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 |
| 3 | Bipolar/Agrophobia/Anxiety | My tongue becomes numb an hour after I take 200 mg Lamictal, my eyes dart away from pages I'm suppose to be reading! My moods have leveled for this first time, no more mania. I started having night terrors and was prescribed 2 mg Ativan for that. That worked but my depression had been getting worse so I was also put on Prozac. I feel overmedicated... | Why do I feel that my therapist only wants to load me up with more and more meds? I am so chemically controlled how do I find reality? | F | 23 | 1 years | 10/21/2007 | 5 | Moderate Bi-Polar/Cyclothymia | Dizziness and upset stomach, which has improved over time. Vivid dreams, but no nightmares, which someone else pointed out. In terms of speech problems, I've always mumbled and mixed up words, which has gotten better from taking my time when speaking, even if it is slower. The lamictal certainly hasn't helped with this. My ever-persistent insomnia has only gotten worse, as I have moderate bi-polar disorder and, according to my doctors, this seems to be the result of the medicine only treating the depression phases. | Lamictal is a wonderful drug. It has done wonders to help me function by taking away my depression, has improved my overall mood (not too much like an SSRI), and has helped me maintain order in my formerly messy lifestyle. Moreover, the side-effects have been minimal, and I have been able to deal with most of them. Finally, I've noticed a marked depression when I'm off my meds for only a few days time, end up sleeping in to ungodly hours, and can hardly focus or get work done. I'm thrilled that this med alone has helped me remarkably, and that I have yet to need any stronger meds after about 9 months on it. | M | 22 | 9 months | 10/18/2007 | 5 | Depression/GAD | Some itching, random pain but nothing lasting more than a few seconds. slight vision change, night sweats, no headaches this time. | This is the third time trying Lamictal but this time I am only on Ativan with it. It has worked wonders with both the depression and GAD. I was taking 2-3mg of Ativan a day and now just .5mg in the morning and 1mg at night. I am on 32.5mg of Lamictal, thats 25mg in the morning and 12.5 at night. The side effects are nothing compared to all the other meds I have tried over the past 4 years. I feel more alive and positive and I smile a lot more just because I feel good. | M | 43 | 1 months | 10/18/2007 | 1 | Rapid Bipolar II | Hand tremors, twitching, rash, loss of balance, speech impairment, hair loss, can't sleep. Shakey writing, can't spell very well, typing is out the door. | M | 47 | 3 months | 10/18/2007 | 4 | rapid cycling bipolar type 2 | irritability and stomach aches at first, noticeable decrease in libido for a few months | lamictal has helped me alot. for the first few weeks i didn't feel much different, but then i missed a dose and instantly returned to my previous problems. if you skip any, don't expect to be stable for a few days. i take 200mg now and haven't had any intense side effects. however, i've found that after a while lamictal seemed to give me less of a good feeling and instead just kept me from freaking out like i used to. it's certainly beneficial but it leaves you hanging at a certain point. one annoyance i have is that the uncoated pills taste absolutely terrible and i have to force myself to take them. | F | 18 | 7 months | 10/17/2007 | 3 | chronic depression | insomnia, night sweats, vivid dreams, mild rash, acne, mild cognitive & memory problems, possibly others... | I am only taking a small dosage of 75mg/day but the side effects are still quite bothersome. It seems to help my depression, but I am also taking parnate so I am not quite sure which drug is causing what effect. | M | 20 | 6 months | 10/17/2007 | 4 | Depression/ Bi-polar | Extreme weight loss (40 pounds!) Slight dizziness, lightheaded when going from sitting to standing, mildy "ditziness". | While I believe Lamictal has really helped get my depression and mood swings to almost disappear, I have noticed that I am very different that I used to be. I am not as creative or fun, I now downright boring! I'm so content with just spacing out and ignoring everything. Nothing bothers me. Even things that should bother me! | F | 27 | 1 years | 10/16/2007 | 3 | Mood stabilizer | On 100 mg. I had bad blurred vision, especially in one eye. Also had double vision and could not focus on anything. Had hair loss, too and very dry mouth at night. | On the good side I had wonderful sleep and lots of dreams but not bad dreams. My mood was better and I could deal with my problems. I would have stayed on the medicine but I couldn't see, could hardly even watch television. There was no way I could read a street sign so I didn't venture too far while driving. Would try this medicine again but no more than 50 mg per day. | F | 67 | 5 days | 10/14/2007 | 5 | Bipolar 2 | At first I ramped up as I was told to, which turned out to be too fast for my system. As a result I had a significant rash and very swollen lymph nodes. I went off of it for 2 weeks, then back on DOUBLING the ramp up time. This was a long period of feeling unwell, but now I am alright, no rash or lymph node problems | The trick to avoiding side effects is a VERY slow ramp up. It is otherwise a great medication. I am on 150 MG/day because I am very thin and the Dr. says I tend to respond to lower doses than most of his other patients. He has it broken down into 75 MG AM and 75 MG PM. I also take Seroquel at night. Don't get discouraged...it takes time but it really did wonders for me once I reached the "therapeutic dose" which varies by patient. | M | 30 | 9 months | 10/13/2007 | 5 | Bipolar Type II | Itchy skin, night sweats, insomnia for the first few days. Dizziness and slight drugged feeling just after taking it. Breast size increased :) Solved the insomnia by setting an alarm for 5am - take it - then go back to bed for an hour or so. | After solving the insomnia problem I have to say that this stuff is amazing - I feel calm without feeling flat. I'm as creative as ever (I'm an artist so this matters) but I think I'll have problems doing the really melancholy paintings because I just don't feel that way anymore... I just wish I could have started on this 20 years ago. | F | 45 | 2 months | 10/13/2007 | 2 | Bipolar Disorder | Almost constant very bad YEAST INFECTIONS; ITCHY skin ("crawling" sensation that makes it hard to fall asleep); SEVERE,CHRONIC CONSTIPATION; HEADACHES; CRYING at least once a week, usually for no apparent reason; BRITTLE FINGER NAILS; CONFUSION and DIZZINESS; There are so many I'm sure I'm forgetting some. | After being diagnosed bipolar my doc put me on this one because I didn't want to take lithium or depakote (I didn't want the weight gain). It made a huge difference in stabilizing my mood, but I also started crying a lot. I mean, a LOT. Less suicidal ideation, but basically it was like it stopped my ups but didn't do much to help my downs. Plus, god, the yeast infections are horrid. One was so bad that a nurse told me that I had herpes; well, I didn't, but that was a frightening experience. Now I'm switching over to Lithium- no serious effects but nausea, and I've stopped crying. I can't wait to get off this damn lamictal and stop itching all the time. | F | 24 | 1 years | 10/13/2007 | 2 | depression, anxiety, dissociation | Lamictal is, I swear, making my hair fall out. And it is the only medication in a long line of meds I've tried that I REALLY have a hard time tapering off of. The hair loss is embarrassing, and it doesn't seem to stop, even now that I'm down to 100mg/day. Plus, when I have tried to stop taking it, even with very, very minor tapering, I get horrible, awful, headaches. It seems like if I try to go under 100mg, I get these awful headaches. | I don't think this medication helps my depression at all, and I think it is misprescribed as a "catch all" med, when it really is designed for bipolar disorders. It is, as far as I know, doing nothing for my depression. But going off of it causes me to have awful, awful, crippling headaches. And I become weepy and in general I don't want to set aside 3 weeks of my life to feel crappy to taper off of this medication. | F | 30 | 1.5 years | 10/13/2007 | 1 | bi-polar | rash within a week and now has covered my whole body | F | 57 | 12 days | 10/13/2007 | 5 | BI POLAR | I SEEM TO GET GITTERY AFTER TAKING IT FOR ABOUT 1 HOUR. I FIDIGET ALOT MORE. I HAVE ALSO HAD A CONSTANT HEADACHE. NO RASH THOUGH. MY MIND SEEMS A LITTLE FOGGY.***IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE!!!!!***** ( I DO NOT HAVE INSURENCE) | I TAKE LAMICTAL, EFFEXOR XR,OMEGA 3, B12, B6, AND FOLIC ACID. MY DOC SAYS THAT AN INCREASE OF FOLIC ACID WILL HELP WITH ENERGY. I AM FEELING A TON BETTER AND CAN CONTROL MY MOODS ALOT BETTER. I WAS DIAGNOSED BP 10 YEARS AGO BUT REFUSED TO ACCEPT IT. I WAS NOT CRAZY! WELL, AFTER 10 YEARS OF DRUG ABUSE, 2 BAD MARRIAGES, HOMELESSNESS, AND ON AND ON (ALL OF YOU WHO SUFFER KNOW EXACTLY WHAT EXTREAMS I AM TALKING ABOUT). MY LIFE HAS TURNED AROUND (AGAIN)BUT I COULD FEEL MYSELF SLIPPING,LIKE I ALWAYS DO. I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO ALWAYS PICK UP THE PIECES OF THE MESSES I HAVE MADE EVERY FEW MONTHS OR YEARS. SO NOW THAT MY LIFE IS STABLE I AM VERY GREATFUL FOR THESE MEDICATIONS. I NO LONGER "SELF MEDICATE",I HAVE BEEN SOBER FOR 2 YEARS NOW. MY LIFE IS STABLE WITH A GOOD MARRIAGE AND 4 CHILDREN. (4 KIDS IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ANYONE BP!). I DID ALOT OF RESEARCH ON BP AND ALL OF THE MEDICATION, I CHOOSE THIS ONE BECAUSE I FELT IT HAD THE MOST TOLERABLE SIDE EFFECTS. I HAVE BEEN ON MORE PILL | F | 24 | 1.5 days | 10/12/2007 | 4 | Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy | Acne, Intermittent Hair Loss, Tingling/Numbness in Face | I'm the parent of a 14 (almost 15) year old girl that has been on lamictal/lamotrigine for the past 1-1/2 years for seizures. She is currently on 487.5 mg/day. We just weaned her off Topamax completely. My question is her acne has become pretty severe and our dermatologist wants to start her on birth control pills to see if it will help (since nothing else has). We do not want to start accutane at this time. It appears all BCP's have a drug interaction with Lamictal decreasing Lamictal's effectiveness by 50%!!!! I hope someone out there has had experience using both BCP and Lamictal and can give me some user advice on what BCP to use and what effects you have had with using both meds at the same time. Thanks! | F | 14 | 18 months | 10/12/2007 | 3 | bipolor | can't sleep, cannot get motor functions together and I feel I could beat someone up it they look at me wrong. | I feel better not depressed and I am starting to laugh a lot more. I stopped shaking!!! I am going to keep taking it I just started Please God let this work. | F | 37 | 7 days | 10/12/2007 | 5 | SEIZURE? GP THINKS I JUST FAINTED | NAUSEA IN THE MORNING AFTER I TOOK MY PILL. IT WILL GO AWAY IF I EAT SOMETHING AFTER TAKING IT. I WAS ON PHENYTOIN AND LAMICTAL BUT AFTER CHANGING NEUROLOGIST WAS TAKEN OFF OF PHENYTOIN AND LEFT ON LAMICTAL. SHE SAYS IT IS A SAFTER MEDICINE TO TAKE. I AM CURRENTLY TAKING 100MG ONCE A DAY. | I HAD MY FIRST SEIZURE 15 MONTHS AGO. NO HEAD INJURIES OCCURED. HOWEVER I WAS UNDER A LOT OF STRESS AFTER MY MOTHER'S DEATH. MY FAMILY DOCTOR THINKS THAT I JUST FAINTED BECAUSE I JUST FELT FUNNY NO JERKING OR JUMPING OF ANY KIND. I JUST LEANED BACK AGAINST THE SEAT AND WHEN I WORK UP PARAMEDICS HAD LAID ME ON THE FLOOR AND I WAS ABLE TO ANSWER ALL THEIR QUESTIONS. ALL TESTS WERE NEGATIVE. BASICALLY VERY HEALTH AND ONLY ON BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINE UNTIL THEN. SEIZURE OR FAINTING? I GUESS I WILL NEVER KNOW. | F | 57 | 15 months | 10/10/2007 | 4 | bi-polar II | a minor rash at the beginning | I started taking this drug after I had my daughter. I had been previously taking Wellbutrin before I got pregnant with her. I currently take 250 mg twice a day. At certain times of the month, I also take 2.5 mg of Celexa. Lamictal isn't perfect, but it has helped with the depression lows. Because of being bi-polar II, I can't take the usual depression medications. (My mood swings become exaggerated.) Fortunately I have not experienced the side-effects others have on this medication (or at least not that I can directly attribute to the medication). | F | 46 | 4 years | 10/10/2007 | 4 | Hypomania, narcolepsy | bad headaches if taken as little as 2-3 hours later than my normal dosing time, occasional insomnia, forgetfulness, tingling sensations in my face and arms | When it comes to controlling manic episodes, I haven't found a better drug on the market. One of the only downsides is that it loses its efficacy pretty quickly, and I have had to updose 5 times over the past 2 years. At least for me, my impulsivity and mood-swings have decreased significantly, but Lamictal's ability to control my depression hasn't been as impressive (thus why my dose continues to increase). My psychiatrist just recently told me that most patients on Lamictal have the best results if a very low dose of Lithium is added as a supplement to it. I've yet to try this combined therapy, but I may in the future. Also, I'm using Lamictal in combination with Adderall XR to control narcolepsy. The anti-convulsant effects of Lamictal alone have GREATLY decreased the frequency of my attacks - that in and of itself has made the drug a godsend. | F | 29 | 2 years | 10/10/2007 | 3 | Depression-Seizures?-Memory loss | This is prescribed with Ritalin, Klonopin and my thyroid pill and an occassional Ambien, Do any of you have a swimming in the head feeling like a fish is swimming from the back sides of your head toward the front, thats how my seizures? start, I think this was mainly prescribed for the seizures if they are seizures, my BP went low when i went to ER, side effects for me are vision changes, have to use differnt glasses for nite driving, and I get so hot at times I have to turn the air up to 74 degrees. | I think it helps with the anxiety I feel regarding my short term memory loss, i take ritalin but do not believe i should be taking ritalin at 55 yrs of age, when i never had attentiion defecit, but then again i have bad brain fog in the morning I cannot concentrate, my memory loss and brain fog started 10 yrs ago, i still blame this on quitting the Deproprovera shots, but of course the doc's think i am nuts. I have taken up to 400 mg aday 200 mg 2 x day but it was too much and i felt ill and too tired. I now take 100 mg 2 X a day, and i can tell at night when it wears off, i either get real moody, or PO, ususally i forget the time so i sometimes take it after the anxiety and mood sets in | M | 55 | 2 years | 10/10/2007 |