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 | Bipolar NOS | insomnia and very mild acne | My daughter (10) has been on Lamictal for just over a month. We have definitely noticed improvement in her moods and ability to cope with change and stress. She began at the 25mg dose, went to 50 after 2 weeks, and just started the 75mg in week 4. After a couple of weeks on that she will be at her target dose of 100mg. One thing I have noticed is that while she still gets angry and can be rude, she is not out of control in the way she used to be. She is a good kid and we always knew she did not want to lash out or break things when she got upset; she just couldn't control her anger. Now she seems to have a fighting chance at self-control. The only side effects we have seen are a couple of pimples on her chin and some trouble falling asleep at night. | F | 10 | 1 months | 5/5/2009 | 4 | Bipolar 2 | ear pain, headaches, loss of appetite, drowsiness, brain fog, dropping words, | I have only been taking this med for 4 days, but after reading the posts here I was so prepared to have all the terrible side effects. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the side effects I am having or mild and very tolerable. I am also taking 300mgs of Wellbutrin so I don't know if that makes a difference. My pysch is starting me off slow with 25mgs for the 1st 2 weeks, 50mgs 2nd 2 weeks, and ending up at 100mgs after that. I know the medicine probably hasn't started working yet but I feel better. I feel very good which is kinda weird since right now my husband is laid off and we are late on most of our bills. I think things are going well now, hope it stays this way as I increase my dosage. | F | 29 | 4 days | 5/4/2009 | 2 | bi-polar II, SAD, migraines | intense vivid dreams/nightmares. when i finally tapered up to 150 mg, i was totally depressed, a walking zombie, unfocused and unable to do my job to any degree of usual competency. this was for the most part putting everything in my life in jeopardy. not good. intense nausea developed the last 2 weeks on it and became intolerable. | i hope this helps others, but did not help me...possibly helped "up" mood swings, but not the depression component. there also seems to be a difference between generic formulations. | F | 37 | 3 months | 5/2/2009 | 5 | bipolar II | none | i am taking 150mg/day for extreme hypomanic episodes. i was also on 25mg zoloft and 10mg ambien but i got pulled off the zoloft b/c i was having extreme mood swings. off the zoloft i am feeling better but i am still manic. the ambien is to help me sleep b/c when i am manic i stay up 48 hrs + at a time. my psychiatrist is going to bump me to 200mg this week. hopefully it can help level out my manic/depressive phases and get me back to some equilibrium. i find that i take a certain dosage for a while that helps and then it suddenly doesnt work so i have to bump the dosage up. | F | 31 | 4 months | 4/29/2009 | 5 | anti-epileptic seziures&depression | brain fog, itchy skin & scalp, short term memory loss, dizzy, not sure footed, forget way too much, tired more then I would like, spelling errors. | No seziures! But I have only had 2 in the last 6 months. Knock on wood...Sleeping great when I had insomina, anxiety decresed, depression cured, amazing! I feel better then I have in years, but the side effects are frustrating. Now that I found this site, I feel that I'm not crazy. The pharmacy information does not do this med any justice. Education is so important! I have yet to see a neurologist and my dose will be incresed for sure. The ER Dr. was who prescribed the med. I was very scared, but didn't want anymore seziures! Hope I don't have any more side effects, when they increse my dosage. Only on 25mg at the moment. Good Luck to all! | F | 37 | 1 months | 4/28/2009 | 1 | Depression | Excessive weight gain - went from 190lbs to 250lbs. Zero sex drive. Excessive tiredness. Difficult to concentrate. Excess sweating. Irration, more depression. Can't sleep, when I do sleep I'm out for 12-15 hours. | For Depression I'm currently prescribed Cymbalta 60mg (daily)and Lamictal 100mg (daily). I also take Ambien 10mg (daily) - ambien no longer works for me...even at 20mg daily. I've been taking Lamictal for 18 months at different doses - max was 150mg daily. After doing my own research regarding this medication and other meds for depression, I've decided to ween myself off Lamictal (I started this four days ago reducing 100mg daily to 50mg daily). Also, based on my research, I'm requesting my psyc take me completely off Lamictal and add "Abilify" and "Topamax (may get the excess weight off me)." If my psyc doesn't agree, I'm going to fire her and find another psyc Who will agree with my analysis. I have a MBA degree and have taken my share of psyc courses. However, since my "depression", I've come to the conclusion that these psyc meds are basically prescribed by spinning the big drug wheel (done by the psyc) and then prescribing the selected med to the patient. | M | 49 | 18 months | 4/28/2009 | 5 | bipolar 2 | leg tremors, decreased appetite, night sweats and am a zombie the first day the dosage is increased via the starter pack. | 2 weeks ago I was desperate, considering hospitalization, deeply depressed and having a really hard time functioning esp. in the AM when I couldn't stop crying-- nothing was wrong but couldn't stop weeping. Today the symptoms are GONE. I'M BACK! It feels glorious to be myself again. I'm only on 50 mg currently. I split the dose so I take 25mg in PM and 25mg in AM, that really helped with my out of control emo mornings. | M | 3 weeks | 4/22/2009 | 4 | Bipolar II | Brain fog | I have taken Lamictal for mood stabilization for 3 years and am currently at 200 mg twice daily. I have not experienced anything more exciting than hypomania for a couple of years now. The only side effects that really bother me are the brain fog and short term memory problems which I have only begun to notice after 3 years of being on it. For a little perspective, Lamictal is nowhere near as bad as Topamax which made me simply incompetent to do my job. I describe the feeling as an "access failure." Even when I know that I know something...that I have done or understood perfectly in the past...I am not capable of understanding it. The knowledge just can't be accessed. Same feeling with short-term recall and word-finding. Having just reached "crisis state" with the fog thing, I started taking Deplin (Rx methyl-folate supplement) which is supposed to help the cognitive slurring. I never knew that Lamictal did this until I asked my Dr if the drug could possibly be making me stupid. Her response was, "Oh, yeah, that's pretty common." WTF? If you're taking lamotrigine/Lamictal and you're not as sharp as you used to be, it might not be just you! Ask your Dr. | F | 36 | 3 years | 4/22/2009 | 2 | Seizures | Severe acne, Back/muscle pains, Sores/bumps on my gum lines, Sebatious cysts on my body and genitalia (which is similar to acne), Changes in my libido (I find it almost impossible to reach orgasm now- never EVER had a problem before!), Hair loss, Weight gain, Blurred vision, and more... | I HATE this drug. It did control my seizures, but at what cost? Im totally falling apart over this drug. Its supposed to help with depression too, coincidentally, lol, but Im depressed now cuz of of all the side effects! I never had acne! My family and friends keep asking me what happened to my face- this is the most depressing/insulting question Ive ever been asked. My husband is worried that he cant 'please' me anymore- and our sex life is horrible now- I cant even 'please' myself anymore! Ive been having really bad back/shoulder pain, and muscle pains, and find it hard to stand or sleep or sit because of the pain Im in. I went to the ER due to the pain and they prescribed pain killers for that pain...Im not a pill popper and hate taking meds to counteract the side effects of another med! This is ridiculous. Im thinking of stopping medication with or without my doc's consent. I have an appt. with him on 4-28-09, and cant wait to tell him how I feel...not that he will care. He will just tell me that the benefits outweigh the risks. I can only imagine what other issues will arise from taking this med in the future...maybe liver disease? Now thats something to look forward to! Cant wait to see that solemn commercial saying: "Have you, or a loved one, died from taking the medication 'Lamictal'? If so, please call the law offices of...." 1-800-R Bad | F | 29 | 1 years | 4/21/2009 | 4 | BiPplar 2 | Weird dreams no other major issues dry mouth and have to use the bathroom alot more. | This med same to help me alot I was om topmaxx but cost way to much and abifely deathly sick | F | 37 | 30 days | 4/20/2009 | 1 | depression | worsening of depression, uncontrolled rage with amnesia | Very scary drug. Have tried many other anti depressants, generally the worst that would happen is nothing. This drug was prescribed for "bi-polar", which I'm not. Very frightening to hear from others how my personality changed while on this toxic drug. Total amnesia of behavior while on it. | F | 55 | 2 months | 4/20/2009 | 2 | seizures | insomnia, mood changes, headaches, anxiety, weight gain | I have been on lamictal for 6 months. I do not like it. It has caused too many side effects for me to live with. I have had seizures for 18 years. My doctors have put me on 8 other seizure medications in different combinations over the years! I have only had 2 grande mal seizures. (Quite a bit of petite mals) But, really, I have suffered with a lot of side effects from all these drugs. I can't take it anymore. | F | 42 | 6 months | 4/17/2009 | 5 | Bulimia, ADHD, Anxiety, Bipolar | So far, none at all. I had been taking Ritalin (a generic) for ADHD. Somewhere along the line, it was decided that the ADHD contributed to the Bulimia. I do know that without the Ritalin, I can't focus on anything at all and the binge/purge cycles are definitely far more frequent and intense. After many failures with anti-depressants, the need to address severe occasional depression, as well as some fairly intense anxiety, my psychDoc decided to focus on the dx of bipolar. He ordered me to stop taking the ritalin and start the lamictal at 25 mg, doubling the dosage every week until I reached 200 mg. I am now at 50 mg. His stopping the ritalin is how I know I can't stop the ritalin. So, I'm back on the Ritalin, per his advice. | As for the Lamictal: I had no idea how paranoid I was until this morning when I woke up. I always sensed that people at work thought I was weird and that my boss hated me and wanted to get rid of me. To me, this was almost as real and unquestionable as the sun rises in the east; I just 'knew' it was the truth. I also wasn't pleasant to myself…I mean that I always berated myself for the lack of strength to do better, eat better, please people, be nice, be happy, be successful. I had no idea how emotionally crippled I have been. This caused me to work at home almost always and gain a lot of weight - although to be fair, I am now 45 and stopped working out years ago. I actually was able to stop at Henry's yesterday after work - I actually went into the office; that's rare - to pick up some healthy stuff to eat. And, last night for dinner, I ate some and I also ate some for breakfast this morning. I didn't go through the binge purge situation, way too much wine and half a pack of cigarettes like I would normally in the evening. I am not sure if this is a fluke or if the Lamictal has actually been key in this 2 day success story. I do know that I like the person I woke up as this morning and that is something very different. I will update at this site with further comment in a few weeks after I have more time and have increased the dose. | F | 45 | 12 days | 4/16/2009 | 4 | bipolar ll | vivid dreams, itching, surreal moments, trouble finding words, mild acne, interacts badly with alcohol. | I am starting this med again for the fourth time. Twice quit due to bad sores in my mouth and abdominal discomfort. It seems that I cannot take the normal theraputic dose so my pdoc said to take 25 to 50mgs as this is beneficial to some like myself. It has been very beneficial for quite a few months to stop suicidal thoughts, stabilize my moods and stop the severe depression. I'll keep going back to this one. I have taken it with 300mg. Wellbutrin for a number of months but will start this by itself this time and add other meds as needed. Been on all the anti depressants, etc, sometimes 4 or 5 meds over the past 30 years. Finally glad to know it was bipolar and needed a mood stabilizer. | M | 60 | 14 days | 4/13/2009 | 5 | Depression/ anxiety | It has saved my life ! | After many many years of being in and out of hospitals and being so afraid, not being able to get out of bed for weeks on end. I missed out alot when my kids were little. I finally have a life I have never known. THANK YOU LAMICTAL | F | 3 years | 4/8/2009 | 3 | Seizures | Burning on abdomen like an actual burn. Wake me up diring night. No rash. Just like bad sunburn type burning. | Been taking for8 weeks | F | 44 | 8 weeks | 4/7/2009 | 4 | mood disorder | tiredness, MAJOR MEMORY and cognition problems | I am so in love with this drug but the fogginess is getting to be a real problem. The other day I was driving to drop off a very important loan package for our business. I needed to stop at the auto store for something and walked out and completely forgot about this most important thing. If my husband hadn't called I think it would still be in my back seat. May have to give it up even though it has made me really stable. Am on Wellburtrin (150) too and all depression is gone. I have ADD and used to take Adderall--maybe this will help the fogginess? Anyone had success with that combo? | M | 40 | 1 years | 4/6/2009 | 4 | BiPolarII-Depression-Anxiety | mixing up words, starting to say the wrong word and having to correct myself, dizzyness when I stand up, balance/coordination off | Though I still have the side effects, Lamictal was a miracle. After 13 years of being on every anti-depressant under the sun, it was decided that I might be BiPolar and try Lamictal. It's like I came out of a fog and could see clearly. He also put me on Seroquil to sleep/racing thoughts and I am STILL on Klonopin for the anxiety and Effexor for the depression, but the Lamictal has made all the difference. I'm just a little clumsy and sometimes have tounge twisters when there aren't any. | F | 31 | 4 months | 4/6/2009 | 5 | bipolar | none | Lamictal has been wonderful in relieving my bipolar symptoms. I feel normal again. | F | 45 | 6 months | 4/5/2009 | 3 | Bipolar II- rapid cycling | the first few days, it seemed to make me energized and almost happy, and pleasant. However, this may have just been a mind trick on my part because medication doesn't work that fast. I have been taking it for 2 weeks @ 25mg, and started on 50mg two days ago, for week 3. I have noticed more rapid cycling, shifting to more extremes than ever before, and more frequently. Also, interrupted sleep (never had a problem before), vivid dreams (never b4), racing thoughts more, distractibility more(bad!), irritability (more), aggressiveness, compulsive shopping (i bought plane tickets yesterday, and 100s of $ worth of clothes), suicidal ideation and planning. OCD syptoms have cleared up a bit, but only because my memory is worse than ever before!!! increase in binge eating, and increased disconnected feeling and daydreaming. Some nausea directly following taking lamictal. And, extreme tiredness! I used to sleep only 3-4 hours a night and be functional. Now, after 8, I'm still exhausted the next d | i think i'll continue it. I want to give it a fair chance, since i'm not even at therapeutic dose yet. I'm working up to 100mg by week 5. | F | 22 | 16 days | 4/2/2009 |