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 II rapid cycling | various annoying side effects since I began but they all seem to pass after a few weeks. They include short-term memory loss/lack of concentration, leg tremors, and severe headaches (which still occur from time to time). Have also been experiencing chest congestion for the past 6-8 weeks but don't know if it related to the drug or not. | Lamictal has worked very well for me. After about 5 years of severe depression/suicidal thoughts I feel consistently happy, productive, and healthy - almost to the point that it is unsettling since the mood is so different than that I had grown accustomed to. I do feel like the highs are a bit more dumbed down than I'd like but it is the price to pay I suppose. | F | 32 | 1 years | 10/9/2007 | 1 | Type II | Where do I start? | Back to Depakote | M | 38 | 6 months | 10/9/2007 | 4 | epilepsy | Acne. Nails separating from nailbed. Tired alot. | Hey! I'm getting the problem with my nails too. I was always told it's psoriasis and can't be treated. But someone else mentioned oncholysis here. | F | 33 | 7 years | 10/8/2007 | 4 | Bi Polar/BPD | I had some trouble sleeping at first, which led to some crankiness. I went a week with about 3 hours of sleep per night. I started taking an anti-histamine, which helped with that problem. Sometimes I see little sparkly dots in my eyes when I stand up to fast. The sparklies replaced what used to turn black when I stood up too fast. I can't seem to think of any other side effects at this time, but I will post more if I remember or experience more. | I feel like Lamictal has helped me so much. To be honest, I don't know if it is psychological or the Lamictal itself. I have only been taking it for three weeks, but I almost instantly felt better. As I mentioned in the side effects section, I was sleepy for a week or so, which caused crankiness. I was told that I could take this medicine with an anti-histamine. I thought that would be a good idea, especially since I was having trouble sleeping. I bought some store brand Benadryl and since then I have had 0 side effects. I feel my mood has leveled out. I still get irritated sometimes, but there is no such thing as an easy way out, at least not in my opinion. The medications prescribed are supposed to HELP RELIEVE symptoms that the medicine is prescribed for. | F | 25 | 3 weeks | 10/8/2007 | 3 | seizure disorder | I switched over from Depakote to lamictal 7 months ago. I was on depakote for 20 years and thought i should try a new medication with less side effects. However, once i started taking lamictal all weird symtoms started happening. I don't know if it's from the drug or something else that is wrong. First i started getting migraines,acne and panick attacks. (which i could handle) then a few months ago i started having problems when speaking. In the middle of a sentence I made this noise which is sudden and involuntary and no one else seems to notice except me. I am trying to explain the symtoms to my neurologist but she doesn't seem to understand. I feel like i am having a seizure in my mouth? I know it doesn't make sense but don't know how to describe it. | i have not had any seizures and take elavil 10 mg a day for prevention of migraines. Still have the acne after 7 months.(never had acne before) | F | 35 | 7 days | 10/7/2007 | 3 | Treatment resistent Depression/SAD | Two weeks on Lamictal taken at night; just increased to 50mg. In addition to 150mg of Wellbutrin, 20mg of Adderall. Side effects included drowsiness, restless sleep, waking multiple times at night, partial consciousness whereas I would return calls/text messages and not fully remember the next day, vivid dreams that cause me to wake, grogginess in the morning that takes quite some time to go away. | I'm hoping the side effects wear off. I have not felt any benefits of the medication, as it has only been two weeks. | F | 25 | 14 days | 10/6/2007 | 5 | Bipolar Disorder Type II | It seems to have helped my OCD. | M | 69 | 2 years | 10/4/2007 | 4 | Depression | 400 mg/day. Anxiety, impatience, irritability, sleeplessness, acute awareness accompanied by grandiose hopes and a feeling that I'm experiencing everything for the first time. | I've cycled through all the common SSRI's for years. I'm currently on Celexa (80 mg/day). We are using Lamictal as a "floor" to keep the Celexa effective, as I seem to build up a tolerance to SSRI's. I am submitting this post because of this bizarre side effect I'm experiencing. It's a kind of euphoria, a sense of seeing everything as it "is." I also feel grandiose and hypo-manic. I'll contact people I haven't seen in years, make big plans. I'm not much fun to be around, though, because I get impatient with conversation. I would prefer to stare at a pencil and wonder at the phenomenon of its invention. Anyway, I just thought I'd post this in case anyone else is experiencing something similar. Lamictal has helped me, however. I haven't changed meds in over 2 years. | M | 40 | 2 years | 10/3/2007 | 2 | Bi-polar II | insomnia, unexplainable anger, irritation, road-rage (never been an issue!), mental fog, low energy, trouble articulating thoughts at times, acne, itchy skin (but no rash), unbalanced--clumsy. | I'm considering going off Lamictal as I can't live in a mental fog on a daily basis nor can I live without articulating my thoughts, especially since I'm a writer! I just assumed the low energy and mental fog were early side-effects that would go away. After seeing the comments here though, it doesn't sound promising. I feel worse than when I was in deep depression. | F | 29 | 19 days | 10/3/2007 | 5 | Bipolar II | Nightmares if taken late in the evening | Mood stabilizes within 20 minutes of taking pill, no haziness or cloudy thoughts. It has taken care of all my symptoms. Good to have insurance when taking this pill. (Expenisve) I've ordered it from Canadian pharmacies, and it takes about twice the dosage for the same effect. | F | 27 | 6 years | 10/2/2007 | 4 | bipolar 2 | any one getting the awful muscle aches? At first felt wonderful, moved up to 100 mg, every muscle in my body ached like i had the flu or mono, even went to MD. At least it has helped my mood tremendously | My psychiatrist doesn't believe it's the lamictal making me feel this way but decreased my does to 50 mg. I've been researching on the net and this drug is gaining a rep for muscle aches, hope i can stay on it. | F | 33 | 2 months | 10/1/2007 | 3 | Bi Polar II/Depression | Memory loss, clumsiness, kind of in a fog | I feel a little too even. I am going to stop taking the pill. I cannot deal with the memory loss and lack of sharpness. It has effected my preformance at work. | F | 54 | 60 days | 10/1/2007 | 4 | | 9/29/2007 | 5 | Bipolar 1 | Hair loss, vision impairment, short term memory loss, hands shake, spelling problems | After being on Depakote-Effexor mix for three years and quitting cold turkey I took 5 months free of meds to give my body a little time to detox from them before trying anything else. Started taking Lamictal in Feb. along with Wellbutrin. I have regained my life and lost 70 pounds that i gained from the Depakote-Effexor mix. I can not stress enough to others that when you go off one or two meds to start a new one give your body time to detox from the other drugs and to let the new ones take full effect. And whatever you do be active in your treatment and educate yourselves to how your meds work together and all the side effects not just the ones doctors tell you about. I also studied about bipolar and the treatments out there for it. I can get a wig for the hair loss, I have glasses now, I carry a notebook for the memory problem and I just don't carry glass that much anymore, the spelling well there is spellcheck and a dictionary....things I can not fix death, lost years to the illne | F | 38 | 9 months | 9/28/2007 | 4 | neuropathic pain from MS | easy bruising, insomnia, some weight gain, safer for pregnancy/breastfeeding | Because I had stop Neurontin since I became pregnant, I was fortunate to have the option of Lamictal. I have fierce, burning pain in my legs so bad that I couldn't function. Lamictal does a decent job relieving this pain. I had to add a couple more meds in combination with it, but overall, very good. | F | 39 | 2 years | 9/27/2007 | 3 | Mood swings, PTSD, ADD | At first, a little numb emotionally.At 100mg feeling OK, slight loss of appetite. I experienced some pretty tough things - like being laid off from a job for the first time in my life - and then got severely depressed. I cried for days,lost my appetite completely, felt suicidal. My dosage was increased to 150 mg and I didn't feel so emotionally labile, but had night sweats, itchy, dry skin, hair loss, small rash. After being on the 150 mg for a couple of weeks, I started really retaining water, my ankles became swollen, I got constipated, had decreased urination and lower abdominal cramps.Two days ago, I was at work, on my feet all day, and I had to urinate, but was unable to urinate. I got sweaty, felt like I was going to pass out,later that night had severe back pain, pain in my right kidney and trouble breathing. I tried some old fashioned remedies: I drank apple cider vinegar in water, and that helped me pass urine. I was also extremely constipated. I went to the local clinic and t | I started off trying all the antidepressants in 2002 - and the only one that worked was Wellbutrin. My best combo was Wellbutrin SR 300mg, Adderall 10-20mg XR and Prozac. I always took something for sleep, because it's always been a problem - but I've been taking Ambien 10 mg since 2002 as well. I felt bloated and decided to taper off the Prozac. Now I'm off it completely, but I miss it. I have to say that I'm not completely sure if this severe urinary retention is related to Lamictal, but it's scary. Having to go to bed with back and kidney pain is not good. So glad to be able to share this stuff with all of you. What got me to contribute was someone saying they had the neuralgia, which is definitely a red flag. | F | 58 | 4 months | 9/27/2007 | 2 | Bipolar II | At 50mg (slow increase to 150mg). Memory impairment - difficult to manage more than one thought/idea at a time, impaired conversation skills b/c can't organize thoughts and respond. (excludes casual conversation) | Also taking Zoloft 100mg (5yrs) & Lithium 900mg (1yr). I am almost done with grad school and trying to write my thesis. Not being able to think clearly is debilitating. | F | 27 | 8 days | 9/27/2007 | 4 | bipolar type II | NAILS SEPARATING FROM NAIL BED? HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM? I can't figure out what's causing it. It's called onchyolysis. If I accidentally overdose, I can't spell (at all), can't do simple math, and stagger as though I was drunk. As soon as I go back to my adequate dosage, these symptoms stop immediately and completely. Anyone experiencing these symptoms needs to take a lower dose. Otherwise, fabulous drug, no other symptoms. | I have been on every antidepressant ever invented, and lamictal is the only thing that has ever worked for me. It's saved my life, and I think it's probably the drug of choice for bipolar type II. | F | 52 | 4 years | 9/26/2007 | 3 | anxiety | Terrible headaches, leg cramps at night, speech mixed up at times. | I am more at ease and can concentrate much better. | F | 41 | 3 days | 9/26/2007 | 5 | Bipolar 1 | Insomnia which decreased over time. Problems with mixing up words when speaking and misspelling of words when typing. Short term memory loss. A little unstable on my feet. Tend to list a little to the right and run into door frames. Very vivid and lifelike dreams, no nightmares. Some initial side effects have lessened or disappeared over time. | I am calmer and steadier than I have ever been and the longer I take the drug, the better I feel. It has been a very positive experience and the few side effects are not that troubling in comparison with the definite benefits of this drug. | F | 52 | 5 months | 9/25/2007 |