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I have been on Lamictal now for almost 3 months for bipolar. I'm...

Posted at 5:18 PM on Feb 27, 2009 by diddlesquat, #39425
I have been on Lamictal now for almost 3 months for bipolar. I'm still not sure if it is helping or not. My husband says I seem better, but I feel almost the same as before if not worse. Has anyone noticed any major changes in their menstrual cycle? I'm on the pill and it would usually last 4-5 days with moderate bleeding. Now I get more annoying cramps than before but my period only lasted 2 days and it was more like spotting than a period. This makes me nervous, but my doctor said that it is more likely the risperdal that I had taken for a month when I also started taking the lamictal, but I don't agree. I recently went up to 200mg (1 morning, 1night). The morning one knocks me out but the night one has been keeping up!? I also feel less coordinated (hard to balance, knocking stuff down, klutzy). Also, it has been hard to put words together and recall correct information. Now I have to say" I think I heard or I think I remember". If I really need to remember something I have repeat it or really concentrate on the information. I used to not have to do that. Another thing I've noticed lately is hand and knee pain. Makes it difficult exercise to lose the 20 lbs I've gained. I don't know, personally I think I will give it one more month and if I still feel the same, I'm going off of it and looking into natural alternatives.
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Reply 8 months ago on Mar 10, 2009 by lcsocorso, #17837

Hi. I've been on lamictal for 2 years (400mg/day). Oh YEA...major klutziness, short term memory loss, feeling really stupid sometimes, hard to finish sentences sometimes (just can't the words sometimes for the simplest sentence), dizzyiness. There are other side effect I encounter but can't remember right now. No probs with periods at all. I have found that even missing 1 dose will really screw me up. Also that my moods will be "somewhat" stable for a week or 2 and then change the other way for about a day. Don't know how severe your situation is but, it has made a DRASTIC improvement in controlling my mood swings. Still have "off" days but never the EXTREME swings prior to taking the meds. It took me a good 5-6 months, maybe longer, to feel like the meds were working properly. I think this medication is the BEST thing I've ever taken...even with the side effects...which really are not bad, just frequent and frustrating. They have become a joke with my family and we just laugh when I get confused or stupid .There is a trade off for every med and if your side effects are not unbearable and the med is helping your moods, please hang in there. GOOD LUCK

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