[Pookyl]

Hi,
Has anyone found lamotrigine to be activating as opposed to sedating?
My dose has recently been increased to 50mg. I take it at nighttime and I’ve been struggling with sleep since the dose increase.
I’m wondering whether I need to be taking the Lamotrigine in the morning?

[Nammu]

I didn't find it to be activating or sedating instead I found it to be flattering. But I was on a much higher dose. Sorry not to be any help.

[~Christina]

Years ago when I was initally put on it for me it was very activating so I did switch to taking it in the am. But I adjusted to it and flipped it to night because I do not like taking meds twice a day.

Lamictal has always been activating for me. I must take it along with a good amount of antimanics. I've only needed 100 mg for the last eight years. There was a point about 13 years ago that I took as much as 300 mg Lamictal, along with Abilify, but it made me severely manic with psychosis and I struggled to get out of that mania, despite hospitalizations following that. Abilify was not a sufficient antimanic for me.

As written, I only take 100 mg Lamictal, and I take it in the morning. I'm not sure what would happen if I took it at night. I take plenty of sedating medications at night. My morning cocktail, including Lamictal, is not sedating at all. In fact, my psychiatrist had to recently add 100 mg Seroquel XR in the morning, beyond my evening 600 mg Seroquel XR. And currently, I am still kicking butt during the day.

[sophiebunny]

I'm on 200 mg of Lamictal. It's neither activating nor sedating. It is the only drug I can take to even out depressive episodes. Although severe mania is a far bigger problem for me, my psychiatrist is a master at managing it. Unfortunately there isn't a single antidepressant I can take that doesn't make me wildly manic. Lamictal is all I have to manage depressions. Oh, and light therapy, very carefully dosed.

I don't know if you frequent Reddit or not, but there are lots of people there who have found lamotrigine activating to the point it triggered a hypomanic or even manic episode.

But please be careful with taking lamotrigine in the morning. If I do not take it at night and instead take it in the morning, I get double vision and my balance is way off. It was to the point I fell down 13 steps of stairs and messed up my arm and stuff.

I would say if you are going to take it in the morning, please make sure you choose a day where you can stay home and monitor how you react to it. Do not drive.

For me personally, it usually takes about 30 mins to 1.5 hours for lamictal to kick in and cause the vision/balance problems, depending if I ate food with the med or not.

I only take it in the morning if absolutely necessary, but I make sure to stay home when I do. And sometimes I even force myself to take a nap so that the vision and balance problems don't drive me crazy.

Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear, but I just wanted to share my experience with you. (And FWIW, I still do take lamotrigine. I like it. I just take it at night.)

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

I don't know if you frequent Reddit or not, but there are lots of people there who have found lamotrigine activating to the point it triggered a hypomanic or even manic episode.

But please be careful with taking lamotrigine in the morning. If I do not take it at night and instead take it in the morning, I get double vision and my balance is way off. It was to the point I fell down 13 steps of stairs and messed up my arm and stuff.

I would say if you are going to take it in the morning, please make sure you choose a day where you can stay home and monitor how you react to it. Do not drive.

For me personally, it usually takes about 30 mins to 1.5 hours for lamictal to kick in and cause the vision/balance problems, depending if I ate food with the med or not.

I only take it in the morning if absolutely necessary, but I make sure to stay home when I do. And sometimes I even force myself to take a nap so that the vision and balance problems don't drive me crazy.

Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear, but I just wanted to share my experience with you. (And FWIW, I still do take lamotrigine. I like it. I just take it at night.)

^^^^^^^^^that's my experience, too. ^^^^^^^^

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

I don't know if you frequent Reddit or not, but there are lots of people there who have found lamotrigine activating to the point it triggered a hypomanic or even manic episode.

But please be careful with taking lamotrigine in the morning. If I do not take it at night and instead take it in the morning, I get double vision and my balance is way off. It was to the point I fell down 13 steps of stairs and messed up my arm and stuff.

I would say if you are going to take it in the morning, please make sure you choose a day where you can stay home and monitor how you react to it. Do not drive.

For me personally, it usually takes about 30 mins to 1.5 hours for lamictal to kick in and cause the vision/balance problems, depending if I ate food with the med or not.

I only take it in the morning if absolutely necessary, but I make sure to stay home when I do. And sometimes I even force myself to take a nap so that the vision and balance problems don't drive me crazy.

Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear, but I just wanted to share my experience with you. (And FWIW, I still do take lamotrigine. I like it. I just take it at night.)

That was my experience when my dosage was too high. Not that it was activating, but that it would bring on those side effects. (We just split thee dosage into 2 doses-- one am, one pm-- solved it immediately).

I've never noticed a particularly activating or sedating effect. Then again, I've been on the same dosage for quite some time now,

I remember lamictal/lamotrigine being activating for me too. It's been a few years so I don't remember the specifics like what dose I was on, but it was the first mood stabilizer I tried and I didn't get any side effects.

[*Beth*]

50mg is still low.

I don't feel that Lamictal is either sedating or activating. (I'm on 400mg.)

[Pookyl]

At what dose did you notice the visual disturbances?

For me it was 400 mg in one dose. Divided into twice a day solved it.

Originally Posted by Innerzone

For me it was 400 mg in one dose. Divided into twice a day solved it.

Same here... the 400mg dose did it to me.

I don't divide my dose into twice a day, though. I'm now on 200mg and only take it at night. After falling down 13 steps of stairs, I'm done with taking it in the morning. I'm too scared the 200mg will cause the vision problems too. Seems less likely, but I don't want to risk it.

[Jennyanydots]

Originally Posted by BethRags

50mg is still low.

I don't feel that Lamictal is either sedating or activating. (I'm on 400mg.)

Me too. I've been taking 400 mg in the morning for like probably 5 years now. I do notice that if I miss a dose, I have problems sleeping that night....