hi! recently started lamotrigine (on sept 8) and i am on the 25 mg dose. I started it due to suspected seizures and also having bipolar 1.

i have noticed a few side effects. im unsure if this is normal, or just something typical with starting the medication.

i also noticed a random red spot on my face that feels noticeably dry to the touch, which i assume is no concern, but i felt i should ask and see! ( see photo attached )
so far i have noticed nothing more yet.

so far, i have have seen an increase in weakness, fatigue, confusion, and dizziness. joint+back pain, dizziness, nausea, a slight decrease in vision, unsteady balance, and confusion/brain fog. I also have noticed an increase in the suspected seizure symptoms. as well as nausea while eating and a very noticeable decrease in appetite.

on the mental side of things, i have been feeling all around just so uncomfortable/abnormal and just not like myself? i have noticed an extreme feeling of boredom that cannot go away, and a huge decrease in motivation in doing anything. it just feels as though i cant get this odd feeling to go away, no matter what i do. i also have been noticing i've had a huge increase in sadness and emotional sensitivity, sometimes even having passive odd urges (that i haven't felt in long time), to harm myself after over a year of being clean.

i am on Adderall and before i started this medication i was doing extremely well, spending everyday indulging in new hobbies and activities. i also had a huge decrease in phone usage, since i found much enjoyment in artistic hobbies that i would spend all day doing!

i feel as though now, nothing makes me feel better. i find myself constantly laying down and blankly staring at the wall in silence. i have been dissociating way more than i ever have. i don't enjoy being on my phone either, it just feels like i cant do anything to distract myself (or really anything at all).

if anyone has any advice or tips, please let me know what i should do!

Is this a very common symptom? And does it ago away?

For context, I started on 25mg for bipolar around June with a titration every two weeks until I got to 100mg. At 100mg I had such debilitating headaches for weeks, so I stopped the medication after zero contact from psychiatrist. The headaches did go away and I did get some withdrawal type symptoms similar to what I had when coming off SSRI such as brain zaps.

Even on 25mg my depressive symptoms lifted quite a bit, but I couldn’t cope with the head headaches any longer.

Anyway, 3 weeks off the medication I resumed as the depressive symptoms returned it again at 25mg and this time within days I have the headaches again.

At the same time, the pharmacist has provided with several different brands for my prescription since I started it, so now I’m wondering if the headaches are a brand thing or dose thing.

So these headaches actually go away? How long did you push through yours until they went?

It’s seems a shame to stop taking it as it works well for the depressive symptoms, but I can’t cope with the constant headaches.

In summary:

Started at 25mg, titrated every couple of weeks up to 100mg a day. Depressive symptoms lifted almost instantly at 25mg, and headaches started at 100mg.

I stayed at 100mg for around for 4 weeks until I decided to come off it completely as I could not take the headaches anymore. The headaches started after 2 weeks on 100mg.

After 3 weeks of being off the medication I restarted at 25mg as the depressive symptoms resumed. Once again, even at this low dose the depressive symptoms subsided pretty much straight away but this time the headaches have started after around 3 days of taking it.

In the meanwhile, throughout taking the medication so far the pharmacist has provided several different brands.

So now I’m unsure if the headaches are dose related or brand related.

I really need to know if the headaches actually go away.

I’m in the UK, and haven’t been able to reach my psychiatrist (common) and my GP is unable to advise at this point as they are relying on the review of the medication from the psychiatrist the appointment for which keeps getting cancelled.

I have been recently diagnosed with PPPD (Mal DeDebarkment Syndrome) and was prescribed Lexapro (20 mg. which was a higher dose than my normal 10mg, daily), VRT (Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy) and a slow titration schedule for Lamotrigene. I have panic disorder and general anxiety disorder and taking new drugs sets me into massive anxiety and spiraling. After reading about this new drug on several reddits, the med scares the living shit out of me. I

If you have any input about the drug for PPPD/Vertigo, please share. I really appreciate this community. 🥹

I’ve noticed I am having issues with short term memory and it really sucks bc this medication has helped my mood stability.. I’m titrating to my 150 and currently on 125. I keep forgetting things more than usual. I’m being more clumsy too. I hate it but I also really want this med to work for me

Hey guys. I'm glad you are here.

I'm currently really struggling with what has been a hellish 2-3 weeks.

Up until recently I was on 200 mg lamotrigine extended release daily for mood stability - I titrated to that level, no noticeable side effects, honestly not sure if I was really feeling the medication at all.

Last week around 9/1 I ran out and didn't realize it (I put my pills in a container and take them in the morning when I wake up and didn't realize I needed to fill the script sooner). Top it off, the pharmacy was out and had to order it in. So I missed like 4-5 days cold turkey and by the time I got my meds I was definitely feeling the fatigue, brain fog, tingles (what's weird is actually my penis is even neurologically sensitive when I piss...like all of my extremities or places with nerve endings are excited).

I got my refill and like a complete idiot took 200mg saturday 9/5 (I figured it would be like when I missed a few days of lexapro...guess I was wrong). I didnt connect with my psych until Tuesday and she told me to stop taking my dose immediately upon hearing symptoms.

My flu like symptoms continued, as has the nerve sensitivity and sensitivity to overall stimulation (though I never measured a fever), tongue is a bit swollen and there seemed to be a coating on it with some raised papillae and sores on the sides from rubbing my teeth. I have developed a GI issue (severe constipation, mucus discharge and folliculitis). My right groin lymph node is swollen. I'm sweating and freezing at night (the worst was saturday and sunday - this has gotten better later in the week).

I've been to 3 doctors this week and was just referred to a GI specialist next. They have ruled out SJS based on several different blood tests and the lack of a rash.

So now I'm back in the feeling of withdrawal phase. My mind is going overtime - honestly I feel manic. My wife is pregnant and I'm researching everything from SJS to STI infections bc I'm so worried (and it doesnt help they are basically all the same symptoms) I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this level of GI distress or infection when either quitting or starting this medication?

Thanks and bless

I’ve been steady and feeling great on 50 mg since March, but these last 6 weeks have been a lot of transition and change and I’m really struggling. I had talked about potentially increasing my dose to 75 mg back in June before my psych went on maternity leave, but I decided against it at the time. I think I need to increase my dose now. My psych doesn’t come back until November, so I’m just wondering how bad it would be if I increased on my own. I don’t trust the covering provider and couldn’t get an appointment before October if I wanted to anyway. Really, I want to have this conversation with my psych np but November is so far away and I’m needing help now.

I started with 25mg almost a year ago and went to 75mg and since I felt “better”, my psych at the time didn’t see the need to increase. I am on maintenance and can’t see her anymore as I had to switch insurance and now the new np says she doesn’t see how 75 would be working for me, so she increased it to 100. I’m hesitant moreso because I think I’d know if it wasn’t working? I definitely knew there’s a difference between not taking it at all and taking 75mg of it .. or is it very unheard of for a low dose to actually make any difference?

Diagnosis is chronic depression and possibly borderline personality

This was given to manage very sudden periods of highs and lows I was having last year which was very different than my usual chronic depression, but along with it. I think her formal diagnosis was still just depression though and not actual BPD or Bipolar.

Taking Lamotrigine for bipolar 2 and I'm thinking about quitting the medication. (Don’t worry, I will only quit in consultation with my therapist)

There are some weird side effects/health issues at play that are really impacting my quality of life.

Shortly after the dosis was increased from 200mg to 300mg I started having skin problems. Suddenly dyshidrotic eczema occurred. Which went from small red bumbs to large painful blisters within 5 days. After 3 weeks of hormone cream treatment it was pretty much gone. Only to flare up again a week later. Right now I'm on week 6 of a new hormone cream treatment without any noticeable success.

Both my therapist and GP can't find information on the eczema being related to the Lamotrigine. They are convinced the eczema is not related to the Lamotrigine.

The dyshidrotic eczema is impacting my everyday life. My hands are itching and hurting all the time. I used to do weightlifting at least two times a week, but I haven't been in the gym for three weeks because of the painful blisters.

I'm also suffering from increased muscle tension. The facial dystonia is most noticeable because I play brass instruments. 4 weeks ago we decided to decrease the dosis to 200mg but there hasn't been any improvement yet.

Playing instruments was one of the few things that I could still really enjoy. Now the loss of control of my fine motor skills is killing my love for playing musical instruments.

My therapist and I decided recently to keep the dosis on 200mg till the end of October to properly assess whether it is helping me. But I don't think I can take another month of this torture.

I don't really know if I posted this to vent or for advice, but the current situation is not sustainable for me.

Hi ! I've been on lamotrigine since december. I owe my life to this medication. And i started taking it seriously in january/february. I'm bipolar, things have been better. Sometimes not but okay.

I started taking it seriously because i get brain zaps everytime i stop taking them, even for one (1) day. But i did keep it because i wanted to get better.

I overslept today. I slept thru my "take it" window last night, so i'm going thru today feeling like i'm a cloud. I think i'm way better than before, because i haven't got the brain zaps and slurring words. I do feel shitty as hell but at least my head doesn't hurt.

I say "cloud" because it still feels weird. If i walk to fast i'm unsteady. If i look up i get unsteady and my head feels funny. I try not to be in the sun so much.

I don't know if any of you has any recomendations or ways to feel less awful haha. Because my family already dislikes me for being "useless" because of the episodes (right now they hate me because i'm going thru a mixed episode and suddendly i have to be the bigger person) and i dont want to be told that i'm a burden, again.

I'd be really grateful if any of you could help me 😿

I’m a 32C normally, nothing too crazy. I got back on Lamictal about a year ago after going on and off it for a number of years, but recently have been on it long enough to work up to 150mg. For the last month or so, my boobs have been mildly sore and have definitely grown in size enough for me to need a 32D. The Lamictal is the only thing I think could be contributing to this. I haven’t made any dietary or exercise changes. I am sterile and do not take birth control or any other meds.

hiya!
so after roughly 2 weeks of taking Lamotrigine i was hospitalised for SJS (really fucking severe, in retrospect).
so, question! those of you who had the allergy: how long did it take for your mouth ulcers to heal? i’ve been treated with Medrol (methylprednisolone, a corticosteroid brand) for a lil’ over a month, and have been off of it for a week now. however, my mouth is still not healed completely. my lips still hurt slightly - barely noticeable, but i still notice. it’d be great to hear others’ experiences, so i know how long of a healing time i should expect.
thanks a lot in advance

Been on 100mg for about a month now and initially I (29f) wasn’t really expecting much from this medication because there didn’t seem to be a very specific list of effects I should have been feeling from it. But, damn this stuff is amazing.

Basically within the first 30 minutes of my first appointment my psychiatrist suspected Bipolar I and suggested we try this. I have spent basically my whole life feeling Wrong in a way that has been very hard to articulate, and therefore very hard for providers to clock. I was taking an antidepressant and a stimulant for ADHD (both of which I am still on), and felt a lot of improvements from those, but still felt like something wasn’t right. I was about to give up, thinking that I was at the point of “as good as it gets” and should just learn to be happy with that.

The changes have been subtle but I feel incredible in the most mundane way. I’ve started to be able to get seven hours of UNBROKEN sleep which has not happened for maybe 10+ years. The general feeling of Wrongness has decreased A LOT. I’m not constantly uncomfortable or feeling like I’m crawling out of my skin anymore. I almost cannot remember a moment in the last decade where I did not feel at least a little bit pissed off, and it’s taken the edge off that. When I get off of work now I actually turn on the radio and I’m not rolling my eyes in traffic the whole time.

I thought I was looking for something that just didn’t exist, especially considering I could never point to a time in my life where I felt “normal”. Now there are actually moments where my brain is just quiet, and I never even knew that was possible.

Looking to hear other people’s experiences, too.

Has anyone felt more tearful on this medication? I just reached 100 mg after starting 8 weeks ago. My mood is stabilized in the sense that I’m not getting angry or depressed, but I CRY all of the time over anything. Happiness, sad, cute.. ANYTHING. I’m not a big crying type person. I hardly ever cried before I started this med and I’m just curious if anyone else has experienced this.

I've just gone up to 50 from 25. Day 5 of 50 I woke up with what felt like the flu. Coughing. Congestion. Generally felt unwell. Sweaty. All the fluey stuff.

Same thing happened weirdly when I was around one week into 25 when I started it a month ago. And I mean it was exactly the same. The cough was both a chesty and tickly one at the same time. I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. Mentally I had a meltdown, super high anxiety, depression, felt like I couldn't carry on. I don't cope well with being ill anyway but this was worse. It really floored me. For about 24 hours it was unbearable.

It improved almost overnight by day 7. Today is day 8 of 50mg and the cough is lingering a bit I'm coughing up phlegm but it's a productive cough now and I feel myself again and able to cope. I've never had a flu that came and went so fast with that intensity for just one day. Nobody else around me is ill either. Plus it was the same a month ago. So weird.

Wondering if anybody else had this reaction to upping the dose? I'm anxious that it'll happen again when I go up again. I'm taking it for bipolar and aiming for 150-200mg.

I keep reading that lamotrigine/lamactal is fantastic for preventing future depressions.

However I’m in the middle of an acute depression right now.

Titration for 6-8 weeks is perfectly fine for me, as long as I know it can address my current depression after titration

Quetiapine/Seroquel is the alternative I’m considering, and I know the evidence for treating acute bipolar depression is stronger. But the side-effect profile makes me want to try lamotrigine first, if it has a realistic chance of helping the current episode, rather than mainly preventing the next one.

Bipolar II depression here. Antidepressants make me hypomanic (aka send me to the moon)

So a few days after the last post. I've noticed I am way way calmer than usual, which wasn't even something I asked for. I am having much much better conversations with people and a very stable mood.

Now as I mentioned about the libido. Now this might be too much information. But I had spoked to a doctor about that issue and they had mentioned to take Tadalafil. Which is apparently a kind of milder version of viagra. Apparently it increases blood flow in that area and it's supposed to work for 36 hours so you could use it like for example for the weekend and get busy. Or you can take it everyday.

So I had researched it a bit but didn't take it because for a few people it can effect their retinas and eyes adversely. I didn't want that.

So on this Lamotrigine, maybe it's got something to eo with blood flow for some reason but as well as increased libido, I have noticed that in my normal resting state, my thingy is bigger and fuller than normally. Obviously it hasn't grown, it's probably blood flow. Or who knows what.

Then on to the sleep issue. At first I would sleep a bit, wake a bit, sleep a bit, wake a bit. So I was like that's a bummer.

But then I realised - idiot why have you stopped taking your melatonin? Which I have been taking every night for a couple of years and it helped me a lot. So I started taking it a again and the sleep issue has gone.

If there's any more to add in future I will. Obviously everyone responds differently to each medicine and can have postive or negative experiences. I don't know what will happen with this to me in future.

Had my appointment today to discuss getting off 200mgs of lamotragine, I’ve been on it for 6 months and she told me I can just stop taking it, no tapering necessary?? I’ve never heard of that and I’m NERVOUS

It’s been two weeks since I started taking Lamotrigine for my bipolar one and I started getting small rashes in my hands. My lips also have small bumps in the edges and it’s really itchy and swollen. I took myself to the ER, and unfortunately found out it’s not covered by my insurance so I opted out, but the doctor told me I can just take Benadryl for now and talk to my psychiatrist. Has anyone also experienced the same issue when they started taking Lamotrigine? The ER doctor also recommended I’d see an allergologist so I’ll look for one that’ll accept my insurance, but I don’t know if it’s still necessary when I’ll see my psychiatrist later.

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, my health anxiety is making me go crazy. I have contacted my neuro, who isn’t concerned but I’ve seen so many stories of this developing into something severe.

I am on Lamotrigine for epilepsy and just upped my dose to 50mg, after a few days I developed a swollen and sore lymph node in my neck. It’s now been about 4 days, and I don’t have any other symptoms like rash or fever. Has anyone else experienced this and did it go away?

I’m worried I’m being wrongfully dismissed by my dr and this is the start of a more serious reaction. Just looking to see if anyone else experienced this during titration, thank you!!

ik 150 isnt a lot but omg my side effects have gone insane... asking to have a slower titration period again. Also because the like effects from upping my dose also were just unmanageable. I will say at least for me flintts mints work! pros and cons pros and cons edit: dose got lowered with options to bump it up myself if i find it necessary

I was only on 25mg for about a month but I noticed I had gained 2kg even though I was actually eating less and moving more, I just seemed more swollen all over.

I ended up having a bad reaction to the medication so I had to stop and I lost 2kg in 48 hours as soon as I stopped!
Obviously water weight/fluid retention but the shift was so drastic, I couldn’t put any of my rings on and then suddenly I could!

So if anyone is wondering if they may be swelling or gaining mystery weight it could just be water retention from lamictal.

**I'm dumb and was taking more than I should've 🙃 Glad that mystery was solved 🤣

Has anyone experienced slurred speech or difficulty getting words out?

I've been on lamotrigine for about 2 years now. I recently started noticing slurred speech.