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 |
| 4 | Bipolar II | initially extreme nausea, lost 10 pounds in two weeks. lately i've been very hungry. Also was put on zoloft, so I'm not sure. But weight gain is seriously concerning me. I've gained 3 pounds in 2 days. Usually tired. | WAY less mood swings. But when I do get mad, far more violent, yet not as long. Sometimes I feel like a zombie. I'm happy because my boyfriend and I are able to get along better, and I'm far more reasonable. | F | 20 | 3 weeks 50 mg 1X day | 4/7/2010 | 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 | 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 | 5 | Trigeminal Neuralgia | None. | This drug has saved my life. I have literally tried dozens of different medications for horrific nerve pain in the face (trigeminal neuralgia) due to a brain tumor and this is the only one that has worked so well with NO side effects. I was so scared to start taking it because of the possibility of a rash, but I'm glad I gave it a chance. I titrated on to it VERY slowly starting at 12.5 MG and now after 3 months I am up to 100 MG which is working well so I plan to stay at that dose unless I need to increase it. I was also scared of hair loss and acne, neither of which I've gotten. In fact, I had a slight hormonal acne problem before lamictal which ironically has completely cleared up since taking the lamictal! Maybe a coincidence but who knows. I'm am just so grateful that it is working for my pain. | F | 25 | 3 months 50 2X day | 3/31/2010 | 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 | 1 | Convulsive disorder | I started taking Lamictal so I could get off Valproic which cause weight gain. My hair has been falling out for 3 months. I'm almost completely bald. Thanks. | DON'T GO ON THIS DRUG. I should have been more weary about a drug that can cause life threatening rashes... | F | 28 | 1 months 3X day | 3/25/2010 | 4 | Epilepsy | Initially-HORRIFIC acne, CRAZY dreams, intense migraines, severe depression. 6 mo. later-mild acne, some weight gain, stable moods & ( most importantly )seizure free! | worst depression i've ever experienced when i first started taking it. not to mention acne was AWFUL (we're talking worse than teen years x10). increasing the dosage over time was a bitch, but now that i've reached my correct level it is helping a lot! no seizures and balanced moods! so while it may suck initially, it gets better with time :) | F | 21 | 6 months 200XR 1X day | 3/22/2010 | 1 | mood stabilizer | tired all day long,nausea...etc.. afraid to come off of it.. i have heard it has bad withdrawl symptoms | F | 30 | 8 months 35mg 1X day | 3/18/2010 | 5 | rapid-cycling bipolar type II | None | Extremely effective as a mood stabilizer. Very good in combination with a low dosage of klonopin for anxiety | M | 43 | 2 years 200 2X day | 3/16/2010 | 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 | 2 | bipolar depression | i started this medication right after my son was born. i had hairloss happend about 4 months later but that was excused for the postpardom symptoms. my hair stopped falling out about 3 months after it started. six months later it started again-BAD! iv been to my pcp 5 times over the last 6 months, dozens of blood tests later theres no explanation for the hair loss. i already have bald spots that i have to take extra time in the morning to try and cover up. the first 2 years on the med i had extreme weight loss, no complaints, ate watever i wanted, hardly any exercise. over the last 4 months i have gained ten pounds, no change to my diet. no matter what i do i cant seem to lose it. i have absolutly no short term memmory left. im a college student and i cant even join in the class discusions because i forget what im trying to say in the middle of my sentences. i feel like an idiot when this happends, last semester it wasnt this bad. i cant even remember what cloths i put on my son when h | F | 26 | 2.5 years 200 1X day | 3/11/2010 | 5 | OCD/Mood Swings/Depression | Constipation - went away after a week. Mild headaches, also went away after a week. Slight hair thinning, but not enough for me to freak out about. | I love this medication! I am taking it with Prozac and Vyvanse. I'm 37 and have struggled for almost a decade to try and find the right combination of meds for me.... what I am on now has been a LIFESAVER! Clearer thinking, less dwelling on negative thoughts, ability to maintain organization (ie office paperwork, checkbook balancing, etc) Currently on 50 mg but Dr. is going to up me to 100 mg next month. I feel like a brand new person!!! Can't imagine how I've lasted so long before without it! | F | 37 | 30 days 50 1X day | 3/10/2010 | 4 | for peripheral neuropathy | Awful, constant, stomach cramps, difficulty evacuating bowel. | Lamictal has helped my burning feet/legs pain more successfully than neurontin did, but does not completely ease the burning sensation. | M | 72 | 6 months 25mg 3X day | 3/9/2010 | 4 | Bi Polar II disorder/ Anxiety | short term memory loss, inability to focus for long periods of time, concentration problems, forgetting words mid-sentence. Overall, forgetfulness, easy bruising. | I self-diagnosed myself as BP II a few years ago and after taking cymbalta (made me want to kill myself) and then Wellbutrin, I quit meds entirely. However, following that came the destruction of several relationships, out of control spending, and intense periods of irritablity where I would flip out over absolutely NOTHING, I realized I needed help. I went to my Dr. and he put me back on Wellbutrin - mistake, I quit smoking but my rapid cycling went out of control. I was up and down, up and down... sometimes every few minutes. After doing this for about 5 months - I went back and told him what was going on. He explained that with BP people, Wellbutrin (300mg daily) often makes them cycle even faster. He gave me Lamictal (because I demanded I be put on something that did not make me gain ANY weight) and Klonopins (1mg a day) for my anxiety and OCD thoughts. At first I didn't notice much of a difference but now my life is completely different. I didn't realize how miserable I was before! My mood swings are very rare now. The only concern my doctor had was the fact that in 2 weeks I lost 15 pounds - all 3 of these drugs decreased my desire to eat and I'm basically living on salad and hard boiled eggs (WTF?!) A month later and I'm down about 18 pounds and I feel great. I'm 5'2 and went from 140 to 122. I''m also having bad bruising and I'm being tested to make sure Lamictal isn't supressing my blood platelets. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing about my meds and so far so good | F | 25 | 1 months 100mg 1X day | 3/7/2010 | 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 | 4 | Bi Polar (Rapid Cycler) | leg jumpiness | I am on such a heavy drug cocktail it's hard to say which side effect belongs to which med. I am taking Lamtictal 100mg, Geodon 160mg, and Lexapro 10mg right now, along with Detrol LA for incontinence. When I am on lamictal I feel better, and even better, it's cheap(er) than most of the other drugs. | F | 38 | 60 days 100 1X day | 3/5/2010 | 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 | 5 | bipolar II, OCD. | short memory impairment, at the beginning increased mood swings, but now none! | this medication in combo now with luvox has literally saved my mind and my life. nothin' else to say. | M | 24 | 6 months 100 mg 2X day | 2/28/2010 | 5 | Euphoria, clearness of thinking, energy and finishing tasks increased. A lot of sleeping and dreaming. | F | 55 | 7 days 25mg 1X day | 2/27/2010 | 1 | Depression. | Hair loss, aching teeth, forcing tongue against teeth, weight gain, decreased sex drive, increased wrinkles and breakouts. | If you care about your hair...DO NOT TAKE LAMICTAL! My 16 year old daughter and I were both on this for depression and we both are losing our hair! She broke out in a rash over her entire body after the 12 day mark (25 MG) and discontinued it. I kept going until the increase from 25 MG to 50 MG. It's now the 17th day and I am discontinuing the drug after coming across this website. All of my symptoms I have been having are due to the medicine. My depression got worse from the hair loss and wrinkles! I am going to try an all natural diet (vegan / no gluten). Hopefully my hair will grow back! | F | 45 | 17 days 50 MG 1X day | 2/27/2010 |