Lamictal and epilepsy

I have been on Lamictal now for 10 months, and I mostly love it.

But my IQ went down about 20 points. The first few months were very bad--I could hardly complete a sentence without forgetting one or two words. My short-term memory was scary bad--almost like blackouts where I wouldn't even remember events when reminded.

Those things have abated somewhat, but I am still having to adjust to a lower ability to think. I must make lists, I must repeat instructions and directions. Perhaps this is more about slowing down what was a hyperactive brain, but it is a side-effect that is hard to accept.

I am noticing a new side effect, though. I drop things all the time. I recently dropped a book I was reading--how does that happen?

Has anyone noticed this dropping, or any other clumsiness like this?

Think long and hard BEFORE you take this medication. I was prescribed a psychotropic cocktail by an irresponsible doctor and was on 200 mg of Lamictal a day ... I am not bipolar ... was part of depression treatment. Like a fool, I continued to take it. It took away my ability to think, my motivation ... it robbed me of my life for nearly two years UNTIL I saw an article on the BBC website that literally saved my life. I am now medication free and happier than I've been in years!
There are NO long term studies out there for Lamictal yet ... you are playing with fire if you are taking it for anything other than epilepsy and even then it's sad, but has to be taken to control the seizures.

I got all those problems but the higher the dosage the more attacks i had.Another neurologist think that i just have pseudoseizures-paranoia attacks.Anyways the doctor screwed me up,he gave me 5 years ago something different and my seizures started daily than switched me to lamictal.I must say that sometimes i have or HAD electricity in my left hand all the time and once a women touched me and got stunned lol.anyways lamictal is bad,i didn't have any side effects like loosing hair but i did have A LOT of head hecks.I must share something with you,when i read epilepsy.com it seems that my seizures called myclonics in the end they are not but they similar in effects.Myclonics its seizures that happens only in the morning.Heres the catch for me,i figured out that if i won't close my eyes the first hour after i got up and went to the sun outside than i didn't have seizures.Its not a real solution so i decided to raise the lamictal from 175 which was ok for me to 200-250 like the good doctor said,just made me worse.Now i started dropping it by 25 mill each week and i must say i feel better only a little tired after 5 years that my body got used to it.Anyway if any of you have myclonics than don't close your eyes.BTW i have AURA-feeling before the seizure but luckily for me after a second if i open my eyes nothing will happen although i don't always take notice of it.In midway it would happen if i seat in front of computer and will lose attention if someone will call me or whatever but its a mill-sec seizure,barely noticible if at all and i never get "disconnected" from reality!!!
the ONLY thing which is bad for me is that except that im sick now my blood pressure is huge-140/82 and pulse 106 which is being like that for couple of days but i will get trough that.Since i lowered my dosage my midway seizures stopped,now im on 100.

P.S=Check yourself with the neurologist with a different one preheps.IF you can describe the whole seizure it means you don't dispatch from earth which mean it might be psydo seizures which are psychotic and not epileptic,the most important thing is that if someone takes lamictal or any anti apileptic drug even tho he doesn't have real seizures the medicine can do this.I got screwed and now i try to get over it,the doctor trowed me on woods with tablets after having a first seizure WHICH IS WRONG because you sepused to get tablets only after 3 attacks and after describing seizures and doing eeg tests to make sure that you DO have the problem.

Anyways remember what i said about the closing eyes in the morning part,if you close your eyes and feel weird keep them open at least those that have them after they wake up,that was a solution for me and it can help you to...MY doctor said everyone like me but i think he is laying,the other neurologist said my doctor was wrong probably about the seizures,i think i have both but i do know that believing and saying that you don't have anything WILL help you and lower your seizures,after speaking with the doctor i actually started to believe i don't have anything and walla i have almost NADA,today i had zero!!!! :D

OF course don't lower dosage without first consulting with someone expert,but since i know i can control basically every seizure i have and i know what to do to avoid it i let my self start dropping dozes!!!

GOOD LUCK my friends believe in yourself and if you want some personal info leave your msn i will add you and try to answer you the best i could,i was researching my self trying to figure out the core of the problem for 5 years but after 6 months knocking my head in the pipe when i washed my face i learned what i should avoid to minimize the chance!!!Try that

I've been on Lamictal for 3 years, and it's started to fail. I was on a generally small dose for epilepsy, 100mg twice a day. Well, I started having these twitches that caused a car incident, so I had to go to the doctor to get the dosage increased. Well, I did that, slowly, and I was twitch free. I thought that this was great, I can finally rest easy. Also, for some reason after I increased the dose I was oversleeping. No severe side effects though. But then, just yesterday, I had what we believe to be a full fledged seizure during a shower. I missed my dose by 2 hours the night before, and luckily I was having trouble falling asleep (or perhaps unlucky), and I probably got 5-6 hours that night, which lack of sleep is always a bad thing with epilepsy. So, during my shower I started twitching, bad. I turn the shower off. Then the next thing I'm on the shower floor, and I see blood on the wall, though too dazed to make anything of it. My family hears the bang and comes down and tells me to open the door, but I yell out to wait until I'm dressed. Then I felt horrible. So obviously the dose increase didn't help, and the Emergency room doctor put me on Depakote plus the lamictal until I see a neurologist next week.

lamictal controls seizures if you take it at the right time. i am on 200 at night and 200 in the morning plus epilim. sometimes i just sit and cry wen im trying to concentrate on reading books i have to study or trying to remember work i learnt at school which has left my brain. im failing school not matter how hard i try, i study all the time then the next day i have forgotten it. im so young and i havnt even started my future yet and i may have screwed it already. failing exams because i forgot wat i learnt the night before hurts so bad. its hard to say "hey everyone the reason i failed is because lamictal screws my memory" i know thats what it is. i was extremely intelligent before i started taking it, but now im a failure. i guess deep inside i know really im not a failure, but lamictal makes me one. : ( p.s add a constant hand tremor and sudden jerking movements every now and then.

I started taking Lamictal about six weeks ago for epilepsy. Now keep in mind, I was on Dilantin which worked great for 17 years and then suddenly stopped working. I have been in medication hell since then. First Topamax made me dumb as a rock. I would space out all the time. Worst drug ever. Then Keppra which was better in that my memory/ability to speak came back but I had these intense ups and down. I had rages constantly. Now I'm on Lamictal. So far, it's better than the Topamax and the Keppra, however the dreams are very intense as are the night sweats. I'm also experiencing much hair loss. Fortunately I have a full head of hair but I'm afraid I will eventually lose it all.

I was put on Lamictal about a year ago after the Dilantin I was on stopped working after 25 years. Tried Fursuit but the anger and extreme tiredness almost lost me my job. I found this site since I'm coming off Lamictal. I was still having seizures and the doc just kept upping the meds. At 400mg/day I found I couldn't stop laughing (I do Stand up comedy as a hobby) My chest was killing me after 2 days of euforia and couldn't sleep. Vision was so blurred I couldn't see a thing. I told my doc I've had enough and I'm coming off the drug as slowly as I can manage. After a few months I'm down to 125 mg this week and coming off it 25mg a week. so far seizures have been about 1 per month but that might increase. I'm finding the withdrawal side effects worse than the drug. Leg pain, chest pains and found out my blood pressure has gone thru the roof. Would like to know if that has happened to anyone else. It went down a bit after I reduced my dosage last week so I see a conspiracy. I have noticed my vision improves as the drug wears off during the day but I can't concentrate at work. would like to hear from others with epilepsy that are having problems with this drug and to give me any feedback. Figure If alexander the Great can create an empire with epilepsy and no drugs then I'll take the seizures over the meds

so far i like it, but me being on this med does this mean I'm bipolar?? doc said i was not but thinking he thought i would freak if i was... Also he gave me a sample pack, I have great insurance but what is the cost of this med??

Light Rash, dizziness, BAD blurred vision making it hard to drive, BAD heavy bleeding(changes in menstrual cycle lasting three weeks with spotting then heavy bleeding) easy bruising sometimes black and blue ...headache,cant think, kidney pain I have (VUR) and am not sure if i should have been givin Lamictal.... I just stopped taking it went from 200mg to 100mg for a week now not taking any its been two days. and im hoping I start to feel better soon.

I have just recently started taking Lamictal for my epilepsy. I am weaning off the drug phenytek. I am on 100 mg a day of Lamcital and next week that will increase to 200mg a day. Since I have started the Lamictal, my period has come two weeks early, I feel tired all the time and I feel dopey. I will be sitting in a room of people and they are all talking, but it's as if I am not actually present with them. I am nauseous alot and have terrible headaches particulary in the evening. My emotions seem to be eradic. I just don't feel myself.

Lamictal is not bad for everyone. I was taking it for 6 years at a doseage of 50ml per day with absolutely no side effects at all. I started reducing the doseage to 25ml per day and then every second day as decided to give medication away (for epilepsy) as have had no episodes for 5 years. Been a bit dizzy and think it may be because of quitting the meds. Anyone else had this ?

my daughter is on Lamictal for epilepsy...petit mal seizures. She started to develop skin disorder that a dermatologist says is achne. She has a swelling of her lips that he cant explain. Her neurologist says she isnt sold on our feeling it is lamictal related... The dermatologist has her on antihistameme and some lotion for her face... it is around her mouth and down the neck to her chest. She is 18...
The breaking out on her face isnt red or blotchy...it is like pimples but no heads and more like gritty feeling to it....
any ideas??