LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)

Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)

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 ANTICONVULSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

LAMICTAL  (LAMOTRIGINE):  Lamotrigine is used alone or with other medications to prevent and control seizures. It may also be used to help prevent the extreme mood swings of bipolar disorder in adults. Lamotrigine is known as an anticonvulsant or antiepileptic drug. It is thought to work by restoring the balance of certain natural substances in the brain. This drug is not approved for use in children younger than 2 years due to an increased risk of side effects (such as infections).   FDA Approval Date: 1994-12-27 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

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Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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More on LAMICTAL: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTALCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 1  BiPolar This med made things happen to my body that were insane. Mouth sore, rashes, cognitive slowing, slurred speech, unable to put simple sentences together, fungal infection, random infections. I HATED!! this med. My doc kept syaing, don't worry. In the mean time I was taking medrol for the sores. Needed a leave of ab from my job as an executive. Friends kept asking what's wrong and I sweated like a pig. I was a little tired on Depakote but that's it. I'm back to that now. Thank God!! M 33 9 months
7/18/2008
 1  Bipolar I have only been on it five days but I don't feel like myself. I feel like I am in a cloud, I am afraid to drive, I am itchy, I still have racing thoughts but I am so tired I can't do anything, I have been sleeping for 12-15 hours and still want to sleep, and my anxiety has hiked up. I just got back from wal-mart and thought that everyone was staring at me. It made me so freaked. My OCD has also been in high gear. I am hoping to get off this next time I go see my doctor. F 21 5 days
7/16/2008
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 4  Epilepsy Dizziness,nausea,weakness,insomnia I recently started taking Lamictal while on Keppra so far no seizures for a month but I am having trouble falling asleep at night, i'm lucky if I eat one meal a day, and i'm starting to get dizzy also i'm up to 100mg of lamictal and i'm on 3500mg of Keppra..I have 4 more weeks and I will be only to the starting dose of 200mg F 20 1 months
7/13/2008
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 1  BiPOLAR UUGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! Terri ble too many to mention OVERRATED!!!!!!! F 18 6 months
7/10/2008
 1  mood stabilizer w/celexa Outragious vivid dreams, then coma-like sleep (I was upped to 200 mg daily). Dry itchy scalp that drives me crazy. Forgetfulness. Shaking not just in my hands, but all over and in my mind if that makes sense. I'm still on the crap 'cause my doctor hasn't called me back in SEVEN days. I'm gonna half my dose starting tomorrow. I hate all this. To doctors: DON'T prescribe this as a mood stabilizer. I am NOT bipolar. I just need to get off this and talk to a therapist. F 51 3 months
7/9/2008
 1  mood stabilizer horrible nausea that never went away---I was on it for years I've been withdrawing from Lamictal and it causes severe fatigue...I can barely get out of bed. M 43 8 years
7/7/2008
 2  BiPolar II Worst first: Aggravated my Migraine. Headaches started getting worse and more frequent few days into 75 mgs dose. I just increased my Inderal, which has shielded me from migraine efficiently. I hit the 100 mgs dose of Lamictal, and my head felt like it was in a vice for what now seems to be forever. No doc would say for sure it was Lamictal. They said maybe barometric pressure, maybe having eliminated Emsam. I now believe it is Lamictal. I have been on steroids a week. No barometric pressure migraine ever resisted Prednisone high dosage. Other side effects: not finding my words (I'm a lawyer), and sweating (and smelling) profusely. Weight-neutral for me. Really wish I could stay on it. It was never clear to my psychiatrist (even with good second opinions), whether I was major depressive unipolar, or a soft bipolar. Either way, Lamictal helped. My brain felt at peace, when before it would not stop. My mood was better. I had no "I wish I were dead" days or nights. I was optimistic, for God' sake, never happened to me before on an SSRI. I was stable mood-wise. And I hated the not-finding-my-words, and I hated the sweating. But I might have stayed with it. I am going to try and see what happens to my headaches at 50 mgs, and if I still get a mood benefit. I take no other psychotropic medications. All these benefits in mood improvement came from Lamictal alone, so did the headaches..... F 50 4 months
7/4/2008
 4  Epilepsy My memory has pretty much gone down the drain. Most of the time I'll hear or see what's going on but I won't absorb the information so within a few seconds or minutes I always have to ask for something to be repeated. I constantly forget how to spell words and it's really difficult for me to write well because I can't put into words what I want to say. I can't remember peoples' names alot of the time that I've known for years, I forget some memories from my childhood, and taking a test is pretty much an Olympic sport for me. Also, I don't know if it's related but since I started taking Lamictal it's been impossible to get my skin to be perfectly clear. Lamictal helped with my complex partial seizures and I've been completely clear of any bad ones for 8 months. I didn't suffer any major side effects, only memory loss, but for me that has been the most frusterating-if you explain to people they are usually understanding of the issue and often find ways to aid you. School is a constant struggle for me and I'm sorry to everybody who suffers from these or worst side effects. I guess the memory loss out weighs the seizures but it still makes life more interesting than I'd like. If you have any advice I'd love to hear it. F 18 2.5 years
6/30/2008
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 1  bipolar Started with swollen eyes immediately upon starting drug, then itching eyes & scalp, then shooting pains in the eyes, then joint pain, especially painful knee joints, then got several very itchy welts on one leg accompanied by a burning sensation on palms of hands and then flu-like symptoms esp. nausea--pdoc said to stop the lamictal and start benadryl which helped the itchiness a lot but I still broke out in cold sores all over my mouth and had some mouth soreness. The side effects occurred at a very low dose of lamictal and continued to worsen over time. F 55 2 weeks
6/30/2008
 5  Depression from OCD None This medicine has done an excellent job eliminating sadness and frustration from OCD. I take a small dose, 50mgs at night. M 33 9 months
6/27/2008
 3  Severe depression/possible bipolar Started taking 25mg of Lamictal mid-April, working my way up to 100mg per night. Now, after almost a month of taking 100mg per night, I am having night sweats and extremely vivid dreams (not necessarily nightmares). I was prescribed Seroquel to help me sleep, so I just assumed that these side effects were a result of the Seroquel; however, now that I read all of the postings of similar Lamictal side effects...I'm led to believe it's the Lamictal. Also, I have recently experienced more acne (in locations I've never had it before) and itchy/dry scalp. I was on Lithium prior to the Lamictal, which I HATED due to all of the negative side effects. The Lithium blurred my vision and caused forgetfulness and difficulties with short-term memory. The blurred vision has continued with the Lamictal, though my forgetfulness has improved. I have not noticed any coordination problems or any lack of creativity. As this is marketed as a "mood stabilizer," though, I have to say that I h I am giving this medication a 3 because I still feel as though I may be adjusting to it; however, I have been on it for two months now, and I truly do not feel as though it's done anything positive for me. I still feel as hopeless and as overall depressed as I did prior to taking Lamictal. F 32 2 months
6/27/2008
 4  Bipolar 2 Headache, trouble concentrating and memory problems, low sex drive - but definitely worth it. I'm rarely hypomanic, depression isn't as severe, moods are very even. I just increased to 200 mg, feel great. Lower doses didn't have much effect on moods. F 19 2 months
6/25/2008
 5  Bipolar II Migraines, not terrible but frequent; head-in-clouds, but as a precursor to the migraine, night sweats and hot flashes (and am nowhere near menopause); metallic taste at back of mouth several hours after taking; infrequent nausea; still get rages every once in awhile I've been upped over the last 10 months to 200 mg/day, and I also take 25 mg of Zoloft (any more than that for the Zoloft and I feel like a zombie). For the most part, Lamictal has helped me enormously. I no longer cycle as rapidly, but lately have had longer depressive episodes than I did when I first started taking it. This could be because of boyfriend problems, who knows. I find no problem concentrating, finding the right words, or having lost my creativity. It has actually helped me focus more. I am able to pull myself out of the bipolar thought spiral before I hit the bottom and lose it. I do have days where I am agitated and irritable, and have the occasional irrational raging, but nowhere near as frequently as when I was taking the Zoloft only. F 36 10 months
6/23/2008
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 3  epilepsy The worst side effects are cognitive. I can't concentrate, my writing skills have declined dramatically, and I often can't find the words I'm looking for. I also sometimes have trouble speaking the words I want (about once a day--especially when I'm tired. It feels like I've developed an extreme case of ADD. I spend most of my time trying to remember what I was doing. My biggest problem is that my neurologist refuses to believe that lamictal has anything to do with my cognitive problems and attributes them to anxiety--even though testing shows that I've had a 30 point in IQ. I've always had anxiety but it never intefered with my work. I've had to leave my job as a professor. When I try to find the side effects of lamictal I can't find actual medical studies about cognitive effects although many people report them. F 58 3 years
6/23/2008
 4  Bi-Polar / Depression I had not noticed any side effects that were really strong, just mild. Include weight gain, nightmares, forgetfullness - I am not totally convinced these effects are from the Lamictal though.. It might be the Ambien CR.. The Lamicatal (and the Ambien for that matter)are very expensive as my insurance will not pay for it... I am willing to make some sacrafices each month to pay for it though. I honestly think this med has helped me. I have tried them all (SSRI's) over the years. I also suffer from migraines and this seems to have helped with those as well. I still get angry quickly over silly stuff. I think though this has mellowed me out some (I am very manic /hyper). I would like to try something in addition to help my mood swings.. talking to my dr next week. F 37 9 months
6/22/2008
 1  for trigeminal neuralgia fever of 104.6, huge swollen neck, swollen lymphs,high blood pressure, hospitalized for a week, thought i was going to die dont use it F 40 10 days
6/18/2008
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 5  Bipolar SHORT-TERM MEMORY LOSS- I often forget what I did just the other day/have to be reminded of conversations and things that I said /Have resorted to writing down anything of importance so that I don't forget. NIGHT SWEATS-- I have night sweats every night and my sheets/comforters end up soaking wet. I have started to sleep on a terry cloth towel so I don't have to change my sheets so often. STUTTERING/LOSS OF WORDS-- I am an interpreter, so for my profession, it is crucial that I possess the verbal and language skills necessary to perform my job well. Since taking Lamictal, I find that I have a difficult time getting the words that I am thinking to come out of my mouth. I find myself using word substitution. For example, if the word "jurisdiction" is too difficult for me to say, I will replace it with " area". I keep the concept intact but have had to dummy-down my spoken vocabulary. I stutter or my brain won't let my mouth say the words. I a Ok... so would I stop taking lamictal due to the side effects? Not in a million years! Never! I feel like my best self--- how I used to feel before my illness took over my life. My relationships are better-- healing every day. I feel balanced, smooth, and even. I love my little pill. My family and loved ones do too! F 42 1 years
6/13/2008
 5  bipolar II Increased mucuos/nasal drainage Lamictal has helped me tremendously. None of the other meds that I have taken in the past have ever helped like Lamictal has, and I have taken many antidepressants/mood stabilizers. F 55 3 years
6/10/2008
 4  seizures & narcolepsy hair loss continued from Topamax, muscle fatigue, dry mouth, sore jaw F 26 3 weeks
6/8/2008
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 5  Bipolar II No side effects-- a miracle in itself This has been virtually a miracle drug for me-- though I do worry about the potential for a buildup of toxicity/liver damage that many feel may result from its long-term use. I take 100mg 2x a day, in conjunction with 400mg Seroquel at night. Seroquel apparently has caused weight gain. I was misdiagnosed for years as major depressive/anxiety disordered, but turns out SSRIs and SSNRIs had just exacerbated my hypomania, and now I feel FANTASTIC- better than ever before. One of my docs says it hasn't been tested long enough to really know its potential longterm-use effects, but I am unwilling to change what works at this point. Anyone know of problems other than the rash (which I didn't get)?? F 47 14 months
6/7/2008

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