LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare LAMICTAL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
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 |
| 5 | BP I | Fatigue, tiredness. I am a little more cranky than when I was on Prozac, but the crankiness may be due to the fatigue. ANy ideas in how to combat the fatique? I feel like I should own stock in Starbucks for the amount of caffiene I am ingesting! | Lamictal has picked up my sex life, but not in a manic-sort of way. I would recommend it to anyone. I've been on SSRI's for 13 years, and definitely am doing much better on Lamictal, without the SSRI | M | 49 | 2 months | 6/6/2007 | 4 | Epilepsy | The only side effects i've had since being on Lamictal (4 years) is acne and fatigue. I was taking Dilantin before and all that made do is sleep constantly and it didnt stop me from having seizures. I havent had one seizure with Lamictal. | WAY TO EXPENSIVE IF YOU DONT HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE. | F | 21 | 4 years | 6/6/2007 | 4 | Mood Disorder NOS, Anxiety | Headaches initially, feeling lethargic anytime my dosage was increased or decreased...It worked well when I was on 400mg. I'm currently down to 150mg., and I have been having distress coming off of it. We aren't sure if it's because I'm on birth control or from the Lamictal decrease. Both my Effexor and Xanax have had to be increased. | I think it's a good drug. I had very little side effects from it, and I am one of those people who usually has side effects no one else does. Be careful raising and lowering your dosage. I'm coming off the drug right now, and my doctor is questioning if it was the right thing since my anxiety and panic have increased and I've been depressed. | F | 26 | 1 years | 6/5/2007 | 2 | Bi-polar condition | Migraine headaches, head pressure, confusing irrational thoughts, severe nausea, hot waves over body and body tingling, tightness in chest, anxiety, no energy | I'm writing this for my son, who is still feeling the side effects from the Lamictal. My son is bipolar and had regularly taken Zyprexa until he changed doctors and she decided to wean him onto Lamictal. He was doing ok with the 25-50 mg, but when he began taking 100 mg, he started having debilitating headaches (immense pressure), nausea, tingling and heat waves over his body, anxiety attacks and had absolutely no energy. The effects were so devastating that he couldn't function or go to work. Nothing improved and my son became very weak from not being able to eat for so long. he informed his doctor he wanted to stop taking it and go back on the Zyprexa. It's now 6 days after he stopped the Lamictal and began taking the Zyprexa and he's still having waves of pressure headaches, low energy levels, some anxiety and lack of energy, although, overall his condition is slowly improving. | M | 43 | 30 days | 6/4/2007 | 2 | MIxed state bipolar disorder | One week into taking the 25mg starting doseage, I began to feel as though I had a cold, then it progressed to more flu-like symptoms with a migraine that lasted for about 5 days. 3 days after starting to feel ill, I got a rash that started on my thighs and then began to spread to my lower legs, back and arms. I became feverish. I called my psych and she sent me to a dermatologist (conveniently it was her husband). He biopsied a piece of tissue from my thigh and called several days later to tell me it was a reaction to the medicine (Stevens Johnson). I stopped taking the meds the day I went to the dermatologist. | I cannot say that this medicine worked, but also cannot say it did not work. Since I'm allergic to the medicine I guess I'll never know since I had only been taking it for 2 weeks when I had to cease taking it. Lucky me - the 1 out of 3000 it's prescribed to that has a reaction. I was so hoping that this would be the "magic pill". My family physician tested my thyroid just the other day to rule out hormonal problems and said he could prescribe seroquel, but I'm terrified of taking that, putting on weight and feeling tired all the time. | F | 31 | 12 days | 6/4/2007 | 5 | bipolar I | Surprisingly, none! | I've taken lithium for 12 years along with an antidepressant. I have added lamictal and nixed the antidepressant and feel so much better. FYI I lake 200 mg lamictal and 1200 mg lithium, although I may up the lamictal and decrease the lithium soon. Lamictal has worked really well for me since I do level out on the depressed side. | F | 30 | 3 months | 6/3/2007 | 1 | Bipolar II | Sensitive stomach, severe depression, crying, inability to inarticulate, very hard to get up in the morning, urge to sleep all day for hours. | I am still furious about what I went thru with this drug. Furious. I have been on SSRI's for 12 years and what Lamictal made me feel was how depressed I was before being on SSRI's. It's been 5 days now since I've been off Lamictal and I'm still trying to get back to normal. I finally have my normal, hopeful, optimistic mood back but I haven't been able to articulate as well which is frustrating. I began a job 3 days ago but couldn't cope with it because of withdrawing from this horrible medication. I feel like a guinea pig with this. Like they just throw meds at people after meeting them twice. Then when I finally had presence of mind to call Dr's office, his horrible assistant chastised and criticized me for going off the drug at all. And for not calling them about it on a Saturday night. That's a whole other issue, her abusiveness. So I'm still on my Lexapro which I've had great luck with. My Dr. still thinks I'm bipolar II so I'm sure they'll try to give me something else soon and I | F | 42 | 11 days | 6/1/2007 | 5 | BP-II | Benefits: **Cancelled chronic depression** Strong vivid dreams (good for me) I'm now focused, disciplined, organized and taking care of myself physically (essential to long term management of my illness). Side effects: I may be having a slight problem with jumbled speech, but my thoughts are coherent, and I'm able to catch my mistakes and correct them (something you rarely do when in the grip of mania). Lamictal may also be causing me some insomnia, so I take the dose (500 mg) in the morning, and take a sleep aid at night. Possible interactions: Gabapenten tolerance excellent. Abilify caused extreme hypomania. I stopped Abilify after only one month. Seroquel (100-200mg) caused severe tardive kinesis, sluggish thought, impaired short term memory, and sleepiness. | I've been taking the drug since about 1999 with excellent results and minimal side effects. Mood stabilization is excellent. Anti depressive effects are excellent. In short, this drug is a god-send for me. | M | 35 | 8 years | 5/31/2007 | 4 | Bipolar I | short term memory loss (i'll put a book down, or put my keys down, and then a minute later i'll forget where they are); a little trouble with typing, which has never been a problem for me; loss of appetite after about 4 weeks, which resulted in weight loss (much needed and appreciated after so many pils making me gain weight); excessive shedding of hair; nails are stronger. | For the hair loss: i took one person's comment on here to use a SELENIUM based shampoo... AND IT WORKS! do it, do it, do it! for the loss of appetite, it's good for the weight loss (has anybody else experienced weight loss on this thing?) but the problem is i have to force myself to eat every day, which isn't fun--i'm cold a lot, and i have less energy because of it. however, it seems to be helping. anybody feel free to email me. | F | 20 | 8 weeks | 5/31/2007 | 4 | BP II | Loss of memory, feeling dumbed down, very vivid dreams (though not bad dreams), lowered sexual interest, clumsiness and carelessness, weight gain (10lbs in 6 weeks), loss of some ability to control impulses (like eating, smoking, shopping - things that were fine before I took it). | It has very much stabilized my mood. I am no longer cranky and depressed. However, I'm not that excited about anything either. I have been very even, no mood swings at all. | F | 31 | 3 months | 5/30/2007 | 1 | Bipolar/BPD | Slurred Speech within 1 week of starting. My husband rushed my to the ER thinking I'd had a stroke (I'm 29). After two days of rest, I was able to start speaking somewhat normally. NEVER TAKE, not worth the risk. Try Trileptal--few side effects. | Do not take if you can help it! | F | 19 | 7 days | 5/27/2007 | 4 | BPD, Depression, Mood Swings | I didn't have too many side-effects, blurry vision and super vivid crazy dreams though. | I'm greatful for finding Lamictal and having the persistence with my Psych to prescribe it to me after multiple anti-depressants just not helping beyond my depression. I have BPD and struggle daily with ups and downs, I have the worst time regulating my emotions. I recently had a long-term relationship break-up, which is very difficult to deal with for the average person. But before this med, I would of freaked out, cried uncontrollably and felt the end of my life was here. I'm struggling eith this part of my life, but I really notice the difference. I cry but realize this is life and truely feel so much more power over my emotions and dealing normally with reality overall. As with any psych drug, it takes forever to find the right combo, but I never lost hope and kept on my Psych Dr. to try many options and now I'm on a few and I feel much better than ever before! | F | 26 | 2 months | 5/26/2007 | 3 | Bi Polar | Head,neck and back pain, WEIGHT GAIN (about 20lbs. in 2 months) yeast infections, night sweats, unpleasant dreams, feeling of confusion, hard to get words out (almost stuttering), unexplained bruising, fatigue, frequent urination (especially at night) I have read all about the side effects Lamictal is suppose to cause on the Lamictal website, but they don't mention half of these. I had no idea what I was getting into. | Lamictal has evened out my moods and when I do have mood swings they are not as severe. I don't know if it is worth it to have all of these side effects though. I have tried other meds before this one and they did not cause these side effects, but they also did nothing for my moods. What to do....... | F | 34 | 10 months | 5/25/2007 | 5 | BiPolar II | Dry mouth, night sweats | After a recent suicide attempt I was finally diagnosed as BiPolar. It has been such a relief to have a name to put on this roller coaster of a life. So far the Lamictal has kept me level, which is such a relief. I feel like I can start putting my life back together. | M | 50 | 1 months | 5/24/2007 | 4 | depression | bored, no highs or lows | sexual si8de effects? | M | 34 | 6 months | 5/24/2007 | 4 | Bipolar I | I have been taking Lamictal now for about 3 months. I can barely keep my eyes open and everyone says I looked "stoned" all the time. I did not have this problem before! If anyone else is experiencing this, I would love to hear from you. I have even been to a neurologist and they haven't found anything wrong that would explain the eye problems. Its really embarassing and making it difficult for me to work. | M | 31 | 3 months | 5/21/2007 | 5 | Bipolar II | Has anyone else experienced weight loss while on Lamictal? Understand, that's a good thing for me(!) but I wondered if it might be the drug...I take 250mg daily. | F | 56 | 2 years | 5/20/2007 | 5 | Bi Polar 2 | Occasional challenge in finding a certain word. Return of childhood asthma. Floating dark specks over my vision. Random feeling of water trickling over my fingers (almost like they are falling asleep). Decrease in sexual activity. Concerning rash and sores in my mouth. Doctor lowered dosage per day from 200 MG to 175 MG. After this the rash and sores cleared up. IF YOU EXPERIENCE A RASH CONTACT YOUR DR. right away...it can be very serious | Prior to taking Lamictal, I quite literally had a nervous breakdown. I was incapable of functioning and was absolutely exhausted and overwhelmed. By combining therapy with Lamictal, I have returned to feeling much more stable. I was clearly suffering for many years prior to my recent breakdown, and feel like I am my old stable self again. Keep in mind if you are Bi Polar, do not confuse the illness with the medication. For instance if you begin suffering from insomnia, it is likely due to the illness and not the medication. In my non professional opinion, stay on it unless you have the rash or sores. | M | 29 | 2 months | 5/20/2007 | 5 | Depression, Anxiety, & Mood Swings | 1st Week: Dry mouth, eyes, and skin but mostly mouth. Second night I had a swollen lip and a weird mouth sore and was itchy but no rash. Emotional, crying for no reason. Felt like I was kind of going crazy, confused. EXTREMELY weird thoughts, not exactly voices, just very weird thoughts. (Definetely not something I've ever experienced!) Slept better than I've slept in awhile, but vivid and detailed dreams. I of course called my doctor about all of this, she suggested I take 25 mg of antihistamine for one more night (after 3 days of this) and that was the end of all of the horrible side effects for me! 2nd week to now: Most side effects completely gone, only ones that remain are the occassional 'mental fog' where I can't think of a word and just go blank. But it's been humorous so far and hasn't happened very much. And the second is some slight OCD-like behavior. | It's been great for me. If you can get through the first week of a new medication it's worth a shot to see if it'll work. Everyone reacts differently to medications and you have to give it time. All of my horrible ones were over after the first week and I'm SO glad I stuck with it because it has helped me tremendously. I started slow though- 25 mg the 1st week, 50 mg the 2nd, etc until now I am at 150 mg. | F | 25 | 2 months | 5/18/2007 | 4 | seizure | F | 36 | 5 years | 5/17/2007 |