Lamotrigine symptoms and conditions

I was scripted this med today, along with Lamotrigine and Seroquel, in an attempt to overcome intense panic attacks, insomnia and anger issues associated with post traumatic stress disorder.
I took all three, as prescribed, around 1pm today, and immediately took a 6 hour nap. I NEVER nap. I woke up around 7pm with the worse nausea and vomited up everything I had for lunch that day. I was dizzy and hot. I fell back asleep around 10pm, and awoke again at 3am to vomit up anything that could have been left in there. I feel like I've taken a strong psychedelic drug. I started this in an attempt to help me function in normal social situations but I don't see how that is possible when the walls are covered in intensely colored visual pattering and my computer screen is waving around as I write this. This drug sucks, I'm going to punch that shrink in the face.

I have a seizure disorder (Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy) that started in 2000. I was on Valporic Acid till 2005 at which time I gradually switched over to Lamotrigine (Lamictal). My reason for switching to Lamictal is because it is a lot safer for an unborn baby than Valporic Acid and I got married in 2005 so just wanted to be safe just in case. Valporic Acid controlled both my myoclonic jerks and my grand mal seizures. I was on 1500mg a day (6 x 250mg). With the Lamictal I started at 100mg/day and now am on 125mg/day (5 x 25mg). I take 3 in the morning and 2 in the evening, exactly 12 hours apart. If I take my doses longer than 12 hours apart, I start feeling the withdrawal. My body just starts feeling strange. At first I thought this way I felt meant I was going to start having myoclonus jerks or a seizure but I now realize that it is withdrawal I am feeling. I hate how my body, my life, is controlled by the Lamictal. I hate the withdrawal feeling I feel almost every evening, and it goes away once I take my evening dose. Other than that I don't really know of any side effects I have. I know I am on a really low dose compared to a lot of people. My neurologist and family doctor want me to go up on my dosage to control my myoclonus jerks better but I keep refusing because I HATE HATE HATE being on any psychiatric medication. I have been on antidepressants in the past (Paxil, Effexor, Remeron, Cipralex at different times over 4 years) and I have been through withdrawal from them. I am so glad to be free from those drugs but I tell you the withdrawal is HELL. But if it wasn't for my seizure disorder, I would GLADLY go through hell again to be off of Lamictal. Recently I tried lowering my Lamictal dosage in hopes I could be on a lower dose. I cut one of my 5 pills in half which took me from 125mg to 112.5 mg. The first 7 weeks were fine - some minor hardly noticeable side effects. But then the withdrawal hit hard - panic attacks and extreme nausea being the worst, but also very weak/no strength, anxiety, trembling, etc. After 4 days of that I went back up to 125mg and after about 3 weeks was back to normal. The only reason I did not stick it out was because my myoclonus jerks were increasing and I did not want to seizure. I have stuck out half a year of antidepressant withdrawal torture and I would've stuck out the Lamictal withdrawal if it wasn't for my seizure disorder. Great book that really helped me if you want to go off Lamictal is Your Drug May Be Your Problem - How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications by Peter R. Breggin MD and David Cohen MD. This book really helped me during my antidepressant withdrawal. Dr. Breggin also has a website which is ****** I do have some mild problems with anxiety and I have become a little OCD but I think that is left over from my years of antidepressant use as they both seem to gradually get better over time (I have been free from the death grip of antidepressants for 2 years now). If you decide to withdraw from Lamictal please do it SAFELY. Have strong support. Do it very gradually. Know the risks. I for one may have to be on this for life which is discouraging. After I am done having kids (I'm a 26 year old female, been married for 4 years, hoping to start a family soon) maybe I will switch back over to Valproic Acid.....it would control my jerks better but who knows if it would bring on a whole 'nother set of problems, right?

started taking seoquel 25 mg an hour before sleep, then 50 mg. went up to 75mg because i wasn't "tired" enough to sleep. it was working okay, but my friends had warned me that i might experience weight gain and absolutely uncontrollable hunger for carbs and sweets. and as a 46 yo woman that already weighed 200 lbs. that was not a happy prospect. but i ignored that; maybe it would be different for me. btw, i am diagnosed as bipolar 2 and am taking lamotrigine, celexa, lithium and now seroquel. i was in a couple months ago for anxiety and loss of time, for lack of a better term. my pdoc told be to get off the 75mg of benadryl i was taking and gave me samples of seroquel to help me sleep, etc.. so, after experiencing weight gain, sore breasts, bigger stomach (i don't have a scale), labored breathing when walking to the freakin' mailbox and feeling like a truck has run over me for at least half the day, then anxiety immediately following, i have decided to pitch the seroquel. also, i am going off lithium and my blood pressure med (i was taking that for migraines associated with pre menstruation and now am menopausal). i'm going to start melatonin again (which i used for years and it worked) when i'm weaned off the evil seroquel... sigh. and no, the docs DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR WEIGHT GAIN!!!! THEY JUST WANT TO KEEP YOU ALIVE AND UPRIGHT IF POSSIBLE! i'm more depressed knowing i could easily balloon upwards to god-knows-what. so if your doc hands you "free" samples of seroquel, please keep track of your symptoms. maybe it will work for you but be cautious, please!

I was prescribed topiramate (it finally went generic- I've been trying to get this med pre-authorized by Medicare for years) a couple of weeks ago for off-label use related to bulimia, more specifically, for weight loss. I also take lamotrigine, an anti-convulsant, for bipolar disorder.

I began at 50mg/day for 2 weeks then titrated to 100 a few days ago. The side effects I've noticed so far are opposite to most of the ones noted here. I am not lethargic or sleepy at all. It's 3:10AM and I am wide awake, as I was last night. I had an excess of energy today and plenty of words to express my ample thoughts. However, my brain working in a sort of backwards fashion, these are the exact sorts of symptoms that signal mania and are extremely dangerous to somebody who has my condition, so I am on strict notice with the doctors and will most likely be either taken off the topa if this continues for another day or two, or put on an anti-psychotic as a preventative, which of course would be counter-intuitive to the weight loss idea as atypical cause gain. You can see from my writing style of run-on sentences that my thoughts are a bit jumbled.

Also- numbness in the heels, irritability, neck pain, itching.

I shall try to post back if I don't wind up in locked ward :-P

I just got off topamax after being on 800 mg/day for over a year. Unlike most of you, I used it to treat seizures. Because of the side effects (slurred speech, bad memory, and NO sex drive) my doctor to switched me to Lamictal.

After just one week, my sex drive is back to normal, my memory is better, and I'm more confident in my speech.

I've been on 200 mg Lamictal for 2 months now, after 4 month titration up from 25mg; Going off Lithium 900mg titration to 450mg this week. Since 1st day of lower Lithium, all the common Lamictal symptoms went from mild to extreme. Whole body muscle aches (like 24 hours after a heavy weightlifting workout) worse in neck & back/shoulders/calves, bad headaches, swelling in hands & feet, extreme blurred vision, loss of memory, halted speech while trying to figure out what to say, fuzzy. I called the Clinic to simply ask which NSAID (aspirin? ibuprofen? Excedrin? naproxin?) to use to manage the pain. They all freaked and made me come in for a blood test to check Lithium levels. I explained I wasn't "overly" concerned about it at this point, but just looking for a recommendation, and that they may be over-reacting (even though I did appreciate their concern). I also reminded them that I had just **decreased** Lithium when it happened, so I wasn't having a Lithium Toxic attack (I'm well-versed in that, having been on Lithium for 7 years). It didn't do much good to tell them I thought their diagnosis was a little off. I'll find out the blood test results today, but I'm pretty sure I know what they'll be. They also wanted me to see my PCP since it could be something else. Again, the problem was a ramp-up of existing symptoms the next morning after I lowered Lithium (the only change), so I'm conviced everything centers around that. I think they're a little inexperienced with this med. (Lamictal/Lamotrigine) and if they'd just read this blog they'd probably learn a lot. They had never heard of the muscle ache side effect. Pretty hard to believe after reading all of your comments! My theory is that Lithium was somehow holding back the side-effects of Lamictal and now they're expressing themselves more fully. I haven't read anything like this on any internet discussion, so maybe my body is very different. But maybe my experience will give someone else some insight in a similar situation.
I might also mention something that happened to me I have only seen (kinda) in one other "blog" about follicle (sweat gland) cysts. Yeah, I definitely got the jawline acne starting at the Lamictal 50mg level & increasing at 100mg. But I also got my first ever "cyst" that concerned me and sent me to my dermatologist for the first time in 30 years (I'm 47 and saw the old guy when I had acne at 17!). It started as a blind pimple on my chest the week I increased Lamictal to 200mg (final dose), but didn't go away. It continued to grow (not diminish) over 4 weeks to 3/8 inch round/pink/solid/itchy/burn-when-rubbed. So off to the "Doctor" like my father used to do on a regular basis (I know I'm getting old now) and scalpel/pop/stitch it was out. But it was real, not my imagination or hypocondria, and the timing of its appearance was right when Lamictal changed to full steam. Since acne appears to be a common effect with so many, it seems it's not unreasonable that this occurs occasionally as well to others. Let me be the 2nd to mention it. No "official" verification, but....
I'm not bagging on Lamictal, and have been very hopeful that this would be better than Lithium. It has eliminated the GastroIntestinal problems I had on Lithium, but I am getting discouraged that it has all the brand new symptoms that are discussed in this blog. Your "stuff" is real. I wish the Docs/Nurses/Case Workers would spend 5 minutes checking your comments out. It might bring about a better informed conversation than the shiny Glaxo flyers provide. That is all.

I am 32 years old, and still have acne. I have been taking it for almost 14 years now. I know that Lamictal causes skin rashes. I asked my neurologist if Lamictal causes acne. He said no. I will never be able to get rid of acne, as long as I keep taking it. I have been seizure-free for over 2.5 years now. Dad won't let me get off of it, and be on primidone only. It's more important to keep driving seizure-free, than to have clear skin.

I had a few of ,what I now know, to be side effects of TOPAMAX. I asked the doctor for help in getting rid of them & he changed me from CARBAMEZAPINE (for my EPILEPSY) to LAMOTRIGINE. This was like pouring petrol onto a fire to try put it out (!!!) as one weakens TOPAMAX & the other STRENGTHENS it. I went from a few mild problems to being tired out, forgetting the name of a town I lived for 2 years, shaky hand, eczema, spots, sinusitis, throat infection, vivid dreams & before fits seeing bed buds crawling all over the bed & big lumps growing inside me. After fits ,whilst still in a daze, walking round falling everywhere!!

Within 5 days of beginning course of Geodon, 40mg daily, doc doubled my dosage to 80mg, began to have problems. Intensely manic, easily frightened, insomnia, terrifying dreams. I decided to get out of hospital ASAP and decide if to quit taking Geodon.
On day six already my face was twitching, was irritable and manic, pacing, increasingly manic throughout day, decided to skip evening dose, keep total dosage same as before, 40mg. Began tripping around midnight and it was all downhill from there. Sleepless all night, by morning I had convulsions, increased heart rate, fear and anxiety, psychosis, uncontrollable crying. Had another seizure 12 hours later. Slept a little with help of Valium. Next day developed Parkinson's like symptoms, had my father not been there to help me, Lord knows what would have happened to me. Still awake in day 3 of withdrawal. Hoping the worst is over.

I have never posted anything to a website before. After the terrifying effects of Seroquel - I feel the need to inform others.
In December of 2004 I was under alot of stress from work. I went two weeks without sleep. I went to the doctor and he perscribed 300 milagrams of Seroquel. It did help me sleep. Only I could sleep 24 hours a day! It took away my personality. My personality turned aggressive. I couldn't stop eating and I gained 35 pounds in 10 months. I craved sweets and fast food like a madman. I started to hear voices - I never heard them before Seroquel. Then I started getting suicidal. I decided to wean myself off Seroquel in February of 2006. It was like death. The insomnia came back as a rebound effect. When I got completely off the Seroquel in May of 2006 I started breaking out in a weird itching all over my body periodically. For one week all my bowel stools were pitch black. Before Seroquel I used to be an avid exerciser. Now I can't exercise for more than 10 minutes with out being in bed with chronic body aches for a week. My immune system is very fragile too. I have not been able to lose the weight yet. And I get very tired mentally from little things.
I have since found out that melatonin works great for insomnia. You just have to take it for 2 weeks before it starts to work.

I have been on lamotrigine for 4 months now and I have lost weight and not been able to sleep. And I am taking 50mg am and 50 pm.