Skin crawling?!?

At first I thought it was just me. But I'm perfectly fine in the morning and in the afternoon. Then I take my lamictal at 5pm. Then I feel like I have bugs crawling all over me or the hair on my skin is crawling. Sometimes it feels like I have sun burn, mainly on my arms and face. But like I said it seems to subside over night. I just started taking lamictal June 23rd. I don't have a rash or anything nor do I feel sick. Its really annoying however. Anyone else expierence this, will this go away???

I suggest that you call your prescribing Dr. and ask if the skin crawling sensation is ok. I took Lamictal for three years and it's a wonderful drug, but I developed a rash after all those years and had to very quickly titrate off it. That's why I am suggesting you call your Dr. I hope it works for you. It's really great as long as you can tolerate it. I wish you the best.

Yeah, if you start to get any skin condition; you need to talk to your doctor. It sounds like you are having some reaction and you definitely don't want to be itching. Did you titrate up on it at a slow pace? Yes , I had to just look at the day. Were you going up by 25mgs and how fast? Also what dose are you at now?

Sorry for all the questions but you do need to be careful when starting Lamictal. Also let me say often people have minor skin issues when taking it. Usually not dangerous. Like my back broke out but it comes and goes.

At any case please call your doctor as soon as you can!

I don't know if you have any information on it. The doctor should have gave you information and talked to you about it. Also the rash usually appears very fast after you start the medicine.
I'm sure your doc, will want to see you to make sure everything is okay.

I have an appt with her the 17th. I started on 25mg the 23rd for 2 weeks then started taking 50mg yesterday. Like I said I don't have a rash, she did me tell me about the rash and other possible side effects, she said that's why they start at a low dose and go up slowly.

I would still call...... I developed something similar or lithium. It happend immediately after my doze was upped . I had a lithium rash needless to say, not taking that anymore. Good luck

Skin crawling thing subsided. But now my glands are ffin swollen and hurt. Just left a msg with the pdoc she should be calling back around 6. Not sure if this doing anything for me now anywayyyy. I've been crying a lot lately.

OMG! I too am suffering skin crawling! I just started taking lithium again, 3 days now & last night I couldn't stand the creepy crawling. When I took it before, I was also on paxil and lamictal, and I had no problems. Now it's all I have, I didn't obtain it legally and I don't have a doc right now to complain about it to. I am so desperate for relief, I thought it was a miracle to get my hands on it, what will I do if it doesn't work. I guess I'll just monitor my skin and hope for the best.

ATTN. Mrs Mania:

* Please * under no circumstances be taking lithium without Rx, without careful blood levels monitoring of dosage. Please get yourself to even your own GP ASAP for some appropriately prescribed and monitored medication until you get to a pdoc.

PoorPrincess, Thanks for your reply- I am aware that my behavior is somewhat reckless. I expect my Medicaid to come through this month giving me back access to both a doc and meds. Since I was on it for months before my last pdoc did any blood work, didn't figure a few weeks would be an issue as a doc wouldn't be testing within that time frame anyway. I also figured the lithium was causing my crawlies, should it get worse or become a rash, I'll be sure to quit it.

Is creepy-crawly skin with Lithium cause for alarm/med change/pdoc visit?

Hi everybody, I'm on Lithium, have been for a few weeks now. My major problem with it is that I have lost my creativity. I'm a musician, and can't get interested in playing. Can't even get my interest back in playing at an open mike 2x a month, which I've been doing since January this year. I started a whole thread about that! Only one person on the thread said s/he had not lost their creativity. About 10 others have lost it.

Anyway, about the creepy crawlies, I have that. Never have had it with any other meds. It's not driving me crazy, so apparently isn't as bad as what some of the others on this thread are experiencing.

subscribing to this thread

Trying again to subscribe....my memory cuts out...

Since I was on it for months before my last pdoc did any blood work, didn't figure a few weeks would be an issue as a doc wouldn't be testing within that time frame anyway.



Most pdocs do test blood early on in starting lithium and don't space it out until you've been on it a while. It's unusual to not have labs done early on, several times, before going to a 3 or 6 month schedule.

I understand feeling desperate for meds but I've been toxic 3 times and cannot stress enough that you do NOT want that to happen and the only way to avoid it is to have the labs and a dr. who knows what you are taking. Toxicity can show up weirdly as well and that's another reason a dr knowing is important. Once I had hallucinations that were weird and something about them told my pdoc is was neurological and sure enough it was toxicity that landed me in the medical hospital for days. Another time I threw up daily for months, looking more like gallstones than anything else. And the 3rd time came with no warning until I started vomiting uncontrollably. Each was scary for me and for those around me.

Please don't take this risk.

I agree wholeheartedly. Lithium has a narrow therapeutic range, so blood levels need to be monitored. This is even more important if you are just starting.

Even with careful monitoring, toxicity can occur. I just found out that my level was way too high after experiencing what my pdoc described as delirium. I had no idea that I was toxic on Lithium. I thought I was having a reaction to another med.

I should also add that I've gotten toxic twice within a few months of having my levels come back at .4 which is very low (sub-therapeutic).

It's really not worth the risk.

Dear Chailatte and Beyond the Rainbow, do I hear that it's not worth the risk of toxicity to take Lithium at all????

No, that's not what I meant at all! It's a great drug and I wish I could still take it. It is not, however, wise to take it without a prescription and a physician monitoring.

Oh! Hi, Beyond the Rainbow!!! I'm so glad I asked, and that you clarified! And by the way, I just played my instrument for 14 minutes and really enjoyed it. Hope I can work up minutes a little more every day. Maybe the Li is letting my creativity loose from it's killer-hold on it for 7 weeks.

If you are feeling flat when you see your pdoc next let them know. Your level may be too high. I never had trouble with that but I know it is possible (and my levels were kept low after my first toxicity and I really don't remember before that. Actually I do but I blamed feeling flat on high-dose Depakote, not lithium.) Getting the right level that feels good and works can take some time and trial and error. I had different responses to the different releases (lithium carbonate-immediate release; lithobid-extended release and eskalith-continuous release) and so playing with that might help too. I liked eskalith best although I think it's the least commonly prescribed.

Hi, BTR, This is great information!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so, so much for sharing your experience with lithium. I'll save your message and take it with me to the old/new pdoc. (The one I used to see b4 they changed him to a different clinic. I'm working on getting switched to the clinic where he is now.) I take 600 mg generic lithium carbonate, lithobid extended release. The other doc, the one I've quit, said that the blood levels 2-3weeks ago were at therapeutic levels. How are you doing now? Do you have a good med cocktail now? And are things in your life okay?

Forgot to say that I just added 25 mg/day lamictal for 2 weeks, then raising that to 50 mg/day. I don't know if it's placebo or what, but I just added it two days ago,and I've felt better ever since. But I also had a great therapy appointment yesterday. I/we are working on ways to diffuse tiny irritants like customer service reps/techs on the phone that are hard to understand and have driven me into rages. Today I called a new phone company, and the sales rep talked SO FAST and spewed out all this technical stuff....I asked her pointedly to please (I said please....) slow down because I could not understand anything she was saying. You know what? She did! And I understood! She took the time needed for me to write down some key facts what she was telling me, and I ended up (1) complimenting her and thanking her; (2) she just glowed, I could hear and "see" her glowing at how well she pleased me; and (3) she probably made a sale. I asked her if, after thinking it over, I should decide to subscribe to that company's cell phone service, did they have a way for her to get credit for the sale? She said that the company isn't set up that way, but would I like her to call me back tomorrow? So that's how it all panned out. Very satisfying for h er, and she'll never know what it means to me!!!!!! or why!!!!!

Absolutely not what I meant. Lithium is a good medication, but it is dangerous to take it without a doctor's supervision. I have taken Lithium for 17 years myself and it is definitely worth it.

I hope things continue to improve for you. When I was newly diagnosed I was in a clinical trial for lamictal. At first I was on the placebo which was glaringly obvious as I was only not hospitalized because I was lying to avoid it (not a good example ). But when I started the open label part where I was on real lamictal it was pretty obvious pretty fast. I wound up going off it after a year or so because it made me very nauseous and I actually had a scheduled time of day I threw up so it just wasn't great for that. (They were using a higher dose than is typically used now). But after a few years I tried it again and that time I really had a good response. But this time I got THE RASH badly so that was the end of that. (Don't worry because I had it, it's SO rare and I'm extremely sensitive to meds and get all sorts of weird side effects).

I hope you continue to get a good response to lamical. Lamictal plus lithium is supposed to be a really powerful cocktail. When I was in the trial it was to see if the combination of those 2 plus depakote would reduce rapid cycling. I don't think it did for me and the study was never published so I'm guessing it didn't but the theory was good based on how those 3 drugs work together in pairs.

Hi Beyond the Rainbow, This is very good information about the combination of lithium and limictal. I've shunned depakote because people say stuff like the gained 40 pounds in a few weeks!!! And then the weight just keeps piling on. Did you have that experience with depakote when you were on the combination of 3? Presumably the depakote dosage was very low in that case. In a week I go up from 25 mg lamictal to 50 mg. I had a bad day yesterday. Was irritable and blah all day. I was writing in another forum and someone "snapped at me." I asked her to be more understanding of people who are in pain (it wasn't me -- I was speaking out for another member who was in pain, and this woman slammed her). So the mean woman turned her claws on me. This ruined my day. I called my friend who's bipolar and she said the original comment the woman wrote was reasonable. I still think it was harsh. This morning I woke up slightly depressed. Well, at least I played my instrument 15 minutes last evening. That's 3 days in a row. The day before I played 40 minutes.

The first 6 months on Depakote I only gained 8 lbs and I was taking lithium with it which caused weight gain for me as well. I actually was on a very high dose of depakote because my body processed it too fast and it was hard to get me to therapeutic levels and keep me there. It worked well but the constant chasing the blood levels was ridiculous and when I was finally on something else that was working well I got off it (but I was on it 6 or 7 years). Honestly I've been unable to not use meds because of a side effect I didn't want for so long I can't even remember. I just don't respond to most meds so if one happens to work I take it regardless of weight gain, sedation, bizarre and rare immune thing requring 39 blood draws in the first year, etc. But I know avoiding these things is important if you have the options. Just don't forget that you never know what is going to work for you and how it will work b/c we're all different and the side effects are all different as well.

The waiting for meds to work/to get on a therapeutic dose of Lamictal is very hard and you're doing a good job of finding small things in the day that are positive. It will keep getting easier and the Lamictal will often start helping more at 100-200 mg. That's not too far off.

Thanks again, Beyondthe Rainbow, for your wisdom and for sharing your experience. Most of the meds I have taken did work -- for a while! Then they quit and I have to start over.