Morning routine symptoms and conditions

**I found something that helps the foggy head, forgetfulness, short term memory, and sleepiness that comes with taking Lamictal!!**

I want to pass this along , because it has helped me SO much. I was diagnosed bipolar II recently and was put on Lamictal. I'm a writer, so my biggest concern was being able to find the words I need and having the concentration for my work, but suddenly I lost my ability to string words together when speaking OR writing. The words weren't even close to coming to me. I felt like I was sleepwalking half the time, along with other symptoms, but the bouts of spacehead were hardest to take. I felt pretty desperate and kept researching until I came across a post on a message board that claimed to have the answer.

If you can manage, do not take Lamictal at night. The following is so simple that it might seem strange that it works (it did to me):

All you have to do is set your alarm for a half hour to an hour before you would normally get up. Then take your Lamictal and go back to sleep for a half hour to an hour (it takes a little practice to get used to this morning routine at first, but it's totally worth it). For some reason, it's ESSENTIAL that you do go back to sleep for that short period and do not just rest with your eyes closed until it's time to get up.

I tried this, not really expecting anything from it, but on the very first day it seemed that at least 85 percent of the foggy-head was gone. Just gone. It has continued to work every day that I have managed to do it, and when I don't do it, the foggyhead is back again with a vengeance. I finally feel great, as if the medicine is doing exactly what it's supposed to.

Taking Lamictal at night (like doctors often recommend) can make the fogginess worse than any other time. The person who posted about this originally said he told his psychiatrist about his experience, and the psychiatrist told his other patients on Lamictal to try it. It worked for them too.

I hope this is helpful to others as much as it is to me, though I know everyone's body and brain are different, so it's possible that it won't work for everyone. I do hope if it works for you that you'll spread the word, because this is such a debilitating side effect.

Best wishes to you all.

Ok I haven't had any crazy adverse effects as of yet but I thought I would post what I am going through with my reaction to Gardasil. I'm 22, received my first shot in Oct.2007 (in my Right arm) and completely forgot to go back for the rest of the series, honest! (I never wrote it down, and since it's kinda up to me to go back on my own, I forgot about it after a week or so.) Anyway, my first shot went pretty well. On the day of the injection, I had no pain after receiving the shot but the next day, I woke up feeling like I had slept on my arm all night. The feeling didn't go away after my morning routine of getting dressed and started to hurt pretty badly. The whole entire day it was difficult to lift my arm and flex the muscles while I was at work but I was told by a friend that she had the same exact reaction when she got her shot of Gardasil. I brushed it off and the next day I was pretty much back to normal! I didn't think twice about it until I went in for my annual this week and they asked if I had completed the series of Gardasil shots yet. (oops) I told them no, and they gave me the shot on Saturday (Nov/1/08) they said there was no reason why I shouldn't continue getting the series but I really HAVE to come back in 2 months (I wrote it down this time)
Anyway, I just figured I would have the same reaction as last time so I asked them to do it in my Left arm this time as I don't use it as much. All of Saturday went by with no real pain at all just like before. I woke up on Sunday expecting to feel like my arm had been run over or something but was pleasantly surprised that the injection site was the only area on my arm that was bothering me! It was a little raised/swollen and kind of itchy so I avoided irritating it as much as possible. Well it's 2:27am on Tuesday and I'm still having these symptoms. In fact, it itches more, is still raised and I feel another small bump very close to the injection site and under the skin. I have to admit that while these symptoms don't appear to be serious, I am a little nervous about how long they have lasted. Reading these posts about such serious adverse reactions to this Vaccine isn't helping much either! I don't know if I want to finish the series now! It seems like a lot of people have had different reactions during a different phase in the vaccine, making it unpredictable. Meanwhile, my friend completed all 3 injections earlier this year with little to no side effects at all! I want to know if this is normal because the only place I've found "itchiness" as a side effect on the Gardasil page is under allergic reactions and accompanied by hives, rash, difficulty breathing, etc. and I have had none of these. I want to ask my doctor about it but when I told her about the pain in my arm last year she said it was normal, so why would she say anything different about itching?

My doctor prescribed seroquel to me for my severe anxiety. I took one b/f bed and woke up feeling horrible. I could barely get myself out of bed, I was foggy brained and lethargic. I thought it would pass so I went about my morning routine, when finally it hit me I couldn't take it any longer. And it resulted in a Full blown panic attack!!!! I took my clonazepam and eventually after sleeping for a bit, felt better.
I threw the pills in the garbage, I will NEVER take them again. I'm so scared to try anything new, b/c of what happened after taking seroquel. However I'm running out of options:(