[Shancan]

So I have come down with the rash. At the 75 mg mark. I am now titrating down to get off. My face is a splotchy mess and I have purple “pimples” on my neck and jaw, my skin feels on fire and prickly all over. It has not been pleasant ... but improved now that I am down to 50mg ... down to 25mg tomorrow.
My pdoc wants me to get off and then we will review and see if we try again. Has anyone had success going back at a lower dose and titrating back up? I don’t have bipolar ... but a mood disorder with depression and anxiety. Plus suffer from migraine with aura and this medication was going to help. I can’t take antidepressants because of extreme reactions. And i really needed this to work! Would love to hear some success stories!! Or any insight with your experience.

Thanks!

[jeremiahgirl]

Originally Posted by Shancan

So I have come down with the rash. At the 75 mg mark. I am now titrating down to get off. My face is a splotchy mess and I have purple “pimples” on my neck and jaw, my skin feels on fire and prickly all over. It has not been pleasant ... but improved now that I am down to 50mg ... down to 25mg tomorrow.

My pdoc wants me to get off and then we will review and see if we try again. Has anyone had success going back at a lower dose and titrating back up? I don’t have bipolar ... but a mood disorder with depression and anxiety. Plus suffer from migraine with aura and this medication was going to help. I can’t take antidepressants because of extreme reactions. And i really needed this to work! Would love to hear some success stories!! Or any insight with your experience.



Thanks!

Hi have you tried other meds for migraines? I take Excedrine Migraine with a “cold coke.” It works well for me. Another friend said there’s an Advil migraine med too which I haven’t tried.

[Shancan]

Originally Posted by jeremiahgirl

Hi have you tried other meds for migraines? I take Excedrine Migraine with a “cold coke.” It works well for me. Another friend said there’s an Advil migraine med too which I haven’t tried.

Thanks for your post. Yes I manage my pain with Advil ... which works well. It’s the postdrome and prodrome which are hard to deal with. I have daily visual and perceptual issues this that drug was supposed to help with. Not to mention my depression and mood swings.

I’m back down to 25 mg. And my face still feels burnt and I am getting new bumps. So disappointing.

[Skeezyks]

I was put on Lamictal at one point. My pdoc never even mentioned the rash possibility. When I started to "rash-up", so to speak, I called & talked to his assistant. She told me she didn't think my rash was anything to be concerned about. After a few more days, though, as it continued to get worse, I went in to see my GP. He diagnosed it as Lamictal rash & sent me upstairs immediately to see a dermatologist.The dermatolotist was on her way out the door when my doctor called her. But she stayed to see me. She took me off of the Lamictal "cold turkey".

I'm certainly no expert with regard to Lamictal (or Lamotrigine) rash. But my understanding of it is that it has the potential to morph into a potentially deadly condition (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.) My personal, non-professional opinion would be that trying to go back on, after having developed the rash once, is simply not worth the risk.

[still_crazy]

hi. are other anti-seizure drugs used for migraines? trileptal is an antiseizure drug that's used in moody people, too, and i don't think it causes the rash of death. keppra is also sometimes used in mood disorders.

[Guiness187055]

If you have the rash doctors will tell you to stop asap. I would also go to the hospital. The rash is very dangerous.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

When I had the rash I was taken off cold-turkey. I'm surprised you are tapering as it took several days without taking it for the rash to start to subside. The good news is that once it did start to subside it did so fairly quickly (I want to say I left work with it on Wednesday and was back the next Tuesday). Mine was on my face and neck and was near mucous membranes (eyelids and lips) which affected the treatment decisions to get it stopped fast and not re-try.

I did not go back on it as it was my 2nd try with a reaction (the first time it caused vomiting). But I know that is considered safe in many cases by the drs. who have done the clinical trials to try a second, slower titration.

As far as migraines go, topamax can help if you can tolerate it (it can cause cognitive issues as the dose goes up for some people) and I know Depakote can help as well. Both are seizure meds and used as mood stabilizers, depakote more than topamax.

I hope you are feeling better. That rash is so uncomfortable and I feel for you.

[*Laurie*]

A rash that is not Stevens-Johnsons syndrome (that's the truly dangerous rash) often appears with Lamictal. Unfortunately, it seems to show up the face.

Different pdocs handle it in different ways. When I had the rash my pdoc called in a dermatologist who was in the building to quickly check on me. The 2 docs determined that, as long as the rash didn't get worse, I could remain on the Lamictal. I wasn't feeling good about the higher dose I was on anyway (I felt "flat"), so we dropped the dose a bit. After a few days the rash went away. It has never returned. I am on 100 mg. per day.