LAMICTAL CD Reviews (LAMOTRIGINE)Average Rating: 3.1 (135 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare LAMICTAL CD with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on LAMICTAL CD: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR LAMICTAL CD | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | Bipolar I | Inability to sleep | Lamictal is a good mood stabilizer. However, the effectiveness wears off with us. I had to switch to Lithium to stabilize my mood. | F | 18 | | 2/20/2008 | 3 | bipolar I | I am also experiencing joint paint, but it is only on the left side of my body. My elbow, shoulder, and knee all on the left side ache when I try to exercise. Other than that I do have relatively low side effects, little shaking, little blood work. I also lose my balance once in a while. In a way I like this the best, but I can't work out and I do tend to eat more. | I also have a hard time completing tasks. I start 50 projects and not finish 1. I have a hard time concentrating and am having a hard time at work. Before I added abilify to help this, but the side effects are unbearable. I have a hard time swallowing, walking, and get sunburned easy. The other problem is doctors are not open to discussing side effects, or possibility of. Pharmacists are better for information, but they can't practice medicine. | M | 29 | 5 years | 2/20/2008 | 4 | BiPolar and Depression | I have had(have)the memory thing, the clumsiness, constipation, and the intestinal pain. But this drug along with Vistral and Wellbutrin has changed my life. | I was scared to take the drug after reading all the posts, but I would have killed myself without it. I can tolerate the side effects to feel like my old self again. I am lucky that it works for me. It was like someone throwing a switch. | M | 40 | 15 days | 2/16/2008 | 5 | Epilepsy | None, really! A slight weight gain (about 7 lbs), and a little extra drowsiness (it takes me a little longer to get going in the morning). I'm extremely satisfied at how little it effects my life negatively, though. | This drug changed my life. I was having nighttime seizures and partial seizures many times a week.. it was ruining my social, school and work life. As soon as my neurologist started me on the slowest dose (gradually moving up), my seizures stopped COMPLETELY. I now feel great and don't live in fear of having a seizure. I'm living my life to the fullest and thank God every day for having Lamictal. | F | 24 | 4 years | 2/12/2008 | 4 | epilepsy | while taking lamictal the only side effect is a little fatigue, and increase in appetite, about a five pound weighgt gain in four years. | I think lamicatal is a wonderful drug for treatmetn of epilepsy, I take 400 mg a day . It also helps my mood. it's very expensive about $400 for 60 200Mg pills. If you have no insurance and low income the epilepsy foundation will give you a 3 month supply of it . Just go to epilepsy foundation .com | F | 28 | 4 years | 2/8/2008 | 4 | Partial seizures+Absence seizures | Night sweats ( i wake up with my pajamas soaked through and have had to change them up to twice a night) Insomnia,and anxiety | I like this med, i was on Trileptal before, but had breakthrough seizures. The pill is tiny! compared to my gargantuan Trileptal pill. I take a lot of meds, so a smaller pill is nice. does anyone out there have a history of prematurity and has developed benign liver tumors? I've had this happen and am searching for others like me, if there are any. thanks. | F | 17 | 6 months | 2/4/2008 | 1 | Agression and Drepression | The first day that I started to take the medication from the Starter Kit, I experianced the normal side effects that it has said like dizziness and blurred vision. The other side effects that I have come across on the 3rd day is the whole left side of my face hurts so bad as if someone hit me with a baseball bat. The other one is that severe color blindness has set in to the fact that all my blacks are red and blues are purple. | M | 36 | 3 days | 2/3/2008 | 1 | Depression/ Bipolar 11 | Sleepy during the day (somewhat) hard to get up in the morning. | Strangely, the first couple of days I felt over the moon. Like my depression had lifted and the world was my oyster. Perhaps that was just a manic episode that just happened to hit right when I started taking it, though I never felt that good during a mania episode. I am on 400 mg a day. No rashes, some acne, BUT HAS DONE NOTHING FOR DEPRESSION. In fairness I have had huge stress, moving, relationship break up. Work issues, constant time changes 12 13 hour shifts. Dr. wants to add Depakote or Lithium, I am fed up. Dont want the weight gain and hair loss which would just depress me more. Feel like there is no hope. | M | 8 days | 1/25/2008 | 2 | treatment-resistant depression | Lots of anxiety and restlessness, problems sleeping. Stabbing pains behind my eyes, and strange sensations of seeing something in my peripheral vision (when nothing was there). After the first few weeks, the anxiety eased off a bit, but I started getting stabbing headaches in my temples, usually only on the right side of my head; sometimes they would only last a minute, sometimes they would go on for hours. After a month or two, I started getting a rash (lots of tiny red bumps, but fairly pale) all over both arms. | Didn’t seem to improve my mood at all. Going off Lamictal coincided with my mood getting quite a bit worse, but also coincided with the 2-year anniversary of my mom’s death (correlation does not equal causation). The headaches tapered off after a few weeks, the rash after a few months. | F | 27 | 5 months | 1/22/2008 | 4 | vision changes, asthma is a little worse, memory is fuzzy | I have been on alot of psychatric drugs to treat my emotional issues....this one helps the most with my anxiety and panic attacks. My moods seem more even. The asthma attacks kinda bother me, but its better than wanting to die every day and feel like I am so miserable I could just not exist. I have felt alot better on this drug. | F | 28 | 10 months | 1/12/2008 | 1 | Depression | Brother, It sounds like there is a door buzzer in my ears! Night sweats. The rest are tolerable, but really with the 1st 2, do I need to list less aggrivating ones? | It really did nothing at all as for as help, but then again I stopped it at day 15 as I couldn't take the buzzing in my ears anymore. I had advised the doctor and he said take it a few more days to see if it is a temporary side effect. This was the second day of dosing. I took it for 15 days. now i cant get this buzzing to go away. 5 days and counting.Also still night sweats still. Another of the guinea pig medicines that the little pill peddlers pawn off on the doctors and as all doctors do... try this and see if it helps | M | 41 | 15 days | 12/31/2007 | 1 | Epilepsy | Rash, fast heartrate ,clumsiness, bad stomach pains by the 6th and 7th day, but nothing compared to the mood swings! | Taken off of Lamictal after rash on my back, shoulders, chest, and neck showed up after 1 week. All I could think is thank God for the rash, because this med was making me nuts! I can't believe that it's supposed to stabilize moods. I felt suicidal, at times possibly homicidal, had odd thoughts, was very irritable and it was getting worse day by day. Personally, I was on Dilantin for 18 years and tried this one because it was supposed to be a newer better med with less side effects. Yeah, whatever!!! Don't get me wrong, Dilantin has some bad long-term side effects-but I couldn't take Lamictal for even a week! That tells you how bad Lamictal can be! In fact, I wish my doctors had to take this stuff, then maybe they would be a little more sensitive to what the heck it does to your mind! Now, apparently this med works for some people, but if you take it and feel like you're going whacko-trust me it's not just you. Everyone around me noticed the mood swings because they were so sho | F | 38 | 1 weeks | 12/29/2007 | 3 | Seizures | Took at night and could not sleep until taking in early evening. Headaches, lost concentration, forgetfulness, difficulty words, irritable, never felt more stupider. Taking 900mg/Lamictal day,400 mg Dilantin and 150mg Zoloft--that's got me throwing questions at the doctor. | No seizures and that's a blessing. Costs a ton. | M | 33 | 1 years | 12/26/2007 | 3 | Bipolar/Depression | Hyperactivity, mania, severe insomnia, tremors, uncontrollable eye movements, and VISION LOSS/BLINDNESS. Please, please, check your eyes every few weeks for any blind spots: www.eyesight.org/Eye_Test/eye_test.html . It mimics macular degeneration. GOOD NEWS: upon stopping, my blindness has stabilized. The spots are still there, they just stopped growing. Over time, however, they may heal. | There don't seem to be any reports about this blindness, believe me - my doctors and I have researched it. Obviously, not everyone has the problem -- I haven't seen any reports on this site. My doc is contacting the manufacturer to inquire about/report the situation. Pro: This is the one drug that lifted me out of my suicidal state three years ago. I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I only got off of it about six months later "just in case" it was responsible for my blindness. Upon taking it again this October for a more managable depression, within four weeks, the black spots obstructing my vision grew considerably larger. I'm giving Geodon a try for now. | F | 36 | 6 months | 12/9/2007 | 5 | absence seizures | While still on Depakote and working very slowly up to the maximum dosage of lamictal I was weak, dizzy, confused and I had poor balance. The tremors made motor control nearly impossible. But when I reached the theraputic level of Lamictal and the Depakote began to leave my system all those symptoms disappeared. Transition was difficult, but well worth the difficulties of being on both medicines while working up to necessary dose of Lamictal. I take 100mg/AM and PM and have only occasional mild insomnia and some night sweats. | I had gained a lot of weight on Depakote and since I have been on Lamictal I have lost 37 pounds of that weight gain. I feel better than I have during the six years I was on Depakote. The tremors I experienced on Depakote are completely gone. The confusion from Depakote is also gone. I feel like I have a functioning brain again. My balance has returned and the weakness and dizziness are completely gone. It has been the best drug I have taken and I have tried Tegretol, Dilantion, Phenobarbitol and Selantin. I have been on Lamictal for five months and hope I never have to change medicines again. | F | 61 | 5 months | 11/18/2007 | 5 | Cyclothymia | Night sweats (soak the pillow), insomnia, blurred vision (only at first) | Thank God is all I can say. My moods were literally cycling between 5 - 7 times DAILY. I was on Prozac for 18 years and came off one year ago, only to discover that I do indeed need SOMETHING. My doctor has worked so patiently with me. Trial and error, pill after pill, then LAMICTAL. I am so pleased. I can't believe how stable I am right now. I so hope I am not jumping the gun. Started on 25mg per day, now up to 100. The insomnia is bothering me though as I have never had trouble sleeping... | F | 38 | 3 months | 10/22/2007 | 3 | Complex-partial seizures | Dizziness | F | 24 | 3 years | 9/22/2007 | 1 | Mood Swings | I was one of the unlucky souls who was allergic to this medication. I had numbing througout my limbs, very high fever, chills, and other flu like symptoms. I was so sick I lost my job. | | 8/23/2007 | 2 | depression | difficulty with short term memory. Joint pain. | I am taking 200 mg, but I should have stopped at 100. When I went above that dosage I got irritable with small problems. Now I am aware that the pain in my joints is an obvious side effect to this medication. Furious with my doctor who told me that apart from the risk of developing a rash, there were no side effects to this drug. | M | 51 | | 8/13/2007 | 2 | depression bipolar | A relief to read other patient reports about this drug as I experienced similar side effects to this drug: memory problems, joint pain, irritablity. I have gradually been boosted to 200 mg and will not take a higher dose than this if I choose to stay on it at all. | In some respects it has smoothed out my mood swings, but I am not sure it is worth the physical problems. If the doctor didn't tell me about the above mentioned side effects, what else is he keeping from me. | M | 51 | | 8/10/2007 |