Lamotrigine (Lamictal) Question

I'm awake at 3:15am after going to bed at 10:45pm...and I don't feel tired or sleepy. Yesterday was the start of my new Lamotrigine dosing, 100mg two times per day; before that I was on 150mg every morning. So yesterday I took my first dose in the morning and the second dose at bedtime...usually I sleep fairly well with my sleep meds, sometimes I will wake up from a dream but I fall back asleep quickly and I sleep about 9 hours per night. Anyhow, has anyone else taken Lamotrigine (Lamictal) at bedtime and had trouble sleeping? Thanks!

Hey griz, hello again. I was told to take it in the morning - I am on 300mg now, so I do that.

I'll call my pharmacy and ask them if it's okay just to be sure, but if other people can take it all in the morning, then I'm sure I will be able to as well.

I've had this problem with a lot of medications. I take pretty much everything in the morning, but if I start something new and it messes with how I function during the day, I take it before bed. Everyone is different, but I have to say most of these medications cause some sleep disturbance in a lot of people.

I had trouble sleeping when I first went on Lamictal, but after about a month it went away. Benadryl works to help me sleep (although now I am on Lunesta). Good luck!

Managed to get a nap I did call the pharmacy and he said that it is usually tolerated better in 2 doses, so he suggested that I try taking the second dose around 4pm instead of bedtime until Monday, and if I'm still having trouble sleeping to talk to my doctor on Monday. So I hope that taking it earlier helps, because I also have insomnia and it took forever to find a good sleep med combination (I take Seroquel 100mg every other night, and Rozerem 8mg + Ambien 10mg on the nights I don't take Seroquel) and I haven't had much trouble sleeping for months. A few times a week I'll wake up from some weird dream, but I get up, get a drink of water, and go right back to sleep again. I don't want to go back to not sleeping well, it's the one thing we've managed to "fix" LOL.

Thanks for all of the feedback!

Lamictal gives me energy too. When I tried to go down to 50mg in the am, I felt totally drained Tues and Wed, so I went back up to 100mg in the am on Thurs and am back on 150mg total. I take the smaller dose at night because it doesn't make me drowsy at all. The reason why I split the dose and don't take it all in the morning is that I got headaches at night or in the morning from the mini-withdrawal. Just a thought. Hope taking it late in the afternoon helps you to still be able to sleep.

I get mild headaches from it also, luckily no brain pounding ones LOL...usually a couple of ibuprofen helps.

I take my second dose of Lamictal around 5pm. It doesn't matter when I take it. Ever since starting it, I have had insomnia, it's become worse recently. I need more and more benzos to knock myself out. In order to avoid running out of my prescription too early, I end up supplementing the benzos with anti-histamines for their added drowsiness effect.

I put up with it, because lamictal is by far the best all around med that I've been on. It eliminates the need to take AD's and other mood stabilizers. In short, it's the all-in-one wonder drug for me. I need to get the sleeping under control though...
Heading off to bed now!

Benzo time.

Has your pdoc had you try any sleep aids like ambien, rozerem or lunesta? I have had insomnia my whole life (even as a baby I would just cry all night). I had tried ambien, rozerem, seroquel, trazedone, and chloral hydrate + doxepin, and most would work for awhile and then stop working. We finally figured out that if I alternate nights with them, they don't stop working. So for the last year I've been taking seroquel 100mg every other night, and ambien 10mg + rozerem 8mg on nights I don't take seroquel. I also take my last dose of clonazepam at bedtime (1mg). Maybe you can ask you doc if he/she would be willing to give it a try?

I did sleep pretty good last night, so taking the lamotrigine earlier worked, although I did wake up 4 times because I drank too much water before bed . But I was able to fall right back to sleep and slept all the way to my alarm. Thanks again everyone!

I had to start taking it in the morning.