[Curiosity77]

Hello,
I used to participate in this forum about 7 years ago, but have been away been since things have been pretty stable. I've had my ups and downs, but nothing super severe, and I have way better coping skills now, so I want to try to taper my meds to see if I can either stop them or at least find the minimum effective doses. I'm off work at the moment, so it's a good time to try it, but I'm also about to switch GPs since mine is retiring, and my pdoc left practice about a year ago.

Anyways, I've been on these meds 7 years, and started with tapering lamotrigine from 350 mg to 30p mg 2 days ago. My plan is to decrease by 50 mg weekly until I get to 200mg, which is the usual dose for most people. Then I'll see how that goes for a bit. I'm not changing quetiapine 100-150mg daily or wellbutrin 300mg now. One thing at a time. I'm expecting this entire process could take up to a year

Has anyone had experience tapering off lamotrigine?

Thanks!

[Scooter9]

I had to come off lamotrigine really quickly due to an allergic reaction. I was on it for 4 years at 300mg.

I tapered off in 3 weeks. The major problem I had was dizziness. And my depression returned almost immediately and I've been depressed since then (2017).

Other than the dizziness and return of the depression, I didn't have any other issues.

The dizziness went away about a month after my last dose.

I hope things work out for you.

[*Beth*]

Your tapering plan sounds very wise. Because you're taking it slow and decreasing only one med at a time I think coming off meds could go really well for you.

The only experience I have with titrating down on Lamictal is going from 400mg down to 200mg. I did that decrease pretty quickly - in maybe less than a week. Suprisingly, I didn't have any bad effects. But at 400 I was feeling quite overmedicated, so dropping down to 200 was probably what needed to happen.

[Soupe du jour]

Originally Posted by Curiosity77

Hello,
I used to participate in this forum about 7 years ago, but have been away been since things have been pretty stable. I've had my ups and downs, but nothing super severe, and I have way better coping skills now, so I want to try to taper my meds to see if I can either stop them or at least find the minimum effective doses. I'm off work at the moment, so it's a good time to try it, but I'm also about to switch GPs since mine is retiring, and my pdoc left practice about a year ago.

Anyways, I've been on these meds 7 years, and started with tapering lamotrigine from 350 mg to 30p mg 2 days ago. My plan is to decrease by 50 mg weekly until I get to 200mg, which is the usual dose for most people. Then I'll see how that goes for a bit. I'm not changing quetiapine 100-150mg daily or wellbutrin 300mg now. One thing at a time. I'm expecting this entire process could take up to a year

Has anyone had experience tapering off lamotrigine?

Thanks!

Welcome back, Curiosity77!

I have been on Lamictal on two separate occasions, but forgot how I was weaned off the first time. I think I might have been taken off cold-turkey in the hospital, to my recollection. In any case, I think it is wise of you to wean off slowly, and separately from other medications.

All I'll say is that when my Lamictal dose was lower, bothersome side effects eased. I will assume that if you have any, they will ease, too. That's a good argument for taking the lowest dosage necessary.

I hope that as your dose is lowered you remain mostly stable. It is nice to read when a member has clocked good time stable, or mostly stable.