I had a non-refundable ticket to England and was leaving in four days when that horrible purple rash showed up and I had been taking Lamictal for 8 months with no side effects! I had to rush to the clinic, they said to stop the Lamictal so I ended up going to England to see relatives in a manic episode, had a really high time! (sorry) When I returned, the clinic screwed up my appt and I ended up in hospital for five days while they put me on Depakote. So the moral of my story is, you can get the rash even after 8 months with no previous problems.