[little_me]

Hi, everyone. Yesterday, I upped my dose (per doctor's instructions) of Lamictal. I had been taking 50mg and now I'm taking 75mg. My heart is racing and I feel anxious, and when that happens, I become convinced I'm going to have a heart attack. I also just feel like ***** in general for a couple of days. Does anyone here have the same issues? Any advice? I'm prescribed lorazepam, so that helps a bit.. I just feel really unsettled and nervous

For some people, lamictal can be a bit activating and can give them a bit of anxiety when increasing the dosage.

To deal with this, I've known people to just increase it bit by bit [like you are doing], going even slower than the usual suggested increase, which eventually can be 50 mg/week.

I have a friend who did 25mg every other week because she knew that it was working but if she did it any faster it would make her crazy anxious. I'm not suggesting you do that. Maybe talk to your pdoc and see if it would be worth doing a slow med increase though.

For many people, in my experience- I can't speak for everyone, the anxiety decreases over time, but a slower increase helps.

The lorazepam should help, but unfourtunately all I can say that might be helpful is it should decrease with time.

Josie

ETA:

Also, if you feel generally crappy, sometimes lamictal/lamotrogine can make your muscles a bit fatigued or create "flu like symptoms" as transient side effects. These, too, will often subside.

Did your doctor tell you to expect this? That would happen at first & go away when your body got used to it?

[little_me]

Originally Posted by herpoorsoul

Did your doctor tell you to expect this? That would happen at first & go away when your body got used to it?

She said it was normal, especially since I have such high anxiety. But, I'm so worried about having a heart attack, which makes me feel even more anxious. It just want to be okay.

[doglover1979]

Lamictal sometimes has different uncomfortable effects until you reach a therapeutic dose. I didn't notice any change in anxiety, but at the time I started this med I was anxious all the time anyway, and I was also starting another med at the same time, so its hard to know.

In my personal experience, Lamictal has been a wonderful, life saving drug. As long as the anxiety isn't totally debilitating, IMO it is worth it to see if you can get over the hump. It will probably resolve as you approach a therapeutic dosage.

Keep in contact with your doctor. Remember, you are a team. You should be working together. They shouldn't be just handing you meds & not hearing your piece. You can do what was suggested in earlier posts too. Also if possible keep positive, supportive people around you to pick you up every now & then. And there's the forums ^.^ We know it's tough but hang in there!!!

I gave Lamictal a good try of about 2.5 months. The stuff was no good for me...I became even more anxious and agitated on it. It sure works well for a lot of people, though. My best advice is to stay in contact with your p-doc.