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 Date added. 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 |
| 4 | anxiety, depression | The following side effects were experienced when starting the medication. They went away as I adjusted to the medication: Blurred Vision, Itching, slight water retention, tired feeling just after taking med. | After living with anxiety for several years, I developed a bad case of depression last year. I tried just about every SSRI and could not adjust. The initial side effects were impossible. I tried Zyprexa and it helped however it caused major weight gain (30 lbs) I was then placed on Lyrica and that worked except I developed a painful pimple type rash over a period of a month. Lyrica also caused weight gain. Even with daily cardio and healthy eating I still put on weight. I started Lamictal and I was able to adjust to the med very easy compared to all of the other meds. The worst side effects which went away as I tapered up was itching, blurred vision, tired feeling and slight water retention in face. I was concerened about the rash everyone talks about and was almost paranoid whenever I saw the slightest red bump or pimple. These went away quickly unlike the reaction from Lyrica which took months. My overall opinion is Lamictal is that if you stay with it for a month or so and put up with the temporary side effects, it will prove to be an excellent med. My severe depression has lifted and I am able to function after a year of hell trying just about every medication available. | M | 45 | 9 months | 12/14/2009 | 1 | Mood Stabilizer - OH MY GOSH....After 3 days on RX, huge HAIR loss, SORE throat, puke puke puke, SEVERE, CHRONIC migraine type HA. WEIGHT GAIN, TREMORS, VISION DECREASE, Dry Skin, HELL on the teeth, Sore areas inside mouth, RASH, OH MY GOSH, HUGE, RED, HOT, Appears as area is BURNED, MEMORY decreasem dysphagia, WEIGHT GAIN, 2+ EDEMA :Lower Extremeties, 10 fold Increase, SEVERE back pain, Hell, this RX alone would cause SA in the most healthy of individuals. Drugs, can't live with em, can't live without them! Entire OVERALL body discomfort, feel like I have what LockJaw is perceived to feel.. TRASH this RX, feels like entire body is toxic and poisoned. Good job research, think this one was rigged! this is after 3 days starter pack initiation. GOOD GRIEF. | Only for those with an immediate death wish. GOSH. YEAH it rocked if one loves total misery!! | F | 50 | 3 days | 12/14/2009 | 5 | Mild Bipolar | Weight gain, light headedness, problems with word recall | I have been on 100 mg for 1 year. So far, so good. Make sure you gradually get up to your desired dose and keep your appointments! | F | 26 | 1 years | 12/11/2009 | 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 | 4 | Bi-Polar Disorder | Aches and pains resembling severe carpal tunnel in my hands and arthritis in my ankles...also nausea in the morning when I take the medication and an ibuprofen-resistant headache each afternoon... | I am feeling great. I am NICER...I was mean before and getting more and moreso each day...I have 3 children and all I'd do was yell at them and tell them to be quiet every day...seriously, ALL day! But now I am able to focus on everyday tasks and my house is getting back in order, I have the energy to handle deep-cleaning...I am a neat freak so here I am feeling very comfortable in my own skin right now...I am a better mom because of this medication combined with abilify and I've only been on it a short time. | F | 29 | | 12/9/2009 | 5 | Bipolar | In the first month of taking this medication I experienced even more mood swings than before, which i never thought to be possible, and the swings were more severe. This went away after the first month/month and a half. I was at the doctor's office recently and they noted a 20lb weight gain in 2 years. My first year taking it I did not experience a great amount of weight gain, only about 5lbs. In the past year or so, I have experienced hair loss, and I still am now. When I first began taking Lamictal I was feeling more anxious and paranoid than I had been in the past, but like my other side effects, these side effects subsided. | I am very pleased with my results from taking Lamictal. I am taking 300mg a day-150 in the morning and 150 at night. I had suffered from bipolar from the age of about 12, but it was thought to be hormones. When I was diagnosed bipolar and began taking this medication at 15 years old, my life turned around. Grades started improving greatly, I got into a great college and program, my social life improved, my relationship with my family went back to the way it was, I stopped snapping at every little thing, etc. Before Lamictal, I would literally have 8-11 severe mood swings an hour. I was even at the point of attempting suicide three times and just hated life in general. After starting Lamictal, these swings have stopped. I am living a happy life which I am very grateful for. If I miss either my morning or night dose, I have these swings again, but they are not as severe or often (goes down to about 2-4 swings an hour). Lamictal is a life changer and I would recommend this drug to anyone in a heartbeat. You just have to make it past the first month or two and be willing to deal with the side effects, because other than that, this drug is amazing. | F | 18 | 3.5 years | 12/8/2009 | 4 | depression | swollen glands everywhere, painful. fever. acne. | at exactly 2 weeks it made me feel wonderful just had the painfull huuuge glands in my neck head and groin. had to go to er and d/c medication even tho it cured my depression | F | 24 | 2 weeks | 12/8/2009 | 5 | Manic depressive Bipolar disorder | None. But alcohol does affect the purpose of drug. | I take 100 mg every morning along with Wellbutrin 150 mg SR. I have been progressing in my life. This was the answer to opening my future. | M | 25 | 8 months | 12/7/2009 | 5 | bipolar II | Clear skin and larger bra size. | I think this drug is amazing. I feel more myself then ever before. No more mood swings and dealing with anxiety is so much better. I take 200 mg a day (100mg in the morning and 100mg at night). I'm worried about what everyone else is reporting, but its been a blessing for me. | F | 25 | 7 months | 12/7/2009 | 4 | Bipolar Disorder | extreme short term memory loss, trouble remembering words, often can't form mental connections, slight loss of fine motor skills, speech impediments (slight stuttering, often slurring words). slight weight gain. bad headaches at first, but went away. | the first few months on lamictal were crazy for me, i was like, all over the place in my mood, and it was throwing me from one mood to the next. started rapid cycling and then i just got really dark and depressed. however after four months (my doctor insisted i stay on it) it finally started to kick in and i've been on it for eight months now and i've never been happier. i still have really uncontrollable bursts of energy. other than the inability to speak correctly and major memory loss, i haven't had any major side effects. but the memory loss is really annoying. it doesn't mix well with caffeine, though. | F | 15 | 8 months | 12/7/2009 | 4 | resistant depression | short memory impairment, blocking of thoughts, headache. | it is a wonderful mood stabilizer with antidepressant propetries. i've some memory loss at relatively high dosage ( 50 mg ), but it get slow my mind and helped a lot with OCD. it incereased my joy for life and sexual interest because of less intrusive thoughts. i'm on 25 mg a day in combination with original Prozac, 40 mg a day. | M | 23 | 2 months | 12/6/2009 | 5 | Epilepsy-complex partial seizures | no significant side effects noted | Completely stopped seizures when I reached therapuetic dose. I had taken depakote,keppra,trileptal and zonegran. Only trileptal worked and I was allergic so it was stopped. Zonegran was horrible, and caused a horrible depression. | M | 12 | 18 months | 12/2/2009 | 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 | 4 | epilepsy | For the most part, this medication is helping me. After taking Dilantin, I realized how bad that drug was for me, and once they changed me over to Lamictal, I experienced better results. I would not say that my side effects are dramatic. I get headaches, which the doctors say are normal and have nothing to do with my brain tumor, and I am recently experiencing increased, but tolerable chest pain. Everyone is different, so don't take this to mean that these are the side effects you will have, but if you do, consult your physician; it may be nothing to worry about. | I've been taking Lamictal for about 5 months. | F | 22 | | 11/27/2009 | 2 | supposedly Bipolar depression | Hair loss and memory impairment, taken care of with lots of zinc-rich foods. Didn't do much for depression. The zinc took care of the hair loss, memory impairment, and acne. | Switched to Zoloft and have been well. | F | 35 | 1 months | 11/27/2009 | 1 | Bipolar II | continued effects from last post | now my hair is falling out, I have wrinkles that are getting worse under my eyes (I'm 20), acne and dry skin, and nails that are literally so weak they break when I fluff pillows. I'm having to get fake nails because they are starting to break off below the nail bed even though I have them trimmed very short. I also gained weight, despite monitoring my food intake. This drug was like a poison to my body!! No one could pay me enough money to take this drug again. Very scary experience. On top of all the side effects it did NOTHING for my depression or anxiety or anything else for that matter. Currently working down on the dose as quickly as is possible while still being safe. HR continues to stay high. EKG and all other tests were normal. I can just hope it didn't do any lasting damage. | F | 20 | 3 months | 11/21/2009 | 1 | Biploar II | HIGH anxiety, increased heart rate, constant chest pains though the day, back pain, ice pick headaches (some lasting hours), lower abdominal pain, muscle aches, constipation, constant indigestion/heart burn, feeling like I can't get full or feeling like I'm starving after I eat a meal, worsened nerve pain (I have FM), hot flashes and chills, dry mouth, dehydration, deteriorating nails hair and skin condition, weight gain | Apparently this drug is a miracle drug for some. For me it was poison. Couldn't pay me to take it again. I had the worst anxiety I've had in years- I rarely take my xanax but ever since being on this med. I've had to take it almost every day, sometimes several times a day. The most disturbing side effect:It increased my heart rate greatly- never below 80pbm, mostly hangs around 100bmp, resting average 96bpm, 115-120+ if I get a little exited, and 150+ when doing light activities or walking leisurely. Pulse wakes me up, can feel it pounding through my entire body or at least my torso and neck. I also experienced more chest pains than usual for much longer, that would also wake me up in my sleep. Ended up in the ER because of such a high HR. I had back pain that pain killers couldn't touch, ice pick headaches that were severe and sometimes lasted for hours, intense lower abdominal pain, random muscle aches, constipation, constant indigestion and heart burn- didn't matter what I ate, I never felt full and would even feel like I was starving after meals so I had to watch my food intake, worsened my nerve pain from my FM, I get hot flashes as well as chills with violent chills and am still cold after I get warm enough to stop shaking, dry mouth no matter how much water I drank, very stubborn dehydration that didn't go way no matter how much I drank and even after I got IV fluids. My hair skin and nails are now extremely weak (started when I started meds)- now my hair is falli | F | 20 | 3 months | 11/21/2009 | 2 | bipolar 2 | Constant nausea. | Absolutely not worth taking because my upset stomach was so severe. With food, without food, made no difference. You couldn't pay me to take this again. | F | 32 | 7 months | 11/19/2009 | 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 | 4 | Bipolar I | Constant sleepiness, some disorientation/clumsiness | It seems that no matter how much I sleep, I'm always tired. If I miss a day, it actually goes away.. I'm very satisfied with its ability to suppress my mania but always being tired has really gotten in my way. My grades aren't too good because I fall asleep as soon as I get home, I can't go out to the movies because staying up late is too difficult, but what can I do? Go off of effective medication? I've had worse side effects on others so I'm kind of stuck here. | F | 19 | 4 years | 11/16/2009 |