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 I disorder | Some initial constipation, occasional severe headache if it starts to dissolve before swallowing | I have slowly had my dosage increased to 150mg / day. There was little improvement until 100mg and then I started a depressive episode again. The 150mg /day dose fortunately has stabilized my moods very well. Still have my personality and still have good days and bad days, but the moods don't escalate further than blue or upset and come back to normal shortly (hours). When switching to 100mg from 50mg I felt almost intoxicated for two days but quickly adjusted. Recently I have developed pneumonia, which can be related to a lowered immune function, but it mostly is not related to the medication. Overall I am very impressed with the tolerablility and control of symptoms I have had. | M | 24 | 14 weeks | 12/23/2006 | 4 | Bipolar Disorder | Hair loss in beginning and then hair growth. "Jiggle" eyes when trying to focus on book or computer,etc. Difficulty "pulling up" words and bad short term memory. Difficulty staying asleep sometimes. Aching joints occasionally. Increased sweating and body odor. | I had a suicide attempt in March that almost ended my life-Lamictal, Lexapro, Lithium, Trazedone, and Armour Thyroid has stabilized me for the first time in 5 years. Been stable for 9 months! Sometimes frustrated with side effects but I feel its a small price to pay for my life! Incredible mood stabilizer. | F | 36 | 10 months | 12/21/2006 | 1 | psychotic depression/ maybe bipolar | none | This medication was like taking placebo; no lift of depression, heightened motivation, nothing | M | 19 | 2 months | 12/21/2006 | 3 | Bipolar | Currently taking Effexor, Topamax and Lamictal. Increasing short term memory loss, slurred speech. Retrieval of words- impossible! Try going off lamictal, it's even worse. Not being able to urinate for a few minutes after sitting to. Agitation to the hilt. | I think Lamictal has leveled off my moodswings but the agitation it brings- at least once a month is horrendous. Who is to say what's worse? | F | 30 | 2 years | 12/20/2006 | 3 | Bipolar II, ADHD | Not sure yet.. | I'm only on day 7 but, I already seem to have better coping skills. I'm also on 600mg/day of Lithium, the Doc. would like to discontinue that once the Lamictal shows a sig. change. The crying and mood swings I can live without, I don't want to get too excited.....this drug sounds too good to be real. Curious to see how it handles my PMS. | F | 35 | 7 days | 12/19/2006 | 5 | Bipolar | No side effects except serious hair loss and night sweats. | I have never had a better medication or felt this good ever. Unfortunately, I have lost 25%-30% of my hair since starting the drug five months ago. I did not realize it until two months ago. This hair loss has upset me enough that I do not want to continue the Lamictal. I'm really bummed about it. Can anyone report to me that the hair loss stops at some point? Thank you. | F | 46 | 5 months | 12/16/2006 | 5 | Partial complex seizures | First year Great energy boost, sleeping problems (stay awake all night sometimes),slight dizziness. After 5 years blurred vision,body twitching,itching,short term memory loss,rash at times on chest,clumsiness,increase of urination at night and now I have no problems sleeping. I have problems getting out of bed. Too lazy at times,loss of sexual drive. | No seizures !My life changed alot after taking lamictal the first 6 months. I used too take dilantin and was fighting a drinking problem which caused depression problems. After the 6 months I felt good and had lots of energy. No seizures just feeling good. My drinking problems gone away and I felt good about myself.I didn't need drinking to feel good. At one time before i was taking dilantin and was working in a factory and always was asked to be a foreman but I never accept. ( too many Problems I thought). Now with lamictal I feel i could run the whole factory myself.Long term I believe after feeling great my body has gotten used to lamictal that I sometimes think I don't need it.But,deep inside I know I would never want to stop taking lamictal. Even with the problem with side affects I would recommend using Lamictal. | M | 39 | 5 years | 12/14/2006 | 5 | Epilepsy | Always thirsty, can't concentrate, dizziness, clumsy, short-term memory loss, short temper, eye irritation,loss of words. | If I stop taking it for a couple of days I begin to have seizures and twitches or jerks. It has worked great and has also have helped my migranes i would get all the time. | F | 14 | 4 years | 12/10/2006 | 5 | Bipolar 2 | Very thirsty, mild nausea, dampening of libido | Best med I've ever been on. Brought me to a place of feeling "normal" (whatever that is.) I haven't felt this good in a very, very long time. My family can tell a difference. Just some concern over my libido dropping. It's a bummer, but I will not come off of this med: it's been so good for me. | F | 44 | 3 months | 12/8/2006 | 5 | Major depressive disorder | Vivid, negative, disturbing dreams; insomnia; headaches. | Overall, I am very satisfied with Lamictal. For about a year now I have been quite depressed and have experienced major mood swings, but no textbook "mania." My depressive mood swings scare me to death -- obsessive and negative thoughts, constant thoughts of suicide, intense self-hatred, feeling like I will always feel this way and that there's no hope, and uncontrollable crying spells. In October my new psychiatirst recommended Lamictal to add to my long-standing regimine of 20mg Prozac each day. After a few days on 25mg, I began to notice that my depression lifted and I wasn't experiencing major mood swings or crying spells. The positive effects kind of wore off after a few weeks, but came back after I increased the dosage to 50mg. Now I am finally on 100mg and have been on it for about three weeks. I haven't felt this good in well over a year -- no mood swings, crying spells, and debilitating depression. But...after three weeks on 100mg, I think the drug's positive | F | 32 | 2 months | 12/5/2006 | 5 | bipolar II disorder | sleepiness at first, very vivid dreams (but not scary), unexpected weight loss of 5 pds in about a year, lowered appetite, feeling warm most of the time, an "oily" smell to my perspiration, recent problem with aching of joints of hands, difficulty "pulling up" the right words in a conversation. This medicine seems to have had a GOOD effect on my blood pressure, unlike the SSRI antidepressants. It seems NOT to have the sexual side effects of the SSRIs, too. | I LOVE this medicine. I feel calm and content, actually happy most of the time. I'm still a hermit by choice, but I no longer avoid social invitations. I'm only on 25mg most of the time. I have always responded to low doses of everything. Prozac made me manic, Paxil made me calm but paranoid, Wellbutrin gave me terrible vertigo, Lexapro caused a scary "fainting" episode...all of the SSRIs made me unable to reach orgasm. I will NEVER take anything but Lamictal again. My only advice would be to not let your doctor push you too fast to increase the dosage. You may do OK without a high dose, and the higher doses will surely make you have worse side effects. | F | 58 | 1 years | 12/5/2006 | 4 | Bipolar | Difficulty remembering words, and getting my idea across; short term memory problems; insomnia (the above two maybe caused by this); consistent hair thinning over the years. Have 1/3 hair left; terrible night sweats (in fact this is what made me searching about the rest of the side effects) *** Until recently I attributed these side effects to different things, but now that I started searching, it seems to fit. *** I went to dermatologist about hair thinnning, had blood tests, but everything was normal. Until now I was thinking it was genetic. *** No matter how many relaxation techniques I tried, consistent therapy and mood improvement, insomnia is persistent. | I have been taking Lamictal for 3 years. It kepts me really stable, so I have been pleased with its effectiveness on my bipolar disorder. But the side effects are making me think about quitting. To me it maybe worth it to try living without it in order to get rid of the side effects (especially insomnia and hair thinning - as they cause significant mental distress) | F | 26 | 3 years | 12/5/2006 | 5 | Bipolar II | None | It's a good drug. I was taking Lithium carbonate for about 20 years, when my doctor suggested the switch to Lamictal in conjunction with a new prescription for Lexapro. Sometimes I've taken just Lexapro without Lamictal (when I've run out of Lamictal) for a few days, and felt fine. I think Lamictal is supposed to have fewer sexual side effects than Lithium -- i.e., not suppress your libido -- which is one reason my doc switched me. I got married around the time of the switch. But I haven't noticed any improvement there, since I also went through menopause around the same time. Personally, I don't think some doctors take into account the role that hormones play in mixing with these drugs. | F | 52 | 3 years | 12/4/2006 | 4 | Fast cycling depression/bipolar II | Vertigo, headaches, clumsiness, confusion, short term memory issues, mood spikes, increased appetite, zoned out feeling, acne increase, going from a week of teenage style horniness to not wanting to at all. Basically everything you can imagine but the rash. But, overall my depression is getting better. | This is the first medication I've been on. When I've upped the dosage I got a week of feeling great, then slowly I would start getting crazy mood fluctuations that spiked all over the place. I began overreacting to things and I had no clue why. Sometimes I would cry, get angry or depressed without a trigger, or with a mild trigger. I would be confused about it. I could see that it wasn't a proper reaction, but it was so overwhelming I had a hard time coping. It's getting better as I learn. I used to not be able to tell it was an overreaction. I am much more hopeful than before. | M | 31 | 11 weeks | 12/1/2006 | 2 | BPD, Depression, mood stabalizing | Started with 25 mg now I'm on 200mg, Acne, IRRITABILITY, clumsiness, WEIGHT GAIN! (the worst, i went from 120-127 within in 1 month and im still gaining, I cant even lose any when i starve myself), Anxiety, Hopelessness, INNABILITY TO FEEL EMOTIONS, UNABLE TO ENJOY MUSIC OR ART, UNABLE TO TELL WHATS REAL FROM WHATS NOT, since i went from 100mg to 200 mg the deppresion is starting again. | Side Effects are worse than benefits. | F | 17 | 1 months | 11/30/2006 | 5 | Borderline pers. disorder, bipolar | I also take Paxil, Welbutrin and Celexa. I don't know which drug is causing this, but I have been having DEBILITATING vertigo, dizziness, nausea. The worst is my head seems to spin and I have to hold onto something and still feel the room spinning. Horrible. | Has really helped with mood swings, I'm not crying at everything, or nothing at all. I am able to participate in therapy, when I can tolerate being ambulatory. (I do miss out on things when I can't even get out of bed because of the vertigo.) | F | 52 | 1 years | 11/29/2006 | 4 | Bi-polar disorder | lower back pain, almost like a muscle fatigue. pin prick pains throughout my body. disrupted sleep patterns. short term memory loss. trouble with speech, or finding the right words. i seem to drift easily, and my mind races. | beats the anti-depressants i went thru. | M | 35 | 6 weeks | 11/29/2006 | 5 | Complex Partial Seizure | In the beginning - short term memory loss, excess saliva, slurred or forgotten words. After 1.5 yrs - starting to get tingling sensations in my feet. I still have forgetfulness but it is better. I also can't stand the taste of soda anymore - it tastes flat. I have heard this with Topomax but not Lamictal so am confused. Lamictal is my only med. | I am on a high dose of 400 MG per day, with during my menstrual cycle 400-500 MG per day (I get increased myoclonus during that time and is a risk for me to get another seizure which I will do anything to avoid that.) | F | 38 | 1 years | 11/24/2006 | 5 | bipolar disorder | I experienced some sleepiness, which was eliminated by switching to taking it at night before bed. Hair loss. Difficulty recalling words and difficulty with short-term memory. I have been taking Lamictal for well over a year and have recently noticed twitchiness in my neck and hands. Side effects are worsened by caffeine intake and/or lack of sleep. | Lamictal is nothing short of miraculous. Like many others on this site, I was misdiagnosed with depression for many years. I had horrible, debilitating depressions. I didn't know I was bipolar until a manic episode landed me in the hospital. A few months later a gifted psychiatrist recommended lamictal and it changed my life. I used to cry at the drop of a hat; now I have much more normal emotional responses. For the first several months I noticed no negative side effects whatsoever. | F | 32 | 1 years | 11/22/2006 | 4 | depression | Hands shaky, fatigue, sometimes dizzy, body aches (which are the worst when it happens). | Haven't had a depressive episode since started taking medication 1.5 years ago. I seem to have episodes of side effects that have increased with time. These usually dissipate after a week or two, but return in the future. Though the side effects are a pain, they are not worth stopping the medication. I am at 200 mgs. a day. | M | 37 | 1.5 years | 11/22/2006 |