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 |
| 4 | depression | Over 125 Mg lots of intense dreams. I agree with the person who said take it in the morning only. It makes me stay awake so I would sleep less. The problem is that I would get fatigued from no sleep and I think I would have all the range of sleep depravation problems (confusion, anxieta, anger, depression etc.) simply from lack of sleep, even though my concentration and attitude was improved during times that I did sleep. I dropped to 125 from 150mgs and it seemed right for me. | One thing that is published that seems true is that lamictal seems to have a very narrow sweet spot for dosage. also lamictal seems to react with other drugs and can vary the effect of lamictal. Caffeine use is NOT good. Caffeine use may also cause the skin problems associated with lamictal. Dosing is sensitive, too much and you loose sleep too little and nothing happens. My only problem at first was that when I started up near the 100 mg level nothing really happened. I then started taking 150 mg and then I could not sleep. I felt great at first but I got so exhausted from no sleep. Finally I was taking a 100mg and a 25 mg for 125 total. I think it really was good. My concentration was better, I did feel better. I was more alert and I seemed to be making better decisions. I took it for about a year. I stopped taking it about 8 days ago and I have been very tired. Im going to see how I feel. | M | 50 | 13 months | 7/6/2007 | 3 | Bipolar I | itchy arm pits, mild skin discoloration on my fore arm (not sure if either of these are from the medicine) | I've taken 50mg for 12 days. I don't really notice anything different. I'm apprehensive about this medicine because I'm depressed, lethargic, have no energy and my Dr. would not prescribe antidepressants for me. : ( So I'm hoping that this will help with depression first. | F | 30 | 12 days | 7/6/2007 | 5 | Depression | Some word finding difficulties. Huge increase in sexual desire (anyone else have?), but may be due, in part, to lack of depression.Unexpectedly in the last 3 months intermittent sore throat (about 1x a week for a day).I have an appt with an ENT to make sure it's not due to something else (I hope so), as I've been on this 2 and a half years and will do anything to stay on it.Need sleep medication.Take at nite, maybe should take in morning. | The greatest medication ever. Had been on prozac for years until needed to increase dosage and increase created some mania. With prozac, I felt there was air in my brain which lessened the feelings of depression but with lamictal (on 300 mg), I just feel NORMAL. It's like my default setting is now happy, contented, energetic, even joyful, after a life of depression. Therapy has been so much more effective and life changing.I understand why they don't give it readily, but this changed my life and I wish it was given more commonly,not only a last resort for depression. I also have a huge increase in energy, which of course makes all of life easier. | F | 53 | 2.5 years | 7/4/2007 | 4 | BP-I | at 100mg, increased heart rate (104 at rest, 114 walking 15 feet), but mentally GREAT; I dropped back down to 50 and started using the 5mg dissolving tablets to slowly work back up, 5mg more each week; at 90mg felt great mentally and physically, emotionally resilient for the first time in my life; up to 95 and the increased heart rate came back, so back again to 50. currently at 65mg and experiencing some of the good mental effects. it took over a month for my heart rate to calm down completely. I'll be stopping at 85mg for a long time to see if that is enough to handle the mental stuff without risking another heart episode. my doctor had not heard of this side effect when it first occurred, but since has heard of a few cases of exercise intolerance with similar symptoms. I live at over a mile high, so just living here is a form of exercise. apparently no damage is being done to the heart, just a functional problem. | having emotional resiliency has made all the dosage problems worth it. even at the lower dosage I feel some positive effects. just feeling what it must like to be 'normal' for those few weeks @ 90mg has given me hope. | F | 38 | 7 months | 7/2/2007 | 1 | Bipolar | Hair loss, loss of sexual desire, lack of emotion, extreme loss of short term memory, slurred speech, and insomnia. I went from excessive mood swings to a zombified state. | I found out that Lamictal can also build up in your eyes and toxify them. I stopped taking it very soon after. I wouldn't recommend this drug to anyone | M | 23 | 7 months | 7/2/2007 | 5 | Bipolar, Severe Depression, Panic | Headaches at the begining, stomach aches when dose increased, possible weight gain I'm on so many meds. | Both my daughter and I are on this RX. I have noticed a major change for the better in her. I too am a happier person. I recently was upped a half pill and seem to be a bit more tired but coping better. Good luck to those that can't take it, I know how it can be since I was on so many I can't even list them all. | F | 50 | 1 days | 6/30/2007 | 5 | bipolar II disorder | I started taking Lamictal in January, it has stabilized my mood and I have lost the 18 pounds I gained while on Depakote. I have also grown back my hair and my nausea is gone. I have less negative thoughts than I did on the Depakote and I am cheerful the majority of the time. However., I have been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy and have none of the known risk factor. I started experiencing the numbess and tingling shortly after starting Lamictal. has anyone else had this experience? | F | 50 | 6 months | 6/29/2007 | 5 | bipolar | I ended up in the ER yesterday due to dehydration. My symptoms weakness, confusion, dream like state, dizziness & I didn't want to open my eyes. I thought I was having a stoke. I didn't know dehydration was a side effect. I have had other episodes like this, but this one was really scary. I will defiantly be more careful to stay hydrated by adding Gatorade (or the like) Here is a recipe I found: 3/4t Salt, 1t Baking Powder, 4T Sugar, 1c Orange juice, 4c Water I almost have to laugh at the various medical problems that come with BP. I almost wish they would've found something else so it wouldn't just be another coo-coo moment. Ha Ha! I have a feeling a lot of you know what I'm talking about. | Really wonderful. Especially compared with other meds. I think most BP meds nearly kill you before they help. Better than killing yourself I guess. I'm not sure what "myself" feels like anymore, I just know Lamictal has been a hugh relief & I am very grateful for it. | F | 42 | 2 years | 6/27/2007 | 1 | bipolar disorder | THIS STUFF IS EVIL! dizzy, insomnia, hazy feeling, coordination problems, disconnected feeling, night sweats, nightmares, speech and memory problems, balance problems, nausea, termors/shakiness.. jeessh is there anything else?? | WARNING: this stuff is poison! i got worse and worse until i figured out what was causing it. as my dosage got upped, i got gradually worse. it got so bad i couldnt even leave the house, couldnt drive, or perform normal basic functions. withdrawl is even worse, i was on this for a little over 3 months and i stopped it a few days ago. its been almost 4 days of hell now. DONT SAY I DIDNT WARN YA! | M | 34 | 4 months | 6/27/2007 | 2 | Depression | PLEASE READ THIS: Memory Loss, Confusion, Dizziness, Fatigue, muscle aches, insomnia, etc. | I wrote on this board about two months ago talking about how wonderful this drug was. I take it all back. There is a great boost at first... a feeling of being "normal." Then it slaps hard. Now I feel like a total idiot. I stumble over my words when speaking, remembering simple things is impossible, I run into things and ultimatly feel like crap. Insomnia is horrible. I'll go four days without a good night's rest then crash for 12-14 hours. I'm actually worried about my job. I have done quite well for myself in that respect. But lately, people just look at me weird, as to say, "What the hell are you talking about." There is so much more to say and I'll be glad to discuss it over email. I'm trying to get off this drug. Once I just stopped taking it. What a nightmare. So I have to taper. But I want OFF NOW!!! This drug teases you with an intial "feel good" then you chase that hoping to get it back as you fall deeper and deeper. | M | 29 | 6 months | 6/26/2007 | 2 | depression | made me worse. depressed and had no control over myself. broke out into a rash after about 3 wks. | i wrote a comment on 6/8/2007 and i had only been on it for 9 days. im not taking it anymore. i wanted off depakote so bad cuz we decided that was the cause of my weight gain, but the depakote worked so well w me, kept me under control. as i was winging off of it and slowly getting on this one, after the 8th, i was being dealt with hard things and i couldnt handle them and just fell apart. i litteraly didnt eat a bite of food for 7 days, and i broke out in a rash, on my chest and on my arm. im not even going to consider trying it again. depakote works for me. | F | 24 | 3 weeks | 6/26/2007 | 1 | cyclic mood disorder | Extreme fatigue and clumsyness, fever, frequent urinating, trouble expressing myself talking and writing, lots of spelling mistakes, forgetting, feeling like a zombie, constantly misplacing things, burning eyes. | I hate it!!!! I feel like half my brain has been burned away. I sometimes feel like a total idiot. I used to be pretty smart, but I don't feel like that anymore. After taking it in the morning, I can't function for about five or more hours, because I am so tired. I am on 400 mg now, my doc wants to get me up to a "therapeutic dose" of 500 to 700 mg. By then I can just as well stay in bed all day and night because I won't be able to do anything anymore. I will get a second opinion from another doctor, I can't live like this. | F | 48 | 5 months | 6/24/2007 | 4 | Mood Disorder Bi Polar type 2 | The only thing I don't like is that after an hour of taking the pill I yawn all the time. That lasts for about 3-4 hours or so. That gets on my nerves. I don't feel sleepy though. I take it with food and that seems to help. Also my mouth feels funny. I had the same thing happen when i took trileptal, also an anti-seizure med. I don't get a bad taste in my mouth, it's just feels funny, no tingle or numbness just, maybe a tad bit numb. Thats when I know my medicine has kicked in, then I start to yawn. If I take my medicine too late at night I cant really sleep. I will for a few hours and then wake up off and on all night. Annoying. | Once my medicine kicks in my mood changes big time. I become so nice, nothing pisses me off. I'm a lot more talkative and I have no problem helping others at work. Normally if anything little happens I fly off the handle. It's like I become a different person. People can tell it I haven't had my medicine. | F | 24 | 2 years | 6/22/2007 | 2 | Bipolar II - Mood Disorder | My skin was clear until I started taking Lamictal. Almost immediately, I experienced acne on my face, neck, chest and back. At lower doses, I experienced insomnia, lack of appetite, headaches, was accident prone and noticed my misspellings with my typing. At higher doses, I started having problems with my eyes, dry eye, uveitis/iritis, break-through bleeding while on birth control, migraines, pressure inside my head, extreme fatigue and sleepiness during the day despite consumption of massive amounts of caffeine. | At a lower dose I noticed that my moods were evening out and that my highs and lows were muted. But at higher doses, I experienced more erratic mood swings, coupled by unexplained crying and meltdowns. In the end, I started feeling so terrible that I felt like I hit a wall and could not go on. It was at this point that I decided it would be best to taper down on Lamictal immediately. It's simply not the miracle drug for me. | F | 36 | 8 months | 6/22/2007 | 5 | Epilepsy | I was suprised to read all of the side effects you guys have experienced, I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 7 and was unable to find any drug at all that could control it until I started taking lamictal. I was having up to ten petit mal seizures a day and sparatic grand mal seizures a year...since I started taking lamictal 5 1/5 years ago I have only had two seizures. Only because of a concussion. The only side effects mentioned which I have experienced is slight hair loss, vivid dreams, and hives. I actually lost ten lbs when I was tapered off depakote and onto lamictal. | Considering I was able to finally get my drivers license and be seizure free for so long, I can definitly deal with occasional itchyness and bad dreams. I was also monitored by my dr who slowly increased my dosage when I first started to prevent the rash. I am wondering if the people who experienced the rash were prescribed too high of a dose immediately. | F | 25 | 5 years | 6/20/2007 | 5 | bipolar disorder | I take 100 mg. at night, which was increased six months ago to 150 mg. to improve my sleep even more. I may go back to 100 mg. My psychiatrist works with me to adjust my medication. I view medication like clothes and assume it has to be fiddled with and I have to be patient. My sleep is pretty good but short now. My dreams are the best they have been in my life. I have no nightmares, no night terrors, and don't sleepwalk anymore! No kidding! All three "run in my family." We are an eccentric group. My side effects: Night sweats, some cognition problems, weight gain, and most recently a sodium deficiency, which my internist said might be a side effect. As I read through the comments, I didn't see any reference to sodium deficiency, so it may not be a side effect. The night sweats are a real pain. And I struggle to keep my weight down--sometimes I have to starve myself to keep the weight where I want it. I thought the problems with using the wrong word was due to approachi | Lamictal has been a life saver. I am very grateful. The two antipressants could not take care of the mood swings (they aren't supposed to do that), but it is terrific not to have those mood swings! My periods of mania were never that extreme, but boy could I get really nasty, blaming others for no reason at all. I have encouraged my father and son, both of whom have bipolar disorder, to take it, but my father doesn't like to lose the mania. My son won't admit he has bipolar--he is 46. I also take provigil for daytime fatigue. This is a real drug cocktail; but for the first time in my life I am not at the mercy of my unpredictable moods. I am a writer and have accomplished quite a bit academically, but it was at great physical cost--I thought I would never find out what was causing my black moods, but I have now with the the aid of some intellectual clarity and some sobering realizations. | F | 65 | 3.5 years | 6/20/2007 | 4 | ADD/Mood Disorder | Headache, dizziness, nausea, foggy thinking. | I almost chucked the drug until I looked it up online. A lot of people were talking about drinking Gatorade every fourth glass of water to help with some of the symptoms. As soon as I started drinking Gatorade (Propel) I started to feel better. I have been taking a short nap after my dose too, and that helped, but I think this drug can make you dehydrated if you are not a water drinker. I did see online that you are suppose to drink it with a full glass of water. I was given a starter sample and that direction was not on the packaging. It may have been in the pocket directions, but you would think if they were so particular about taking it slowly over a month period, the full glass of water might be important. This drug makes it hard to read - duh! I will still use the Gatorade (Propel) in between. I do believe that when my full dose is acheived, my 4 rating will be a 5, barring any other complication. I will update any changes. | F | 43 | 14 days | 6/14/2007 | 1 | Unipolar/Bipolar? | Started with mild fluid retention, then cognitive problems, swelling in limbs, tingling in hands and feet, cold, mixed up unclear thoughts, forgetful,over emotional. THEN....muscle cramping and spasms along with extreme fluid in legs and stomach - stopped being able to walk without cramping legs and extreme pain. 3 sizes larger in 5 months. Understand, I am an avid biker, aerobics, and fitness oriented person. And I was only looking for a rash... | Not enough information on the pharmacy handout. Dr. never mentioned physical side effects other than rash. This went on way to long, thought it was everything but this med....High Half life, hard to get out of system. Happy for those that can take this, I truly think we are not getting the full low down and information on this one...way to scarey | F | 51 | 5 months | 6/14/2007 | 3 | ADD/mood disorder | headache, dizziness. | I was wondering when the dizziness goes away. I am on day 13 at a 25 mg dose. | F | 43 | 13 days | 6/13/2007 | 4 | depression | ive only been on this for 9 days. was taking depakote500MG 3 times a day till i noticed extreme weight gain for me. 25lbs in just a few months. im winging off of that slowly and my doc has me on this. i just started so i am starting off slowly. havnt noticed any side effects yet. so far so good. | F | 24 | 9 days | 6/8/2007 |