Lamotrigine and Stomach Problems

Hi All

I have been ramping up my Lamotrigine for the last couple of months from 25mg BD up to the now 100mg BD. Over the same period I have been having trouble with stomach and bowel cramps especially after I eat something. Over the last two months I have lost nearly 10% of my body weight due to not being able to eat properly.

I spoke with my Psych yesterday about the issue and he thinks it has to do with an old diagnosis I had 20 years ago of Irritable bowel Syndrome and has referred me to a Gastroenterologist. The waiting period to see a Gastro is months so I thought I would post the question up here and see if anyone else has any experiences the same.

Any thoughts appreciated

just me, but i never had any issues am now at 300mg , I wish you well, maybe a little eating too much but could be coming from else where to, i was big before the meds to be fair..

I'm tritating up. Currently on 100mg week 4. So far no side effects. Wondering if you could look up potential side effects in the mean time. I've told my ex-PDOC about issues here and there about different meds and he blamed it on this or that when it was something else.

Glad for you that it sounds like your pdoc is taking the necessary precautions. Best to eliminate or investigate all possibilities.

My health plan over covers generics

They changed the generic, and since then it gives me an upset tummy

But, I am lactose intolerant, so that may have something to do with it

Hi,

I was first diagnosed with IBS about 30 years ago. I am having a flareup of it with food sensitivities now and, like you, have lost weight that bothers me. I can't afford to lose more weight, but many foods cause me stomach and abdominal distress, even though I have cut out foods and am on a low FODMAP diet. Recently I cut out rice krispies and rice chex because I was eating too much of them and they each have 50% of the Iron Daily Value in one bowl, and iron can upset stomachs and guts, too. So paying attention to side ingredients especially in fortified foods is important.

Good luck with getting any help from a gastroenterologist or other doctor, not because they don't care, but because they often may not be able to offer much that helps. IBS, especially in flareups, is very hard to deal with by medical providers, who in my case have not helped a lot.

I suggest looking at IBS forums (which I haven't been good at) because there are many other people who are also dealing with IBS.

Stress reduction can help a lot in IBS as well as Bipolar, but stomach and abdominal issues, losing weight, and food sensitivities are very stressful, too! But trying to reduce stress or attitudes towards stress (coming to accept and tolerate stress without becoming stressed-out from having stress) can be helpful.

I have been taking Lamotrigine for several months at a low dose. I also have lots of other food sensitivities, and I was having abdominal upset that I could not be sure was related to Lamotrigine or something else. But I have had the side effect of dry mouth with Lamotrigine that had not gone away.

The low dose that I was taking helped me a lot to be much more stable with a more manageable life but I still needed self-help measures such as reading and partipating in the Bipolar Forum and even so sometimes I was struggling with stability. My GP (I live in rural area and I am fortunate to have a GP) suggested increasing my dose a couple of weeks ago, but I got bad constipation, and my GP said that if have side effect of dry mouth, then constipation is also frequent because of dehydration. I reduced my Lamotrigine dose, and the bad constipation has gone, which is a sign that it was related to my increased dose of Lamotrigine. But I am still dealing with abdominal issues.

I don't know if my constipation is a result of any lactose included in Lamotrigine or associated with dry mouth.

My point in all this is that it can be hard to tease out causes of stomach or abdominal problems between IBS, medications, their side ingredients, and/or from foods that we need to eat that can also result in stomach or abdominal issues.

Good luck & sorry I don't have much to offer, except to persevere and to realize that you are not alone!

I'm on 200mg of Lamotrogine. I've been on this dosage for over a year and I don't have any problems. It may be a side effect, I get constipation more than anything, but I am unsure if it is the Lamictal or other meds.

And don't forget dry mouth.
The dry mouth is so bad, I can never get enough to drink

I have gastritis, polycystic ovaries and insulin resistance should I take it... or the risk of suffering a complication is too big?

My psychiatrist just prescribed me lamotrigine 100 mg (the first week I have to take 1/2 pill per day, then 1 pill per day) but I forgot to mention the insulin resistance and that I'm currently experiencing pain in the right upper quadrant.

Thank youu for your help.

Hi Lifetime,

Whenever I am unsure of the interaction between medications I do two things. Firstly I ring our local Chemist where I will get the new script filled and ask to speak to the Pharmacist. I ask them if there is any interaction between what I am currently on and the medication just prescribed. Since they are the ones filling the script they are very helpful and forthcoming with any interactions, since they have a duty of care. I will also check on the website crazymeds to see what listed interactions there is.

As for my stomach problems, they have subsided. I honestly think my issues had more to do with the immense stress I was under than any medication based issues. Since posting I have made some major changes in my life and lifestyle in order to reduce stress, and my stomach has settled as part of the process. I don't think Lamotrigine had anything to do with it, and for me, it works really well touch wood.

I hope you have similar success. Keep us posted on how you go

So everything was going fine, but insomnia was taking a toll of me on the 4th day I started taking just 25 mg instead of 50 mg the doctor had told me for the first week and that the second week and beyond I should take 100 mg daily. Even though I told him I had been with abdominal pain (superior right side) he told me to take it. The pain was still there, but I took them anyway... but this past Saturday (8 days in treatment) I started with an allergy on my back, arms, and neck... I got scared because that was in the warning... I texted my doctor multiple times and he didn't reply. So I haven't taken it since that day. Better to be safe than sorry, maybe the allergy wasn't because of the lamotrigine, but who knows... I didn't want it to worsen.

I was wondering about the same thing, because Ive been having the same kind of problems (aka, stomach problems, not being able to eat) since I started the lamotrigine a month and a half ago. And I never had any stomach problems before. But then, for me it might also be the combination of it with depakote, zyprexa and zoloft. I don't know which one it is...

Yeah, I read that lamotrigine has interaction with depakote, maybe check with your doctor. My doctor prescribed me oxcarbazepine instead of lamotrigine and been taking it for 2 weeks and feel really happy with it... has less side effects than lamotrigine.