Darkeyes - Sorry, I have not had access to a computer for over a week, and I'm not doing very well at the moment ..... thinking hurts.
No, there should be no risk of seizures with abruptly discontinuing Lamictalª (lamotrigine), unless you have a history of them. There can be a problem with the abrupt discontinuation of anticonvulsants when used in bipolar disorders.
Sometimes stopping an anticonvulsant being used for mood stabilization results in a manic/depressive episode. I have not heard of (or can't remember) this happening with Lamictal. This may be because I have not seen that many cases of abrupt discontinuation of the drug when it has been taken long term (ie. more than six months).
Of course, Lamictal is often stopped abruptly during the dose titration phase (especially if a rash appears), but the drug is more often than not being used as an adjunctive agent (ie. add-on medication). Usually the newer mood stabilizers, including Lamictal, are only used to augment the effects of lithium, divalproex/valproic acid, or carbamazepine when these medications do not completely control the bipolar disorder. Lamictal is often added to one of these medications to help deal with the residual depression associated with the Bipolar II-type of mood disorder. The use of the newer anticonvulsants (eg. gabapentin [Neurontinª], topiramate [Topamaxª], et al) as first line therapies is being seen more and more. I believe that this is due to the pdocs becoming more comfortable with using these medications.
Sorry that this took so long, I may not be around much in the next little while, but I will try to drag myself to this screen a little more often. I hope that this is of so help. - Cam
To fully understand a concept is to be unable to convey it's intricacies verbally; only when one can sense it emotionally, does one understand.
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