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 | Mixed state bipolar disorder | Maybe a little irritability but nothing else has of yet. I had a big blow up with my husband last night about me not doing my part as far as taking care of our home (laundry, cleaning - I've pretty much shut down in the last 3 months) that caused me to run to a closet and shut myself in for about 15 minutes, but I attribute that to my existing condition and the fact the medicine hasn't really kicked in yet. | I am hoping this medicine will do the trick for me - my bipolar was a response to the stress of being a stay at home mom of young children (3 and 1)and my husband working out of town up to 3 weeks at a time on a routine basis. My psych said I inherited a mood disorder from my mom's side. My grandfather was treated numerous times for depression before he died, but that was 25 years ago and I really think he was bipolar and misdiagnosed. He was the same age that I am now when he wa first diagnosed with depression, but his was precipitated by returning home from WWII. My psych said that there's a genetic link and that we both incurred a major stressor at the same age. I will be so happy if this doesn't cause weight gain because with my post-partum depression and rounds of Lexapro and Wellbutrin I put on 30 lbs in 3 months after losing all of my baby weight plus some. | F | 31 | 4 days | 5/17/2007 | 2 | Depression Anxiety | Spacey, tired, night sweats, vision blured, confused | I started at 25 mg worked my way up to 150 mg. Felt ok at 50 mg and when I upped the dose past 50mg I started to feel more depressed. I am now going to try to work my way back down. I know it will be hard. I also take 3mg of ativan per day for anxiety. I have been battleing depression/anxiety my whole life. Got real bad at age 29 and now 10 years later even worse. I have yet to find an anti depresant that will work for me. Too many side affects with no results. Lamictal seems to be in the same boat. Is there anyone out there that has upped their dose and gotton worse like me? I notice a big difference between male and female comments. Good luck everyone. | M | 39 | 50 days | 5/17/2007 | 4 | depression | M | | 5/15/2007 | 3 | Bi Polar, Depression | Dry mouth and constant thirst, extreme insomnia, blurred vision, constant nigh time urination, Zombie-ism caused by fatigue! | I've taken Lamictal for 5 years with a 1 year break, trying it with several different medications. I'm now on it alone as a mood stabilizer (given up on the depression, nothing works for me so far) and the side effects have become much worse. People tell me that I don't get angry so easily so I've stayed on it... the one bit of advice I can give is that in the beginning, for the first 2 years or so, I couldn't be creative, which is what I do for a living, I struggled to write and find the right words - that has gotten better over time and I would say that I'm back to normal in that department after 5 years. Of course lethargy and fatigue are still problems, but once I get started I find that my creativity is there. My major problems now with the drug are the insomnia (and the Zombie-like fatigue it causes), dry mouth and thirst. 3 hours is the average and I'm constantly peeing... every 30 minutes. If the insomnia continues and the fatigue gets worse, I may have to go off of it. I must | M | 43 | 5 years | 5/14/2007 | 4 | Bipolar Disorder II | First off, I would like to say I _do_ very much recommend it. Side-effects: initially (the first 6 months or so) emotional numbness. My MD said it could have been simply due to being depressed, but this sort of numbness didn't have the same feel to it. After 6 months, I stopped noticing. Also, my period did, and still does, come in more slowly. | I am taking 200mg for Bipolar Disorder II. It took about 1.5 months to get to this dose and to fully kick in. But it did help with the depression - it keeps me more level, the lows are not as bad. Changing my environment helped as well. I do recommend it. | F | 30 | 3 years | 5/12/2007 | 3 | Bipolar, Borderline Pers. Disorder | Serious Weight Gain,Hair Loss,Itchy Skin,Buzzing In Ears,Loss of Balance and Coordination,Swelling of feet and Ankles,Loss of concentration,Lost ability to write comprehensively,No libido,Stuffy Nose,Fatigue | Did notice some benefit in regards to my depression and general mood, but all of the side effects are just not worth it. | F | 53 | 5 months | 5/12/2007 | 4 | Bi Polar 2 | I got acne all over my back and chest. It is so gross,and reall bothering me. Esp since summer is comming up. Memory loss, I am tired all of the time. | I am taking 400 mgs. and I have noticed that I am more in baseline. It does the job, but the side effects are really getting to me. Esp @ work | F | 22 | 8 months | 5/11/2007 | 2 | depression | dizziness, headache - brain fog, lethargy. Weight gain due to lack of energy. I'm not sure if any other females have expereiced this but I am having very painful recurring yeast infections. | Thinking of getting off Lamictal. If it wasn't sexual side effects with anti-depressants, it is yeast infections with lamictal. | F | 27 | 2 months | 5/11/2007 | 3 | depression and anxiety | I have dry mouth which is causing burning mouth syndrome and an extremely bitter/mettallic taste in my mouth all day and all night long. It's awful. Has anyone else experienced this? | It's been somewhat effective for the depression and anxiety. I am feeling great emotionally again but the mouth problem is making me so miserable I can barely stand it. | F | 58 | 3 months | 5/10/2007 | 5 | Mood stabalizer / bipolar | feeling lethargic/exhaustion, difficulty concentrating, feeling in a mental "fog"/short-term memory loss. | ****ADVICE FOR ANYONE TAKING LAMICTAL**** There is a way to minimize side effects relating to mental functioning and memory, almost eliminating them, that I works very well for people other than myself. Try it!: Take the Lamictal only in the morning. Taking it in the evening seems to negatively effect memory. After you take your regular dosage, ***go back to sleep*** for a period of half an hour to an hour. When I took it on my way out the door, I was in a "fog" for a few hours and had similar problems with intellectual functioning that I've read about on this site. When I set an alarm to take the lamictal in the morning and go back to sleep (not just lie down), the negative cognative side effects are gone! I told my psychiatrist about this, and he reccomended to his other patients to try it, and it worked for them too!!! I would be happy to hear from others if this technique works for others too, and be in touch by email. Overall, This medication has completely saved | M | 26 | 5 years | 5/9/2007 | 5 | for bi-polar I | i haven't had any side effects that i have noticed. when i read some of the comments here i found that i may have a few. night sweats, but not sure if that is due to age; menapause. i did have headaches for maybe the first few months after i started taking it. i have insomnia at times. no other side effects that i can tell. | i was prescribed lamictal a little over two years ago. i felt like it was a myracle drug for me. i have taken several other medications before i began taking lamictal. i took lithium for seven years and felt numb most of the seven years i took it. i have so much more energy. i am much more outgoing. i am happier now. i feel i have my life back. i feel better than i have felt since i was diagnosed with bi-polar nineteen years ago. i have had a severe episode with depression and was suicidal. i've had two severe episodes with mania where i was totally out of reality. in between the severe episodes i stayed mostly depressed, but did have mania some too. i have finally come to terms with my bi-polar and i make sure i go to see my doctor and take my medication the way i'm suppose to, cause for so many years i did not want to take my medications and was in denial that i was bi-polar. best wishes to all of you. | F | 45 | 2 years | 5/9/2007 | 3 | bipolar | dry mouth, body aches during first month or so | This has been my sole mood stabilizer for bipolar illness, along w/ an AD, AA, & AP. A dose of 100mg did absolutely nothing, but my current dose of 300mg seems to be doing some good in conjunction with my other meds. | F | 24 | 8 months | 5/9/2007 | 3 | bipolar | dry mouth, body aches during first month or so | This has been my sole mood stabilizer for bipolar illness, along w/ an AD, AA, & AP. A dose of 100mg did absolutely nothing, but my current dose of 300mg seems to be doing some good in conjunction with my other meds. | F | 24 | 8 months | 5/9/2007 | 3 | Migraines | No major side effects. Having problems with nasal passage narrowing almost like my nose is stopped up. Just started 50mgs three days ago. | Does anyone take this medication for migraines? If so, why were you given it for migraines and what side effects did you have or not have. Did it help your migraines any? Has anyone ever taken Baclofen. There aren't many comments for this medication. | F | 35 | 3 weeks | 5/8/2007 | 3 | Migraines | No major side effects. Having problems with nasal passage narrowing almost like my nose is stopped up. Has anyone else had these side effects? Just started 50mgs three days ago. | Does anyone take this medication for migraines? If so, why were you given it for migraines and what side effects did you have or not have. Did it help your migraines any? Has anyone ever taken Baclofen. There aren't many comments for this medication. | F | 35 | 3 weeks | 5/8/2007 | 2 | to treat bi-polar depression | nausea, vivd and morbid dreams, insomnia | F | 17 | 6 months | 5/8/2007 | 5 | BP II | Absolutely NO side effects | I have been given hope again. My life is as "normal" as it's ever been. I had been on 8 different meds over the last 3 years with horrible results and side effects. As one last shot, based on the reviews on this board, I tried Lamictal. All I can say is I wish I would have has this in the beginning. | F | 35 | 7 weeks | 5/6/2007 | 4 | BP | For the last couple months I've had a clenched jaw. I didn't consider that it might be a side effect until just now. After reading the comments, I recognize: bleeding gums, excessive sweating, word loss, clumsy typing, spelling, can't recall names on demand, joint pain. I've unconsciously been adjusting to all these things without recognizing Lamictal as the thread. I feel kinda dumb. The word loss, typing, and spelling bother me most as cognitive side effects. The jaw clenching is the only physical reaction the makes me uncomfortable. | Lamictal is my only consistent med. I take 300 mg at night and it has stabilized my life and I am so grateful. I was such a skeptic at first. I resisted meds for years and years. To have something that works--even if "normal" is annoyingly normal sometimes--I value it more than the rollercoaster. | F | 34 | 1 years | 5/4/2007 | 3 | bipolar; BPD | Weight gain & water retention; clothes and shoes no longer fit after 6 weeks (having reached only 100mg...). I also developed general digestion problems as well as eyesight issues.Very frustrating because I also see the benefits of mood stabilization, but the weight gain, mental "fog" and lethargy have led me to begin weaning off of lamictal after 2 months. | F | 45 | 2 months | 5/4/2007 | 1 | bipolar/depression/ocd/postpartum | i gained weight. i cannot concentrate. i cannot focus. words are hard to communicate. extremely forgetful! weight gain! depression. EXTREME mood swings! feelings of rage | i feel i am in a "hole" with the world functioning around me and i am not a participant. | F | 33 | 3 years | 5/4/2007 |