake up soaking wet. And the last few weeks since my dose has been moved up to 200mg/day I have the most awful vivid nightmares all night long every night. I wake up exhausted and stay exhausted all day:( | F | 30 | 60 days 200mg 1X day | 2/19/2010 | 4 | bipolar | weight loss of 15-20 pounds - wasn't really needed. Less appetite. Very, very vivid dreams. Recent development of pain in two knuckles of right hand with a bruise like appearance. | My son is taking lamictal. He had previously taken depakote with seemingly good results but he did not want ot go back on that. I was excited for him to try Lamictal. I can really tell if he has missed 2 or 3 consecutive doses - starts to develop a little agitation. He seems pleased with the results of the medication. | M | 17 | 2.5 months 50mg 2X day | 2/4/2010 | 5 | bi-polar | F | 60 | 3 months | 1/13/2010 | 5 | bi-polar | Sounds weird, but instead of age related night sweats, my sweats seemed to tell me to wake up to go to the bathroom at night. Had sweats before, but never syncronized with urination. Thought that was kind of strange. It happens ever time! Medication is working for me. Up to 300 MG a night and feel pretty good now. No other problems yet.... | F | 60 | 3 months | 1/10/2010 | 4 | yes | Definite short term memory loss and constant constipation | Eliminated most partial seizures. Had two gran mal seizures before taking and haven't had any since then. | M | 58 | 6 months | 12/18/2009 | 4 | Bi Polar | Has been working well for me at 200 mg. Hasn't full stopped my mood swings. Back and Joint pain at 250 mg | I have been taking 200 mg for 2 years with out any problems. I got a new doctor and he suggested that I ramp up to 300 mg. After a few days at 225 mg I started getting back, muscle, and joint pain. I thought I was getting a bad case of the flu before I found this website and found out that others are having the same side effects. | M | 36 | 2 years | 11/21/2009 | 4 | depression | Night sweats, I guess word mix up (didn't really attribute it until seeing other comments), vivid dreams (some good, some really bad), memory loss, propensity for slurring (+alcohol) | Lamictal has really helped me. I was feeling suicidal and this generally kept those thoughts at bay. It has set a floor for my depressed moods. | M | 38 | 4 months | 8/26/2009 | 3 | Depressive Bipolar II | 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 | 5 | bipolar I | short term memory loss, words get mixed up, some itchiness, dry mouth. | Was able to think clearly for the first time in my life, after beginning Lamictal. Was ultra rapid cycling daily. Finally feel in control of myself, thoughts, feelings. Anxiety, and severe depression 90% eliminated. Some "break through" days as with any medication. Definitely feel flat most of the time. Stable. No more extreme highs, however there is some depression when mania is triggered. Overall, life saving drug. Would recommend giving a try. | F | 40 | 7 months | 8/16/2009 | 4 | bipolar | NO SEX DRIVE | F | 26 | 3 years | 8/12/2009 | 3 | Bipolar | fatique, motor agitation, twitching in limbs and trouble with gait. Good med but broke out in rash. | First day I felt the med's working in my frontal lobe. Quick mood swings on the first day which I found interesting. I was laughing and crying at the same time. My moods started to calm down. Instead of quick mood swings....I would have a bad mood one day and good mood the next day. Always felt aggitated and irritable at night. I had to take 2mg of Clonzepam to get me to sleep. Felt my skin itching but no visible rash. That sensation disappeared after I got into my new dose level and it started again when the pdoc increased my dose. I felt he moved me too quickly into the dosages. First two week 25 mg, the 2nd two weeks 50mg, the 3rd dosage was increased to 100 mg for three weeks. I did felt it stabilized my moods but the initial dosages made very tired and it was hard to concentrate at times when people talked to me but that slowly cleared up. Experienced some headaches. Experienced in the sixth week some twitching at night in my limbs. Felt dizzy at times. Noticed in the seventh week motor agitation which came in spurts and came throughout the day. Also had trouble with my gait but nothing real serious. None of this effected my driving ability. I did experience flu systems which the pdoc thought was the regular flu. I thought it was the meds. ...then I broke out in hives. Pdoc told me to stop ASAP. When the rash reached my face I went to the emergency room. Got a quick dose of allergy steriods and diphenhydramine. Took a whole week for my rash to clear up. | F | 52 | 49 days | 7/10/2009 | 3 | Bipolar II | Back & joint pain, numbness in feet when exercising, fatigue, dental pain, circulation issues on left side of body, short of breath, dizziness, vision changes, trouble "finding" words when speaking | I have experienced many side effects on this med & none of them are what I would call "minor". There is one very good thing Lamictal does for me that makes it worth taking: it regulates my sleep to around 8hrs per day. Without it, I would rarely be able to wake up and function after 8hrs of sleep. I strongly suggest taking calcium & vit D3 with this med due to the issues with joints & teeth. I have taken it for 4 years and wish I knew about that when I started taking it. | M | 33 | 4 years | 3/20/2009 | 4 | Epilepsy | Short term memory loss, dizziness, lack of strong feelings, weaving when walking | Previous to taking Lamictal I was on Dylantin. The stuff had horrible side effects including what I have on Lamictal and more. I could not function on my job and still had seizures. My doctor put me on Lamictal and I take it 3 times a day - 150 mg AM/PM and 100 at lunch. I figured out I had seizures in the late afternoon so the lunch dose is just a little push to get me to my night time dose. I've been seizure free for 5 years this April. That said, sometime the side effects are pretty bad. They seem to improve or get worse with hormonal changes. I get frustrated at the lack of strong feelings but I'm on this drug for the side effect of controlling seizures rather than the primary intention of helping bipolar. So, I should expect no strong feelings since it is a mood controlling drug. However... I miss them. When I start weaving down the hallways I drag my finger against a wall and it helps straighten me out. Lamictal recently went generic and I've read that people are hav | F | 56 | 6 years | 3/1/2009 | 3 | Bipolar Disorder II, rapid cycling | Dizziness, weight gain, increased appitite, difficultly reading and concentrating, insomnia. | I've been on it for a few months. The first month it felt like it had completely chanaged my life. I was happier and higher on life than ever! Unfortunately that didn't last. My depression came back in full furry, but the hypomania didn't. So basically I felt like crap all the time. And now sleeping problems and weight gain have become issues. I go for days without sleeping, but its not that I am not tired, my body just can't sleep, so I am sluggish and withdrawn during the day. Kind of sucks. But, it has only been four months, so maybe it can still work for me. Last time I visited the psych, she bumped me up from 100mg to 150mg and reminded me that it was important to take the meds. Its not like I wasn't before, I just don't like taking them. . . but apparently I am a suicide risk, so people get all freaked if I don't take them. I don't know. Go luck to anyone taking it. | F | 18 | 4 months | 1/27/2009 | 4 | yes | hives and small rash nothing serious.insomnia.but i take a simple sleeping pill and that does the trick.I go off in a daze sometimes when people are talking to me i hear them but dont know what they said.Tingling in my cheeks and jaw.This medicine has helped me a lot though so i could say i dont mind the side effects because i feel better when im taking lamictal when i forget to take it for a day or so i feel horrible so i know it works,considering ive been taking it for a good while it took me since i was 4 to find a medication that worked. | Its a good perscription for someone suffering with bipolar and comes with less serious side effects. | F | 17 | 2 years | 1/4/2009 |