Lamictal and Birth Control

Hi, is anyone here on Lamictal and taking birth control pills? I was told that it decreases the amount of lamictal in the blood, which is why I was prescribed a high dose of lamictal. However, during placebo week when I am not on the pill, my lamictal levels rise and are beginning to cause problems.

I started to experience visual changes and migraines during placebo week and wonder if anyone else here has experienced adverse effects on lamictal and birth control. None of my doctors mentioned that this would be a problem. I even ended up hospitalized as a result of the visual disturbances. I was questioning whether this was even related to the lamictal or not, but I'm starting to think it is.

I am wondering if I should ask my pdoc if she can give me a lower dose of lamictal to take during my placebo week to balance things out. My pharmacist friend brought this up as a possibility. If my pdoc won't do this, maybe I'll have her lower the dose of lamictal to see if that goes away since I am on a very high dose. I'm really afraid of de-stabilizing my symptoms though, as lamictal has been a good med for me.

Anyway, is anyone else here on birth control pills with lamictal and experienced any issues? I might consider the non-hormonal IUD if this continues to be a problem.

It's interesting how Lamictal effectiveness may be lowered by birth control. I've read that, too. Interesting because similar anticonvulsant moodstabilizers have the opposite issue, particularly Tegretol (carbamazepine). I will say that I'm not sure how significant or definite the interactions must be. Perhaps some are affected more than others? In any case, please do discuss this with your psychiatrist.

I have taken a medium to large dose of carbamazepine for about 9 years. Also a lowish dose of Lamictal. My carbamazepine did necessitate that I try a non hormonal copper IUD. It seemed a great solution, but unfortunately it didn't work out for me, while I know it does for others. It kept shifting out of place. A problem. It also gave me spotting and very heavy periods. The latter caused me iron deficiency, so I had to take a prescription iron supplement. I don't mean to discourage this IUD, but I am hoping that perhaps any minor dose adjustment to Lamictal could be an effective first move. At least Lamictal likely doesn't make the birth control less effective.

Thank you for your response. I'm sorry the IUD did not work out for you. Someone in my family told me that she had fibroyds and that birth control helped with it, so if I can avoid going off my birth control, I would like to do so. It is hard though, because I really do not want to go off Lamictal. I've been on it for years. Maybe a lower dose would be a compromise between the two? I have not contacted my pdoc about it yet, because I am not 100% sure that it is the Lamictal. I am trying to wait and see if my neurologist has any insight into this first.