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
 
 4  MOOD STABILIZATION BLADDER SPASMS, URINARY TRACT INFECTION SYMPTOMS F 46 30 days
11/14/2005
 4  seizures nothing that we haven't dealt with from other seizure meds. probably fewer side effects than before Our son was diagnose with epilepsy in August of this year. He has had 12 "big" seizures, of which 6 were grand mals (tonic clonic's and the other 6 have been complex partials). He has had absent seizures for years and is still having a couple per day, but nothing like before. He also experiences myoclonic jerks a few times per day. His first med. was depakote and that was a nightmare. He was like a "mean drunk". He couldn't function at all and was still having seizues. We added topamax and that doesn't have the best side effects. It causes trouble with school and some aggressive and impulsive behavior. He is going down on the depakote and will be totally off it next week. He is maxed out on the topamax. We started lamictal a month ago and are going up on it very, very slowly. He did have a seizure on it, but we are not at max. dose yet, so I wasn't surprised. If I had to say whether or not to give lamictal a try, I would say to do so. M 11 1 months
11/13/2005
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 5  Bipolar Mixed State Very few side effects, mainly decreased appetite (NOT a bad thing!) and the inside of my nose is very dry (although this may be from the other drugs I'm taking). So far, this drug is great! I had to be hospitalized three months ago for atypical bipolar disorder, with severe agitation and suicidal thoughts. At that time, I was given Neurontin and Seroquel (which I've been taking for years). The depressive/suicidal thoughts decreased, but my agitation and panic attacks went through the roof! I'm now taking 300 mg of Lamictal, one Ativan (don't know the dose) twice a day, and 100-200 mg of Seroquel at night. My agitation is completely gone and the depression and anxiety are both greatly reduced. Considering that the only other main options for my condition are Lithium and Depakote (which both have MAJOR side effects), I'm thrilled with my experience on Lamictal!! F 42 2 months
11/9/2005
 2  bipolar 2 mixed episodes incredible nausea all the time i've been on it for 4 days and i usually workout every weekday and i've felt way too sick. i bought expensive dance shoes and forgot them in the store. i hit my head against the car door when i was trying to sit down because i'm so dizzy. i can't even tell if it's helping me mentally. i feel more calm and neutral but i'm so consumed with how my stomach feels i may be distracted from feeling depressed if anyone has any suggestions rereview or something i really want this drug to work but i feel terrible F 21 4 days
11/5/2005
 5  depression, bi-polar extreme drowsiness, cloudiness in thought, dizziness, nervousness, trouble finding words, memory loss, trouble speaking clearly, slowness, racing heart, night sweats, extreme hair loss, rare mood swings i cant even imagine how i lived without lamictal. i was suicidal and this drug completely got rid of my depression. nothing negative phases me anymore and i dont feel drugged-up. i dont like how tired it makes me, being that i've always been a night owl, but i manage somehow. i also dont like how nervous i feel when interacting with people. i've always been a very smart girl but i feel people view me differently because of this drug and it's frusturating. still, i feel it's been worth it because the depression was getting out of control. F 21 8 months
11/3/2005
 3  PMDD, severe depression, bipolar Insomnia - waking at least hourly (cleared when I took it in the a.m. instead of p.m.), vivid dreams, 1-2 bathroom trips daily (never been so regular; might not be a bad thing!). After two months, now having frequent dizziness. Can't tell if other symptoms are due to age or medication! Already had night sweats, memory loss, vision problems, joint pains, hair loss, and weight gain. Hard to notice if it's worse! Was up to 125 mg - 100 in the p.m. and 25 in the a.m. but had bad insomnia. Switched it to 100 in the a.m. only and insomnia cleared. Although it has kept me from being so suicidal, I am far from in the clear. Still cycling but not as severely. Doesn't take much to put me in a dive. After reading other reports here, I'm afraid to go to any higher dosage, though. F 49 2 months
11/2/2005
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 4  Epilepsy Peyton has experienced eye twitching, horrible mood swings-violent even, head aches, bruising easily, periods of abnormal sleep patterns-especially transient insomnia, I think she is having short term memory lapses and difficulty in staying focused at times. This child has never had severe mood swings until after having the first seizure and placed on antiepileptic meds. Peyton gets so irrate that there is no calming her down, she just needs to exhaust herself. She screams and cries over the littlest thing. She is so violent that she uppercuts the 2 year old and throws her to the ground. She doesn't hesitate to hit whoever...but more often than not, she just destroys things. She rips wall paper off of the walls, breaks toys, pours stuff on the carpets, digs holes into the leather furniture....just for starters. She is even starting to wear out her welcome at the grandparent's house. The last visit she broke their bedroom door while having one of her 'episodes'. We were switched from Tegretol about a year and a half ago because of violent mood swings continued seizures, and a horrible weight gain. I have recently noticed that she is slimming down. I think that the Lamictal is effective for her seizures. We have never had rashes...knock on wood. She has had a tough time getting to a therapeutic level though, as she was just increased to 200mg twice daily. From what I have read, that is a pretty high dose. I am very concerned that my continued complaint about the mood swings is just poo-pooed by the neurologist. F 5 1 years
11/1/2005
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 4  bipolar 1 I rated it a 4 because im hopeful of the dosage adjustment changing this. Depakote didnt seem to do anything but im experiencing horrible night terrors (nightmares), lack of concentration, mood swings that change 4/5 times per day. Unable to seperate spiritual/family/feelings from one another. I have been on a higher dose before and did fine, im only on 50 this time. Tomorrow i will consult the doctor, something needs to be done. I do know that NIGHTMARES are a factor of this med. Itching is a mild complication also. The swinging of moods and irritability are my more major concerns. I also take xanax and i have ambien (in case of insomnia and try not to take it too often). Make sure that you discuss with your family members all changes of meds and your condition because they need to know whether "your really mad" or if its a "mood thing". F 43 3 months
10/30/2005
 4  BIPOLAR 1 MIXED EPISODES I'M ON 450 MG INSOMNIA--BAD, NO APPETITE I WENT FROM 180 TO 154 IN 1 1/2 MONTHS...TREMOR IN HANDS IN AM...THATS ABOUT IT..MAYBE SINUS PROBLEMS, BUT HAVE SINUS INFECTION AT THE MOMENT IT SEEMS OK, BUT I'VE ONLY BEEN ON IT FOR A SHORT TIME, ABOUT 2 WEEKS F 29 2 weeks
10/29/2005
 5  EPILEPSY I DON'T BELIEVE I HAVE EXPERIENCED ANY SIDE EFFECTS. I HAD A HEAD INJURY IN 1986 AND SUFFERED FROM PARTIAL AND GRAND MAL SEIZURES SINCE. I HAD TRIED DILANTIN AND TEGRETOL. NEITHER MEDICATION CONTROLLED MY SEIZURES. I SWITCHED TO LAMICTAL ABOUT 3 MONTHS AGO AND I HAVE HAD NO SEIZURES SINCE. (KNOCK WOOD). I HAVE NEVER GONE 3 MONTHS WITHOUT A SEIZURE. I THINK LAMICTAL IS WONDERFUL AND I THANK GOD I AM ON IT! F 38 3 months
10/24/2005
 4  BiPolar II It's hard to distinguish what side effect comes from what drug therapies I'm on. Dizziness, weight loss, erratic sleeping patterns. Best addition to my pharmaceutical war chest yet. It helped me begin to get an idea of what normal people are like. It doesn't erase may disorder difficulties but I had made my life, and those of my family, easier. I've been on Lamictal for about 5 years. The first few years at a lower dosage and upped it to max 2 years ago when I realized I was suffering from an ongoing low level depression for a lengthy time. Much better now. I take it in conjunction with a heavy dose of Lithium, which I've been on over 10 years. I started on Welbutrin for way too many years and a dabble with Depakote. Depakote was the first drug that made me feel truly 'drugged'. Lamictal and Lithium has been ideal and the side effects worth the benefits. BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY. M 45 5 years
10/24/2005
 5  seizures grand mall and petit mall Minor confusion if miss a dose and tiredness if miss a dose. Minor short term memory loss but maybe I am just absent minded. Found it works best taken every 12 hours. I take 50mg in morning and 25mg at nite. Has worked great for years with no seizures. Use to have violent seizures that discloated shoulders and etc. Curious if too many patients do not take too high a dosage which may cause their side effects as doc insisted I take 100 to 200mg twice a day but due to cost of med I chose the lower dosage of 50mg/25mg and it has always worked. I weigh 170 lbs. Have tried numerous other meds and nothing else worked. M 52 5 days
10/23/2005
 5  seizures grand mall and petit mall See the rating I just put in, I put the wrong time used down, 5 years, not 5 days. M 52 5 years
10/23/2005
 5  Bipolar I Tremor; headache only once, on the third day of treatment; nausea only once, in the first week. I develop a tremor more easily while on Lamictal-- mainly after drinking caffeine drinks, which I tend to drink a lot of. Minor-to-medium-severity rash began on 50 mg/day (thought it was probably poison ivy at that point); I went to 100 mg. I titrated on the exact schedule laid out by the Lamictal starter pack. Then I went to 150 mg and I was sure I had a Lamictal-caused rash. My psychiatrist wasn't terribly alarmed about the rash. Neither was I--I wanted to keep taking Lamictal. He said it was a common "drug rash" that can be caused by a number of drugs. I dropped dose from 150 mg to 100 mg for about three weeks. Rash went away. Went back to 150 mg for a couple weeks; no more rash except maybe some itching late in the evening. I've been on 200 mg for 1-1/2 weeks. A little more tremor now, as I said earlier. As others have said, Lamictal is amazing. I had been getting approx. a week of depression each month before Lamictal. I've been on Lamictal 3 months and the depression has lessened each month. I haven't been depressed in 2 months or so. For me, that's a very big deal. I've had depression at least since age 16. My other meds are Lithium (been taking it 20 years), Wellbutrin XL (been on Wellbutrin for a total of 10 years of so), Lexapro/Celexa (4-5 years). This is probably the first time I've gone this long without depression, unless I was hypomanic/manic, in 15-20 years. Lamictal is almost totally "transparent" for me; in other words, it feels like nothing else has changed (aside from the few side effects) other than this: NO MORE DEPRESSION! Yeeehaa. From what I've seen and read, when this drug works well, it works well reliably for years. That's reassuring too. M 3 months
10/22/2005
 5  Bipolar II weight loss, lack of ability to concentrate After gaining 100 lbs on Lithium and 25 on VALPROIC ACID. I changed medications to Lamictal. I have lost 30lbs. As sad as it may sound I'll take the concentration issues if it means I'll lose the weight I gained from the other 2 drugs. F 21 6 months
10/20/2005
 4  MOOD DISORDER (Bi-Polar 2) Absolutely crazy and vivid, often disturbing dreams. GI problems (mostly flatulence). I just started taking Lamictal recently and noticed an improvement in my mood in 3 days. Also after the 3rd day is when my disturbing and vivid dreams started. The jury is still out on this med for me but I am willing to continue. I have run the gamut on mind altering substances from Prescribed to illegal drugs (which I know didnt help and made me worse, especially ecstacy/MDMA). Ecstacy was fun but I now know how much that stuff messes with your brain chemistry and potentially causing brain damage. I wonder how many people young and old who participate in illegal drugs are causing their own demise into depression, anxiety, bi-polar mood disorders and the like. So far so good with Lamictal though (fingers crossed). M 38 10 days
10/19/2005
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 5  bipolar 2 really vivid movie-like dreams, some memory problems, word retrieval issues, a bit stronger body odor worth every side effect. after 13 plus years of trying every drug out there, this is the first one that has really helped me. i take 300mg of lamictal plus 25mg of seroquel and 3mg alprozalam all at night and 50mg of zoloft in the morning. so this is what normal feels like! F 36 1 years
10/18/2005
 3  depression, possible bipolar Severe muscle pains at 300mg, vivid dreams, headaches, irritability, insomnia When I first started taking Lamictal I was severely depressed & suicidal. Antidepressants weren't helping enough alone. Lamictal helped a lot for awhile. Then I began having severe muscle pains, mostly in my legs. I just hurt all the time. My Dr reduced my dose from 300 mg/day to 200 mg/day and the pains went away. Now I'm having really bad headaches. I'm not sure it's from Lamictal because I have them anyway. But I've had a migraine for the past 21 days in a row. That's unusual for me. Also for the past few weeks I've been extremely irritable and irrational and have been depressed and having suicidal thoughts again. I feel like I'm losing my mind. F 36 2 years
10/15/2005
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 3  bipolar Headaches, dizziness, aches all over, drowsiness, blurry eyes when reading I did better on 75mg as opposed to the 100mg I take now. I tried 125mg but couldn't stand the headaches, dizziness, and the "flat" feelings. On the mood charting I do I seemed to be either 0 or -1 ALL the time. F 44 2 months
10/15/2005
 4  Hypomania Itchy on my arms but no rash; maybe my drowsiness while driving is related, not sure. I also have been experiencing more frequent hot flashes. I didn't realize that hot flashes could be a side effect of this drug. I really noticed a huge difference in my moods and thought patterns. I can think clearer and stay focussed longer; less distractable. I really am glad I "found" this medicine. My son, who has Bi Polar II, has just started taking it and is noticing positive effects. F 53 1 months
10/14/2005

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