LAMICTAL Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)

Average Rating: 3.4 (1917 Ratings)

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 ANTICONVULSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

LAMICTAL  (LAMOTRIGINE):  Lamotrigine is used alone or with other medications to prevent and control seizures. It may also be used to help prevent the extreme mood swings of bipolar disorder in adults. Lamotrigine is known as an anticonvulsant or antiepileptic drug. It is thought to work by restoring the balance of certain natural substances in the brain. This drug is not approved for use in children younger than 2 years due to an increased risk of side effects (such as infections).   FDA Approval Date: 1994-12-27 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

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Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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More on LAMICTAL: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTALCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 3  Depression Nails and hair growing faster, not a problem. Very, VERY difficult time sleeping and staying asleep, even when taking the medicine earlier in the day. Also, near constant dreaming during sleep, mostly nightmares. I am on this medicine for Refractory Depression, ie. depression that does not respond to SSRIs (Prozac, Paxil, etc). F 28 30 days
11/22/2006
 4  Intermittent Explosive Disorder Bad short term memory loss in the beginning but it went away within a few months of being on 150mg dosage. I'm not sure if it's Lamictal or my anti-depressant (or both), but I tend to get REALLY drunk, REALLY fast, for a REALLY long time. Didn't take it for 3 or 4 days and have had spontaneous twitches in my left eye. Rarely as angry as I used to get, and even then, I'm able to control myself and do not get uncontrollably violent like I used to. Temper still flares, but only in really bothersome situations. Overall, with the anti-depressant included, I feel normal and I actually feel happy! I rarely have bad days anymore like I used to have everyday. I'm a better person to be around and my moods and actions are more predictable. No other side effects. F 19 5 months
11/21/2006
 4  Bipolar/Depression I have had chest pains (someone else mentioned that) which scared me at first, then I thought heartburn...but it hasn't gone a way after 5 wks. I have also noticed hot flashes and my contact lenses give me problems now. Just today I woke up w/feelings of bruises, but nothing visible Working ok so far...still pretty depressed, but I finally stopped sobbing for no reason daily. This is my first time off of antidepressants since I was 14, so a little scary. I seem to have more ups and downs, but attribute it to the meds adjusting. Started 1st 4 weeks working up to 50mg, now going up to 200 in next 2 weeks. Here's to hoping! F 28 5 days
11/20/2006
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 5  mixed bipolar state none After getting worse on zoloft and overmedicated on geodon to counteract the mania caused by the zoloft, Lamictal has stabilized my mood enough to allow me to benefit from therapy. M 16 8 months
11/18/2006
 4  SAD,GAD, bipolar Tiredness, itches, little insomnia I think this drug is working, I had these unwanted thoughts going through my head that I just couldn't stop, I hated it, my psych put me on xanax 2mg for GAD, and lamictal for bipolar, well the unwanted thoughts aren't gone but they definitly decreased because of the Lamictal 100mg. I've only been on it for a little over a week so Iam gonna give more time. I just hope I don't get that rash M 36 1 weeks
11/16/2006
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 5  Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy Started off with no side effects but as dosage has increased considerable hair loss and terrible acne, also insomnia, takes a sleeping aid almost nightly to help sleep. Symptoms (arm jerks) definitely worse if not enough sleep. May also have slight memory problems. I wrote earlier about my daughter's condition but wanted to add increased side effects. She is taking 200 mg 2x/day (400 mg daily) of Lamotrigine and 25 mg 2x/day (50 mg daily) of Topamax. She's been pretty stable at this amount for the past month so hopefully we won't have to do another increase. Her doc may want to take her off Topamax eventually. I hope as her body adjusts to this level her hair loss will stop and acne clear up. Her dermatologist has tried everything to help her. We are now looking into laser treatments. Still, she hasn't had a seizure since March so hard to complain. Was told by her Dr. she "may" outgrow this. Everything I've read is to the contrary however. F 13 9 months
11/15/2006
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 2  Depression Severe night sweats (soaking wet), day-long headaches, low energy. I've been taking Celexa for a long time. But I am going through a very painful divorce right now so my doc put me on Lamictal. He's got me up to 150mg. I started noticing an hour after I take it I get a headache and get very tired and I feel like I'm trying to walk through molasses. I didn't know the night sweats were related to this med, but after reading all the other comments, I'm pretty sure that's what it's from, and so I have now decided to get off it. It's just not worth it for me. M 44 4 weeks
11/14/2006
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 4  depression/bi polar It made me sleepy when I first started taking 25mg, so I just took it at night. After 2 weeks @ 25mg, upped to 50mg before bed. Major trouble staying asleep and when I did sleep, I had VERY crazy dreams. Not sure if I can take 25mg in am and 25mg in pm. Anybody know? I can tell that this is starting to mellow me out. I was really having troubles mostly with depression. Crying uncontrolably at the smallest things. I also take 150mg Wellbutrin, which I have for 2 years. The combination of the two seem to be working well, though I'm afraid to go over 50mg, after reading so many posts about side-effects. F 31 3 weeks
11/13/2006
 5  Bipolar I / seizure I have not experienced ANY side effects. Have been on several other moodstabilizers, but this one is the most gentle on my brain. Depakote caused weight gain, and hair loss. Neurontin caused drowsiness and weight gain. No weight gain here with Lamictal which is a plus, because I need to lose alot. I have been on this medication for about 4 1/2 months now. No rash. Started very slowly, which was hard, to become stabilized. Worth it. F 42 4 months
11/12/2006
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 5  uncontrolled PGTC seizures sleepy, hyper, lost sex drive, nauseated. dose 250mg, 2 times a day. total = 500 mg. I also take dilantin and topamax. Lamictal made my partial complex seizures go from many per week to 3-4 in a month. I am really happy with that. Topamax is controlling the granmals/tonic clonics really well, and dilantin has now brought the partials down to 1 or 2 a month and sometimes even none. I'm getting close to no seizures. =) Lamictal is a good drug. F 28 3 years
11/10/2006
 2  bipolar rash when first started ,headache, anxiety irritability major anxiety.. i came off tegretol to lamictal and at first was great more clear thinking, vivid, but then the anxiety started getting worse and worse but i don't know how much was the wellbutrin or lamictal now i've switched back to tegretol without the doctor knowing after going through so much mania it was driving me literally crazy M 27
11/10/2006
 1  Epilepsy Night sweats, insomnia, blurred memory, anxiety, comprehension difficulty, flat affect My experience with lamictal was very distressing. While at first I thought it was helping subdue my morning epileptic auras, it's effects made me feel very frightened about ANY mental stability, anxious indeed. Because of the night sweats and insomnia, I am certain that lamictal was directly responsible for a recent seizure. My doctor suggested I take an additional 100 mg atop my daily 400 mgs. After experiencing a most scary mindset that I would have another seizure, I decided to retain my prescription of dilantin, which has adequately treated my seizures for 24 years. There was no other better feeling once I began, again, the very first 100 mg of dilantin. I slowly weaned myself daily of 50 and then 25 mg of the lamictal. Oddly, I has taken about three weeks to completely rid myself of its dire effects of memory loss and concentration. M 41 40 days
11/8/2006
 3  partial seizures dizziness (major dizziness if I drink any alcohol, even 1/2 glass of wine). A harder time recalling words and spelling words though they eventually come to me. It's as if my brain is working, but in much slower motion. A perceived weakness in legs and hands (harder to type), but I think I exaggerate the symptoms due to my hypochrondia (fear of ALS, MS, what have you). The good news is that this drug seems to be helping my seizures. I used to have a minimum of two simple partial seizures a month. Since starting Lamictal I've only had one in 88 days (almost 2 months). I was supposed to work up to 200mg, but the side effects I experienced were too much for me. I've tapered down to 100mgs and I'm hoping I'll be ok with this lower amount. F 47 2 months
11/6/2006
 4  depression I have expereinced short term memory loss and also mild confusion. VERY BAD HAIR LOSS!!! I have taken lamictal for 8 months. I was told that there would be no side effects. It has definately kept my moods fairly even. Not to say that I am happy all the time..just not crying all the time. Any other anti-depressant has caused major weight gain. I did not gain weight(yeah). Forgetting things and my thoughts in mid-sentence have been a concern. In the past 2 months, my hair really is falling out! I have had my hair checked by a dermalogist and my thyroid checked. Problem is definately the medicine. I am going to stop taking it and hope that I will not be back to being depressed. F 44 8 months
11/5/2006
 3  seizures I experienced muscle weakness and muscle pain. F 13 6 months
11/4/2006
 5  Depression, slight BPD1 So far only dry mouth, but I have only been on it a week. I wanted to chronicle my progress here in case it may help anyone. I am 41 and had been diagnosed Major Depression for years. Took all anti-d's, none worked until Prozac (40mg) and Wellbutrin combo (300mg ext release). Now after 3 years that is not working as well as it was. Hope this med works :-) Feel free to drop me an email for chatting. F 41 5 days
11/3/2006
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 2  bipolar I 9 days into taking only 12.5 mg/day (in combination with depakote-- I was tapering off the depakote under Dr's supervision), developed itchy rash. Dr. has advised stopping Lamictal. Rash started at ankles, 1 hip, got worse overnight on ankles/feet including soles of feet. spread up both thighs. In most places it looks like very small pink dots, sometimes with a paler "halo" around the dot. (I am fair-skinned.) A few areas on my feet are blotchier. Also, I have some significant soreness/stiffness in my neck that began the afternoon before the rash started. It would be helpful if patient inserts included photos of what lamictal rashes look like. F 31 9 days
11/3/2006
 3  Simple and Complex Partial Seizures Mild conjunctivitis, problems with memory and finding the right words to describe things, and my tongue just started getting really swollen today which is bloody annoying! This drug has controlled my complex partial seizures so far, and my simple partial seizures have been minimilised, however I still do have them from time to time. I was on Tegretol before this but that was making my seizures a lot worse. F 21 3 weeks
11/1/2006
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 1  treatment-resistant depression constant bowel movements and diarrhea, migraines and weird head pressure (whereas I rarely had headaches before), nausea, cognitive slow-down, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, blurred vision,increased heart rate and blood pressure I agree with another person who rated this medication and said she felt completely "toxic" while taking it. I have been taking various psychotropics for over ten years and have never felt as sick from side effects (at 100mg daily)as I have from lamictal. Unless this medication is essentially saving your life, I would not recommend taking it. F 34 3 months
11/1/2006
 2  depression possible bipolar cold sores, headaches, achiness, sore throat, flu-like symptoms, anger, agitation, irritable,anxiety did fine on 25 mg.s for 2 weeks. when dose increased to 50 mg.s , side-effects were intolerable. dr. told me to stop meds. F 41 18 days
10/31/2006

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