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
 
 5  BIPOLAR/ADD Thankfully None!!! After being on SSRI's for a few years from a family doctor, it was becoming quite obvious that I was having severe mood shifts. After the worst depression that went on for a week, wanting to die I called a PDOC. She listened for almost an hour, I knew I was Bipolar, it runs in the family --- she felt Lamictal would help. Been on it 20 days and I feel great. Went from a crazy mania into a unknown foreign well balanced state. My husband is in shock I think about this (in a good way of course!!). At 50mgs so far, she wants me to reach 200mgs to level off. The 'cocktail' I am on is Lamictal/Neurontin/Adderall XR. Am hopeful that this continues..for once I feel great!! F 33 20 days
3/4/2006
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 4  refractory depression Serious confusion, serious short term memory loss, serious incoordination at 200mg/day. Had to go back to 100mg/day. At both dosages it keeps me from sleeping well if I take it at night (even with 600mg Trazodone), and makes me groggy if I take it in the morning (even with 150mg Wellbutrin and 10mg Ritalin). I didn't complain, even with serious side effects, because this med WORKS. My current depressive episode is 10 years old and nothing has resolved it. So when something helps me to rise a little more out of the muck, I'm grateful. M 44 6 weeks
2/26/2006
 4  Bipolar Disorder Mania Double Vision In order to drive, I would have to close one eye. Problem went away after several weeks. M 56 6 years
2/24/2006
 4  BiPolar Memory loss, difficulty articulating thoughts, extremely bad body odor and possible hair loss. No sleeping problems possibly due to the combination of Lamictal, Trazadone and Lexapro. Stabilized mood swings to a degree. Realize I need to do more than rely on the medications to improve my mental state, but the medications at least give me a good base in which to take care of myself better. F 56 1.5 years
2/23/2006
 1  seizures SEVERE SWEATING, GI problems, insomnia, severe tremors, flu like symptoms, headaches, increased seizures, depression, itching I had to stop Topamax that I had been on for 2 years due to kidney failure. Started Lamictal at 25mg increase up to 100mg. The side effects were apparent from the start.The night sweats were unbearable. Would wake up soaked and increase heart rate and blood pressure. Slept a sum of 3 hours per night most of the time, sometimes up for 48 hours. GI problems persist after stopping the drug.(Severe stomach pain) I hated being on this drug. Good thing I have a neuro dr. who listens! F 44 6 weeks
2/21/2006
 4  Bipolar TERRIBLE INSOMNIA!!! I have been taking 200MG. It helps me control mania, but I have TERRIBLE INSOMNIA. I have gone 48 hours with 20 minutes of sleep. I can't function like this. I almost had a driving accident because of this. Now waiting for a return call from the doctor. There HAS to be something better than this. I have been diagnosed with Bipolar over 20 years ago and have been on numerous medications. This helps me with mania better than anything else, BUT I can't function without sleep! M 64 45 days
2/17/2006
 4  Bi-Polar II Major night sweats. Problems with articulating thoughts... While this drug has definitely helped even out my moods... I have finally realized that others are having the same problem with thought process. I was always a very articulate person - and for the past year or so I have turned into a bit of a babbling fool... I came to this site to see if there were others feeling the same way and see that is the case. Even though it has really helped with the mood swings... I think I may ask to be taken off of it so I can form sentences again. F 35 1 years
2/17/2006
 2  mood disorder verrry dry mouth, felt very unbalanced during exercise. At 200 mg, this drug worked for the first week but nothing after that. F 41 40 days
2/17/2006
 3  Cyclothymia/Bipolar/Anxiety extreme nausia, dizziness, headaches, slurring words, confusion, etc It's only my second week..so we'll see. im really scared about the headaches though. I feel like im gonna faint! F 18 2 weeks
2/12/2006
 5  Bipolar Type II - Mood Stablizer Feeling of urgency to urinate Miracle drug! I think it's wonderful. I tried something else when I was a drug rep because I was impressed by the data I was sharing with docs... Then, after everything fell to pieces, I went back to Lamictal (happy to pay the copay). Recently, I titrated the dose from 150 mg to 300 mg a day over a few weeks and noticed I FEEL like I have urinate, but in reality, I don't. I guess it's a super-rare side-effect... It's not painful or too annoying so I'm sticking with the same dose and wait for my body to adapt. F 25 2.5 years
2/9/2006
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 5  Bipolar 2/Rapid cycling/Depression Sleepiness with higher doses. Irritability. This is wonderful! I have almost no chemical tolerance in general, so I started with a 2.5mg (no joke- it's 1/10 of the usual starting dose) pediatric chewable every other day. It started working after a few days. After one year, I worked up to 12.5mg (that's still 1/2 of a regular starting dose). 15mg was too much for me, because my mind started racing and I couldn't hold a thought. The medicine works, though! While I do get irritable sometimes, I have never felt so sane and rational in my life. I've suffered from the lows of bipolar more than anything, and this medicine elevates the "bottom line" of my moods, so I seldom feel very down. F 28 1.5 years
2/9/2006
 4  Bipolar Type 1 mild rash on back of arms, dizziness, neck pain every night, headaches. Throat feels swollen, difficulty swollowing at times Prior to taking Lamictal, I was in a deep depression. This medicine has been a life saver. M 34 3 months
2/8/2006
 3  Bi Polar, Mood Swings Vivid Dreams, Heart Racing at night, waking up alot, kind of like paxil withdrawl all over again. Itching has started, but mild! Ok, been taking it for 7 days now, wicked worried about rash, I mean I have mixed feelings on the issue. I am at 25mg and experiencing vivid dreams, and waking up with heart racing, just like with paxil. Also, now ichting, but not terrible, more worse when i read about this drug or my mind thinks about it, but no rash so far.... Debating on continue taking it... M 28 7 days
2/6/2006
 3  bipolar 1st few weeks very angry feeling--extreme rage ( not sure if it was from the Lamictal or the Lexapro--stopped though in the third week of taking med);boughts of sleeping alot and then not. Stomach is very upset. Extremely clumsy for about 1 wk (let me say clumsier than I usually am) Pretty much like everybody else diagnosed, I am constantly on the change your meds rollercoaster. Usually more than one medication is changed at a time so it is difficult to tell what side effects are from what med or if I am just not feeling well or having a bad period (cramps for that seem to be worse).I'm slowly being taken off Trileptal while my dose of Lamictal is decided on, was taken off Prozac (which by the way does not work in gereric form and since that is all insurance will cover, I had to start looking for something else)Lexapro was added and that didn't work, so I'm REALLY counting on this drug to give me a better life. (I'm just finishing with the starter pack.) Trileptal took away all of the mania but did nothing for the depression (I've been on that 2 yrs and finally told the doctor to get me off of it.) Lamictal is supposed to cover the area of depression and that is what seems to bother me the most. I honestly pray to God that this drug will work; I've not been suic F 39 33 days
2/6/2006
 1  epilepsy I started this stuff very slowly and cautiously, as I had had nasty side effects before with other drugs. Once I increased my dose to a certain level, I found I began to feel extremely anxious, and by the time I was nearly at the maintenance dose I felt perpetually incredibly anxious, stressed, and freaked out. All the time all day long I had total deep mind and body stress and anxiety, so physical that I can only compare it to that freak feeling you get when you just dodge being hit by a car, and you feel so freaked out. I ended up calling up the nurses sobbing uncontrollably begging them to help me, to help me oh please god help me!!!, and finally quit taking the stuff without permission and immediately saw all the freak out anxiety disappear. Anxiety was the only side effect I had. After that I started taking Neuronton, and the only thing that has done to me is to make me feel happy. For me it was hard core horrid, truly horrible horrible horrible. F 27 2 months
2/3/2006
 5  Bipolar Depression NONE!!! I am very lucky, I have absoloutly NO side effects Nothing was working for me, I was so depressed yet anti-depressants were not helping and in fact at times made me worse e.g agitated, manic, anxious. I was very suicidal and it was difficult waiting for the slow titration upwards to a therapeutic level. I was hospitalised for safety and gradually over some weeks my mood improved and I now feel good. I was out of hospital for Christmas. I now take Lamictal 125mg in morning and 125mg in evening. I also take Lithium 1000mg, Tegretol 600mg and Seroquel 500mg. This combination is keeping me on the straight and narrow at last!!! F 28 3 months
1/27/2006
 5  bipolar 1 w/ rapid cycling Some short term memory loss (at first) and very painful menstrual cramps. Has helped w/ the ups and downs of bipolar. I still get the mood swings, but not as severe ( usually only 1 day a month the day before my period). No unwanted side effects like fatigue and weight gain .. yeahhh! I am the most stable I have been in over 15 years and finally able to hold a job for more than 2 months. F 31 10 months
1/27/2006
 5  Epilepsy Occasionally after drinking larger amounts of caffeine or getting little sleep the effects of the drug are weakened, but I suppose that's natural. Have had some nervous ticks/twitches in recent years, but I'm not sure if that began after taking lamictal or before. At times it's hard to concentrate. Acne was quite exacerbated when I began the drug and lasted for a year or two, but it has subsided considerably since then. I was diagnosed with Grey Matter Displacia also in April 2001. I started taking tegretol and carbotrol and they were horrible for me. I started taking lamictal after just a few weeks and experienced a great deal of short term memory loss, but that very well could have been the tegretol. Overall I am very pleased with the drug. As long as I take care of myself (get enough sleep and don't drink too much caffeine, and I never have drunk alcohol) I basically do fine. I take 150mg/2xd. M 22 5 years
1/25/2006
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 3  Depression & PMDD Terrible insomnia, blurred vision, loss of appetite, no energy (probably due to the insomnia), awful headaches in the morning, flu like symptoms, joint pain, muscle pain & UTI like symptoms. My "mood" has been better since I started lamictal but the side are making me miserable. I take Effexor 75mg for depression & Trazadone 25 mg for sleep but these side effects came on after starting lamictal. The insomnia is the worst of all of them. Am I the only one experienceing this???? F 30 30 days
1/24/2006
 3  Depression & PMDD Terrible insomnia, blurred vision, loss of appetite, no energy (probably due to the insomnia), awful headaches in the morning, flu like symptoms, joint pain, muscle pain & UTI like symptoms. My "mood" has been better since I started lamictal but the side are making me miserable. I take Effexor 75mg for depression & Trazadone 25 mg for sleep but these side effects came on after starting lamictal. The insomnia is the worst of all of them. Am I the only one experienceing this???? F 30 30 days
1/24/2006

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