[VickiesPath]

I saw this headline on cnn.com and was intrigued enough to read it. It seems this Mississippi woman had gone blind nine years ago. The treatment she received to restore vision in one of her eyes involved the extraction of one of her "eye" teeth (bicuspid) and implanting it into her eye. After a period of healing, doctors attached a prosthetic lens to the tooth, which served as an anchor for the lens. The procedure had never been done in this country before. It was a success. She can see now.

Now here's the reason for this post: Further along in the article, it said that the woman's blindness was caused by Stevens-Johnson syndrome! The article simply said that she got the illness as a reaction to a medication. Period. That's the same dangerous illness you can get as a reaction to Lamictal! My guess is they did not elaborate on the why's and how's of her illness because, and this is only conjecture on my part, she probably sued the pants off of some drug company and is not allowed to speak of the settlement.

Bear in mind that this reaction is rare. Lamictal is generally a good, safe, and effective medication. However, I happen to be one of the few people who did get the reaction and it came after taking Lamictal for 8 months. So, everyone, please beware that you can get that rash at any time while taking Lamictal or its generic, not just in the beginning. After 8 months, I disregarded the Lamictal as a possible cause and almost got on a plane to England before it dawned on me that I better go to the Urgent Care Clinic and get it looked at before I left. The doc there knew what it was, fortunately, and told me to stop the Lamictal. Thank goodness!

Apparently, the advanced version of this syndrome causes a separating of the outer layer of the skin and also caused this woman to lose her vision because it damaged her lenses and corneas.

[January]

Thank you for this post, Vickie. I ,too, developed the rash after taking lamictal for a couple years. It worked great for me. Because I had been on it for so long, my family Dr. treated me for everything but a reaction to it. The moment my pdoc saw it, she dx'd me and backed me off it as quickly as possible.

It is a wonderful medicine and I wish I could still take it. For those that use it, please just watch out for an unexplained rash and/or blisters.

[Slothrop]

Thanks for the reminder! (I got a strange rash a while back, but it turned out not to be Lamictal...it was SHINGLES! Ugh!)

Originally Posted by Vickie in Phoenix

I saw this headline on cnn.com and was intrigued enough to read it. It seems this Mississippi woman had gone blind nine years ago. The treatment she received to restore vision in one of her eyes involved the extraction of one of her "eye" teeth (bicuspid) and implanting it into her eye. After a period of healing, doctors attached a prosthetic lens to the tooth, which served as an anchor for the lens. The procedure had never been done in this country before. It was a success. She can see now.

Now here's the reason for this post: Further along in the article, it said that the woman's blindness was caused by Stevens-Johnson syndrome! The article simply said that she got the illness as a reaction to a medication. Period. That's the same dangerous illness you can get as a reaction to Lamictal! My guess is they did not elaborate on the why's and how's of her illness because, and this is only conjecture on my part, she probably sued the pants off of some drug company and is not allowed to speak of the settlement.

Bear in mind that this reaction is rare. Lamictal is generally a good, safe, and effective medication. However, I happen to be one of the few people who did get the reaction and it came after taking Lamictal for 8 months. So, everyone, please beware that you can get that rash at any time while taking Lamictal or its generic, not just in the beginning. After 8 months, I disregarded the Lamictal as a possible cause and almost got on a plane to England before it dawned on me that I better go to the Urgent Care Clinic and get it looked at before I left. The doc there knew what it was, fortunately, and told me to stop the Lamictal. Thank goodness!

Apparently, the advanced version of this syndrome causes a separating of the outer layer of the skin and also caused this woman to lose her vision because it damaged her lenses and corneas.

I have been on lamictal over several years dose has gone up and done. I was on Depokate for 5 years before it caused my liver enzimes to act up.
BUT NEVER in a million years have I heard a side effect like this.... I see my doctor on Monday.... I a bipolar ususally swing rapidly - but mood has so very low - so medication experiments again..... but what about this Lamictal thing - I bet he never even heard of it.

[VickiesPath]

It's quite well known as a possible side-effect of Lamictal. I'm sure he knows about it. However, it is a rare side-effect. Lots and lots of people take Lamictal and it works very well for them and they have no trouble at all.

[VickiesPath]

Originally Posted by Slothrop

Thanks for the reminder! (I got a strange rash a while back, but it turned out not to be Lamictal...it was SHINGLES! Ugh!)

YUK!!! How painful!