Any experience with lamictal?

The last few days ive restarted lamictal. Tried to go the natural route with diet and vitamins but had a major shitstorm and broke down.

I hate taking meds. But after the latest episode of ultra fast emotional cycling i decided i probably should take my prescription.

I havent taken this drug long term before, does anyone have any experiences with it? Long term side effects?

I tried to dig up all the old post for more answers for you I hope no one minds. I have been on lamictal for over a year. This is the most stable medication I've been on thus far. I've had no real side effects. My husband has to use the bathroom more but that may be due to his blood pressure meds. not his lamictal. Both of us are only on 100 mg.

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I was on Lamictal for about 32 months and had several nasty side-effects you should be aware of. It locked my jaw shut to where I could only get a straw through my teeth 2 if not 3 times for 12+ hours at a time. My Pdoc told me to take Benedryl to prevent that. It also caused such severe anxiety that I couldn't stop crying and was afraid to close my eyes. It also triggered a receding hairline.

This is what gets me about meds. They can affect some ppl horrifically, then others have no problems.

I've been on Lamictal about 6 months. The only prob I've had is when I up my dosage--I'm not to the full/optimal yet--I always get major dizziness and sometimes vomiting, which goes away after a week or two. Once my doc dials the dosage down a little, it goes away (still working on it, obviously). Otherwise, as Miguelsmom said, I have been very happy with this med as far as keeping my moods level, not as much irritability/hypomania/rage, etc.

I wish you luck with it! I think it's one of the more underrated mood stabilizers.

I've been really happy with it. I had some crazy dreams at the beginning, but those might have been more due to life events. Lately I have been okay on side-effects. I wouldn't say that I have been on it long-term or anything. Maybe 4-5 months? I'm only on 100mg now and that seems to do the trick. I'm doing so much better than when I wasn't taking anything.

Good luck!
EJ

I've been taking Lamictal for 2 years now. It has helped me so much. I take 400 mg. I went down to 100 mg last year, b/c I thought I didn't need to take so much, and got really depressed. Be careful titrating up, and go slowly.

I had no side effects at 25 or 50 mg. when I took 75 mg. it triggered mania but 100 mg., where I am now, no side effects other than bad skin lol

I was just put on it about 2 wks ago. I am on 25 mg and so far haven't noticed any big change. I move up to 50 this wk, hoping I'll actually feel some relief then.

I took it very short term. What I know is to taper up slowly. I had a rash from it so I had to stop. That's the major side effect to watch out for.

I took Lamictal for several years. I've been off of it for a while now (at least 4). I started taking it because my (then) pdoc wanted me on a mood stabilizer but didn't want me on anti depressants and I had severe side effects with a few other mood stabilizers.

I can't remember my exact dosage but I went up gradually and found that at one point I had to go back down to a lower dosage because it was triggering hypomania. However, the Lamictal and Seroquel kept me able to function and eventually the pdoc took me off the Lamictal and I took Seroquel only for a long time (However now I'm taking it with Klonopin for anxiety issues).

............. seems to be working for me after one year and titrating up to 300 mg. Side effects for me are acne and frequent peeing! Had to see a dermatologist about the skin as it really bothered me.

did not do a thing for me. no side effects, though

Thanks for all the info guys. What im getting is that lamictal works for some people. Others have mixed results. I guess thats not too bad.

But now that i think about it, i do go pee quite a bit since starting on this med.
Also getting some headaches.

But it did kick me right out of my episode so im hopeful about this drug.Gonna keep a close eye on my skin though.

I've done well with it since starting it back in March. It did throw me into hypomania when the dose went from 150 to 200 mg, and then I went from there straight into a full-blown manic episode. It took adding Zyprexa to get that under control, and then my pdoc decreased the Celexa from 20 to 10 mg and I've been pretty good since that time. The only real issues I've had were when we tried to discontinue the Celexa.......that got really ugly! I also flipped right into hypomania again when we tried going off Zyprexa, so I really do need all of it along with Lamictal to pull everything together.

I've found that is true with virtually any psychiatric med,

I take 200mg and have taken as much as 400mg. I have been on it for years and haven't noticed any side effects other than occasional orthostatic hypotension (dizziness upon standing) but I have several drugs that could be doing that. Lamotrigine is a good choice as far as I'm concerned.

I have been on Lamictal for 6 1/2 years. I take 300mg. It has been a life saver for me. It does still cause me dizziness and hair loss has been a huge issue for me.

Come to think of it, I've been losing a lot of hair myself. It's OK, my hair's too thick and wild like a horse's tail, but it behaves better now. Hmmm.

Huh. i've only been on it about 7 months, no hair loss that's noticeable. Course it's in a short style, and my hair's uber thick... hmm something to look at.

I was on it for years and it worked really, really well. When the maximum dose stopped working I had to do the med-merry-go-round and everything I took was awful. After about a year of that I went back on Lamictal and I love it.

The only side effect I have, and it's sneaky, is short term memory loss. I didn't even realize it was happening until a friend said that was why he didn't like it.

I'm on 250 mg Lamictal and feel finally like I'm coming to life again. Took med adjustments I'm pretty good now. I smile and laugh and sing alot more. Enjoy alot more. Definitely more witty and make people laugh. But did fight a acne issue but dermatologist gave me great lotions and creams that zapped those zits away. I do get irritable occasionally and pee ALOT since on it but all tolerable side effects.

I am resurfacing this thread for someone new.

I've been on this for about four years now. Bounced up from 300 to 400 per day. Works very good but still feeling bp. Had to go on wellbutrin recently due to a familiar dark depression. I often forget things including my meds. For example going to buy something then forgetting what I came to buy. Im focusing on getting back on track with my daily meds. Im also diabetic. Its a real balancing act. Lamactil has helped me allot.

NDN. If I'm not in Well Turin, Lamictal sends me into a weird dark awful pit. Calms the mood swings but also shuts brain down without Wellbutrin.