Lamotrigine (Lamictal)

[gentle sun]

Me again. I think I goofed and put this in the wrong category. So sorry for that. Im not myself these days and tend to do stupid things. Gentle

[Forum Admin]

Me again. I think I goofed and put this in the wrong category. So sorry for that. Im not myself these days and tend to do stupid things. Gentle

Welcome to the forums, Gentle!

I moved your post from Wellbutrin into here in Other Meds...no, it should not make you flat....Well, it didn't me, or anyone I know who was on it..

Anyone else have anything to say about Lamictal?

Take care, be well and let us know how you're doing..we care.

~Lindsay, Forum Administrator

[moiraine]

Hi Gentle, yes I have been on Lamictal for 2 years. For me, it made things better. I was taking Tegretol. 600mgs a day and it was terribly sedating and I couldn't hold a conversation...I kept forgetting all the words and must have been the butt of many jokes. Anyway, Lamictal got me out of bed and made my mind much clearer. Mind you I am still a work in progress, ie. last week my med nurse raised my Lamictal again 25mgs so that will make my dose 150mgs, twice a day. I also take Effexor and Wellbutrin. I was on Paxil once. To be quite honest when they diagnosed me as bipolar (or manic-depression they called it in 1975) I was put on Lithium and I couldn't tolerate it. I got that "flat" feeling you described and gained weight etc. I decided I was "well" and dumped it. In 1988 I decided I had to go back and take the pills though it was the last thing I wanted but I was going nuts and something had to be done. That's when they started me on the Tegretol. Now that's my experience with Lamictal but only you and your dr. can judge if it is right for you. If you try it they will start you very low and if you are switching mood stabilizers they will wean you off one and increase you on the other....good luck with whatever you decide to do.....Moiraine

[Guest I am Cat]

Hello gentle sun,

I was on Lamictal for some time, before I ended up with a rash and had to discontinue it. Now... whenever you DO get a rash, you have to stop taking Lamictal, but I don't believe it was the dreaded "rash" that you hear about... but, because I was on 450 mg of Lamictal, I had to stop taking it immediately... I regret that, because it was working SO well for me! I loved it! It really took care of the mania for me and kept my moods very stable! I'm BP I, rapid cycling, so for me, it was a blessing to be stable for once... However, I switched to Topamax/Abilify as my combo and it works just as well for me.

I hope that you find it works for you as well. I did not find that it made me flat at all, which was a nice change.

Good luck!

Cat

[gentle sun]

Thanks everyone!!! That makes me feel better now. I take only 25mg but will be ramped up slowly to 100mg. Thought that seemed a lot since I am Bipolar II and right now feel so good I hate to get sedated. But I am appreciative of all your experiences with it. Thanks for sharing with me!!!!! Have a great day!!!!! Gentle

[butterfly]

Is anyone on Lamictal? and can they tell me if it has helped? Has it made anyone gain weight? I am on 25mg and I think I want to get a new Bipolar med. Any suggestions for that?

thanks,

BF

[jillivinilly]

I have been on Lamictal for about 6 months and it is the best med for me bar none. I have been so thrilled with the results. I feel a mental strength that I did not have before. (since the 6 years of my 'depressive episode')

I have had success with other meds over the years but nothing compares to the progress I have made with Lamictal. I do not think it has made me gain weight.

What else are you experiencing with Lamictal?

I am at 200mg...I think you should hang in there longer if you are only at 25mg

Edited July 18, 2006 by jillivinilly

[sober4life]

I take it and it does help me. It makes it so I'm not very nervous at all and it makes it so I'm not as depressed. I know that for sure because I quit taking it and those things came back. I take 400mg a day though. I don't think you should give up after trying only 25mg a day. It hasn't made me gain weight. I've lost many pounds since I started taking it.

[Penny64]

I am on 200mgs of lamictal for bipolar depression (I take other BP meds too). I have been on it for 2 years. I have had no weight gain from it. 25mgs is way to early to tell wether or not it is going to work for you. Give it time. At least 200mgs is considered a theraputic level.

[gentle sun]

Is anyone on Lamictal? and can they tell me if it has helped? Has it made anyone gain weight? I am on 25mg and I think I want to get a new Bipolar med. Any suggestions for that?

thanks,

BF

Well, I have been on it along with Wellb. and Paxil. When I started the 25 mg. I seemed to feel pretty good. When I ramped up to 50 mg. I started getting depressed again. I dont know if that was just a coincidence but it sure coincided with taking the 50 mg. I told my doc about it and he said since it started right when I went to the 50 mg. to go back to the 25 mg. This is my first day back on 25 mg. so I will let you know how I do. Everyone seems to react differently to medication so its hard to say how it will affect you. Are you having some problems with the 25 mg.? Gentle PS I noticed the leaflet says it is for Bipolar I and I am Bipolar II or maybe Mixed so maybe it was working too much on the high moods for me.

[moiraine]

Hi Butterfly,

I've been on Lamictal for about 2 years and have worked my way slowly up to 300mgs a day and I can't say enough about this drug. Of course everyone is different but for me it is the best of the mood stabilizers I have tried. For me, it doesn't leave me with that tired, flat feeling. My problem is more with bipolar depression rather than the mania, but I have had no manic problems either on the Tegretol or the Lamictal (but on Tegretol I was soooo sleepy). I still have break-through depression but my med nurse tweaks my pills and things get better for a while. I am heavy so I don't know if any weight I have gained is due to the drug or me eating more than I should. I'm betting it's my problem with sweets that's to blame..... If it was me, I'd give the Lamictal another chance, of course with your dr's OK. Maybe you will start to feel better once you are taking a little more than 25mgs...Good luck, and whatever you do I hope you feel much better soon (I just love this new smilie)

[butterfly]

Thank all of you for the information

I think i will give it more time and see how I do :)

You guys are great to help me like this, I really appreciate it

Lots of love,

BF

[thrashej]

Been taking Lamictal now for four months or so, after trying every depression med out there with horrible SE's. I have had success with it for sure. Two months ago I was shocked at my inner strength when my father passed away. I was sure it was the med.

However, recently, I seem to be relapsing. I am still on 150mgs, have been at that dose for about two months. School started back and is extremely stressful so I don't know if that is the cause or the med wearing off. But before I was wanting to get back into exercise and really enjoying myself, then school started and I have been emotional, agitated, and hopeless . For those who take Lamictal, what are your thoughts on this? Does your body build a tolerance???

Thanks!

[lymom3]

I have been stressed the last 2 days. I have an 18 year old ADHD son who I could just ****. Then I want to help him. It's making me nuts. There are times that I don't think he can ever manage to function normally in society and it is more than I can take to live through his crap that he does...so I have had that going on. I am way over tired because I haven't slept decent in 2 nights.

Today is my first day of 100mg of Lamictal. I'm still on the starter pack and just up from the 50mgs. I have been having some intermittent chest pains tonight. I know I need to go to bed...I'm freezing which I always am when I'm tired and I can hardly keep my eyes open. If I still am having problems in the morning I guess I will call my pdoc. I certainly don't feel like it's horrible or scary bad chest pains but then I'm not exactly a doctor either.

Has anyone else had chest pains on Lamictal that have gone away? It's been doing well for me so far and I hate to have to abandon it but guess the flip side is that I'd hate for it to **** me too....

[Viviane]

I was a little worried when I read chest pains :)

so I did a bit of googling on your behalf

apparently chest pains is listed in the adverse reactions

see this list

Adverse Reactions

Lamictal may cause the following reactions:

dizziness (more common in women)

drowsiness or sleepiness

headache

nausea / vomiting

constipation

diarrhea

blurred or doubled vision

indigestion

runny nose

skin rash (more common in children)

[KimCMA]

I'm a brand new nurse so there are some questions in my mind about your symptoms. What are or were you doing before the chest pain started? Where you exercising, chasing your kids around, reading, cooking, etc.? What relieves the chest pain? Does it just go away on its own? Or do you have to sit down and rest for it to go away? What, if any, other medications are you taking including OTC and herbals? Where exactly is the chest pain? Does it radiate anywhere? Is it a stabbing pain or a dull aching pain? How long does it last?

I looked up Lamictal in my drug book, but didn't find an adverse effect of chest pain listed. I did look it up on the Lamictal website and looked at the .PDF of the prescribing information and it said that 5% of patients taking lamictal alone experience chest pain. It also states: "Rare: angina pectoris, atrial fibrillation, EKG abnormalities and myocardial infarction."

Hope this helped somewhat . . . if you could answer some of my questions that'd be great and it'd give me a better understanding of what it could be (even if I'm not a doctor)!

KimCMA

[lymom3]

I woke up a couple of times last night still with pain but today I seem fine. I know stress wasn't helping. My blood pressure was fine... checked that. No palpitations or arm pain, nothing like that. If I don't have any more problems I'll probably wait until Monday and call the pdoc and see what he says.

Lisa

[moiraine]

I am on 300mgs Lamictal/day. I know they raise you very slowly, not wanting the rash to show up. You said you went from 50mgs to 100mgs. It is only my guess but maybe they could have ran 75mgs, by you for a couple of weeks before they went up to 100mgs? I am happy to hear the chest pains have gone, but I would call the dr. who prescribed this medicine just to make sure everything is ok. You also said you were having problems with your son. This isn't helping at all and will just upset you anyway. I feel so badly for what you are going thru. Hopefully the Lamictal will kick in soon and help you to cope better. Personally I have had no problems with Lamictal, I have been taking it for over 2 years and it is far better than Tegretol, which I took for many years and slept my way thru life. Good luck with everything,

[insanity]

Lord I haven't been on these forums for, wow it feels like forever, I was actually a moderator once upon a time, then I left and came back again, and then things got really really bad. Anyway, who cares. What brought me back was my curiosity about lamictal, and it's effects on others. I've been on everything, well of course not everything, but a ton of other mood stabilizers ( depakote, litium, neuronton, tegratol, topomax, and more) antidepressants(prozac, wellbutrin, amitriptiline, effexor, paxil, zoloft, lexapro, celexa, elival, remeron, and many many more) and antipsychotics ( seroquel, zyPrexa, Risperdal, Abilify, and others)and of course the many combinations of them all. I've always suffered with bi-polar as far back as I can remember I was never quite right. The last few years were the worst, about three years ago,I hit the wall HARD with a drug problem (which cost me everything, our house, our cars, I can't believe I didn't loose my husband and kids) after going into rehab, and finally finding a new home, and trying to make a fresh start as a family, I find out that my husband has to go to Iraq for the next 18 months, about a year into him being gone, I was seriously contemplating wrapping my car around a telephone poll, or jumping off the roof of our house head first. I started to shoplift... SHOPLIFT??? Geeze!!! What was that?? I knew I had to get help. I wasn't taking any of my meds right, nothing really seemed to work ever for me anyway. I finally went to a new P-doctor, who placed me on nothing but Lamictal, and a light medication called roserem for sleep. He started me on a dose pack, 25mg for 1 week, then 50, by the time I was on 75mgs, my world started to change, when I hit 100mgs, people were actually commenting on the "new me". One moring, I over heard my 2 sons talking about how come Mommy doesn't yell at us anymore. The neighbor asked me one day if my kids have been away, because he hasen't heard me screaming lately. It wasn't such a big task to clean the house, my jaw didn't hurt anymore from gritting my teeth. My kids didn't seem afarid of me, ( I never ever hurt them, but gawd, I would flip out) My husband came home from Iraq to a complete stranger, a stranger who doesn't get annoyed at everything he says or does, he doesn't have to come home from work worrying about my moods, or worrying about if I'll ruin family trips with my mood swings. The only concern my doctor had at the beginning, is that in some people a severe rash is sometimes is a side effect. This is a newer medication, so there's not alot of personal information out there about it. I'm on 200mgs now, it's been a few months, but so far, so really really good. I just wanted to let anyone know who is thinking about starting Lamictal or needs to switch meds, or is just curious about Lamictal, this medication seriously saved my life. I've had absolutely no negative side effects whatsoever. There are times when I still feel like I'm going to "lose it", but now I'm able to think about it. I react without everyone wondering if my head will start to spin. I feel normal now, (whatever that is)

[TriPolarTroy]

My Pdoc just switched me from Risperdal to Lamictal. He gave me the sample starter pack and I'm only in week 1 but hopefully I'll have as much luck as most of the people here when I get to the higher dose. I'm also taking Zoloft 100mg and 1mg of Klonopin at night. I gained 30 friggen pounds while I was on Risperdal so I'm very glad to hear that Lamictal doesn't cause weight gain for the most part. So far no side effects.

Troy

Edited September 9, 2006 by TriPolarTroy

[gentle sun]

I got a starter pack of Lamictol to go with Wellbutrin ( now SR) and Paxil. It seemed like I started getting depressed when beginning the 2 25 lamictol. Since the depression seemed to coincide with the increase in Lamictol, we put me back to 1, 25 mg. Not doing so good lately. Dont know if it is the change from Wellburtrin HCL to SR or if I didnt give Lamictol a good enough try. All I know is now I am going downhill. You all seem happy with Lamictol, maybe I should ask the doc if we should try upping it again and give it more of a chance. Thanks for the posts. Any suggestions welcome. Gentle

[Sheepwoman]

Higher doese of Lamictal give better results, I think. Give it a try, hopefully it will work.

Sheepwoman

[insanity]

I started really feeling the results around 75 mgs, I felt it a little at 50mgs, But people actually noticed and commented about the changes in me when I hit 100mgs. after a month my doc wanted me to up it to 150mgs and now I just started taking 200mgs. when I was taking 150mgs, on occasion, I'd notice that out of control, aggitated feeling return, not nearly as bad as before, but I felt the need to up my dose a little. Another reason it probaby hit me so well was that I was off of all meds for about a month, I wanted to get all the medications I was taking before out of my system to give this a real chance to work on its own, you know, without the effects of the other meds coming out of my system at the same time, it was really hard on me and probaby harder on my family without me being without any meds, but it was worth it. Also this is probably the first time that I was ever on only one medication. I can't say enough about this lamictal. My doctor said it's a newer med, one of the few designed mainly for those suffering from bipolar. He was real excited about how it worked for me. He said that most of his patients who he has given this to had pretty much the same resuts as me. This is the first medication that I ever actually recommended to others. When others actually remark to your face, how they notice such a positive change in you, you know that a med is really working!!! It feels so good! Like I said earlier, Lamictal probably saved my life.

[TriPolarTroy]

Well I move up to 50mg of Lamictal today. Should I be expecting to feel anything different? So far I haven't experienced any side effects, I hope it stays that way. I've been off Risperdal for about a month and I've already lost 15 lbs.

[siamese]

I have been on Lamictal for only 8 weeks or so, and am still increasing to a therapeutic dose but its my only mood stabiliser, the specialist pdoc has told me i will go onto a anti psychotic to back it up