Lamictal and insomnia

As a parent of a teenage girl diagnosed with Bipolar I as well as DID, I thought Lamictal would be a great change from Lithium and would contribute to her stability. Imagine my surprise when I saw this happening to my 17 year-old daughter; constant insomnia over the last three months; panic attacks; anxiety; and paranoia, especially at night. Finally, my daughter threw her Lamictal away, and she has been much better since. I don't think folks always are aware that anxiety can be a real side effect of this amazing mood stabilizer, and it's good to be on the look out for it when your kid is taking it. She also claimed it made her more depressed.

Blurred vision, 15 lb weight gain, irritability, insomnia, excess hair growth (exacerbating my PCOS), nausea, nightmares, fuzzy thinking, bad memory, lose train of thought mid-sentence. Been on 100mg for 3 months. Doctor upped to 200mg but after 3 days on it and 3 days of no sleep, I dropped back down. Helps a bit with my depression, but I feel sort of numb. Not as bad as on some, but not good.

I have been trying to come off this medication after being on it for several months up to 150 mg. I didn't realize I needed to taper off so gradually, so I started cutting up my pill for several days at smaller dosages and then I just tried to go two days without and the withdrawal symptoms are horrendous. My head feels like it has imploded, high blood pressure feeling, dizziness, high anxiety, confusion, pressure all over, blurred vision, constant tick in my eye over the past few days, insomnia, trouble breathing, body aches, sick feeling, extreme fatigue, nausea. I just had to go back and take some more out of desperation. It's so frightening.
Taper off this drug S L O W L Y!!!!

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 really, really regret ever having started Lamictal to begin with. Even though lamictal has greatly helped me with my social anxiety/ocd/gad/whatever it is I have (lol), it has caused too many damn side effects.

I started taking it sometime July and now it's September 21st, so it's been in my system for a couple of months now. When I first started on the starter pack, the 25 mg didn't have any effect on me- and then it started making me really, really anxious. I'd have super big physiological reactions to stress, but then I was advised to take it at night. Of course that started insomnia, and when I increased it to 50 mg I was really sensitive to light. It also caused my eyes to twitch and not stay closed when I tried to sleep- which was really, really annoying.

When I was first doing the 100 mg, at one point I became manic (I couldn't stop talking, I had racing thoughts, energetic- felt like I was on top of the world) and then I crashed. It was really hard going from being manic to really depressed, but that's the shit that happens on lamictal lol.(for me at least)

Anyways, so finally the 100 mg started to level me out- but I still have the rapid mood swings. I also feel incredibly spacey all the time and have trouble focusing/concentrating. Oh yeah, and my short term memory is shot. And my libido- which is really important to me. I hate having freakin' vaginal dryness and not really wanting sex- so irksome.

My advice to anyone reading this: don't ever try lamictal- it's not worth it.

GERD, insomnia, choky cough and extreme mucscle aches all while on only 25mg. am considering quitting, felt better w/o it. booklady, az

I have been prescribed Lamictal for seizures, and am currently taking 400mg daily, with my 300mg of Dilantin. Had horrible side effects this weekend-nightmares, exhausted, worsening depression, crying jags, difficulty swallowing. Has anyone else experienced mood changes for the worse while on this drug?

Extreme agitation, racing heart, mood swings, insomnia (recently). Going off this asap. Anyone know how to get off it: quit right away, taper off?

this site is great! i thought i was crazy, now i don't. my 4th month of lamictal and just hit the 100mg mark. at first i was taking it with a 30 mg of an antidepressant but i was irritable as helll!!! once i hit the 100mg mark, i got off the antidepressants and feel way better now just with lamictal alone.

initial side effects wre dizziness and insomnia but that went away. i've never had pimples and now i do. and last night i woke myself yelling having nightmares and haven't slept...

if you miss a dose you go nuts!

ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS WORTH IT...I FEEL WAY MORE CONTROLLED THAN BEFORE I STARTED TAKING THIS...