So discouraged-lamictal

[Blueruth]

I’ve been on his med for decades. I want to come off so I thought I was at a good place. I reduced by 1/8th for the last week and now I have withdrawal symptoms that are too much. Anxiety, headache, irritation, dissociation (poor cat 😞). I am struggling to be calm when dealing with people because it is probably all my interpretation but it is hard.

[Hidden]

Hi. I recommend that you call your doctor about this. They can advise you.

[Blueruth in reply to Hidden]

She is my partner in crime. That is why I take two smaller pills instead of a larger one. An 1/8 should not have been this dramatic.

Back story is Lamictal is a very difficult drug that modifies some things in your brain. It doesn’t just supply serotonin or some such. I read the gory details years ago so I don’t remember them but I do know it is close to sugar. And that explains why the only thing to make me feel even a little was two bowls of ice cream.

Had I been told this was a lifetime sentence I would never have agreed to it. I strongly recommend researching the meds you take because you may or may not have a doctor who is.

[Hidden in reply to Blueruth]

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear this! (Am I implying correctly that your doctor didn't research it enough before putting you on it?) I was put on Lamictal a few years back (forget why,) but was quickly taken off of it a few days later after I reported hearing voices.I am in a somewhat similar thing with the medication Lyrica. I was put on this in 2019 to help with my RLS. It helped some, but it also gave me negative psychiatric effects. And guess what? My neurologist, the one who told me to report any worsened depression since that is one of the side effects, wouldn't start taking me off it when I reported it! It took me another try before he agreed to taper me off.

So, I would like to add to your plea to research said medications first with "and get a doctor who will trust that their patient knows when something isn't right". After all, we know our bodies best.

Here's to both of us getting off these as soon as possible and then, once out of our systems, having our brains return to normal.

I mean, heck, I scared the bejesus out of me and my parents!

[Blueruth in reply to Hidden]

My current doctor is great. When I started it it was popular too quickly diagnose bipolar and I can go on and on as to why this is wrong. People are bipolar, don’t get me wrong. They diagnosed it after I was taking meds that can make you manic! I Aldo needed to learn life skills which I didn’t get growing up. that was before the most recent DSM. However It is still popular. They would also tell you, you would be depressed for life and therefore on meds for life. They know more more. It was also when it was popular for pharmaceutical sales to buy lunches and other goodies. So doctors didn’t do due diligence. Mine didn’t.

[Hidden in reply to Blueruth]

Wow! Well, I'm glad that you have a good one now (and that medical research has advanced as much as it has).My gp is awesome too. So is my neurologist, but he could place more trust in his patients. The first time I told him I needed to get off Lyrica he might well have said, "I feel fine, so why go down?"

[Blueruth in reply to Hidden]

Yea, I hate to sound discriminatory but I look for female identifying doctors or PA with a nursing background. The western medical schools (most) don’t seem to honor holistic treatment. Like every depression treatment plan should include therapy and physical treatment (eg yoga or anything you like). Therapy may have advanced even more than meds treatment. Mental illness is not just a chemical problem. It is your whole body. There is even evidence that you have a second brain which is you gut.

[Hidden in reply to Blueruth]

You are right about that! I just got done with Yin yoga. The instructor was talking about how everything is connected. That is so true! I had one funny moment where I was in this one pose and she told the class "if your jaw is tight, that means you'll feel tightness in your digestive area/abdomen as well". I was thinking "damn, how'd she KNOW that???" (I was feeling tension in both). I moved my jaw around to release the tension and violá! The tightness in abdomen subsided (some). She also talked about how the lower spine is where our emotions sit and a bunch of other interesting stuff.I had one physical therapist who taught me a whole bunch about it as well.

[Poodlefanforlife]

Can I ask how you’re doing now? I currently take lamictal but will be decreasing little by little til my dr says it’s safe to try to get pregnant.

[Blueruth in reply to Poodlefanforlife]

I still take it. It stinks. I might try again but it is a cheap med. I never would have started it if I understood how addictive it is. I hope it goes better for you.

[Adlon57]

I found it rotted my teeth, not good, and on it's own, night shocks, electrical type shocks when a person passes into subconsciousness during sleep. I have Juvenile Myoclonic epilepsy. [does it affect bone density, jury still out on that?]

[Blueruth in reply to Adlon57]

Lamictal? That would explain why my teeth aren’t as strong. They should be very strong according to dentists in the past. Bone density is another reason for me to keep doing yoga. I see things as I fall asleep a lot. Like huge bugs, nets, things I can’t describe. There is a name for it. Harmless but rattling. I think I may have gotten shocks but not for a long time.

[Adlon57]

I was on Lamictal for eight years, with Epilim and later Fycompa, teeth such a mess, actually falling out, two years after stopping them, able to get clear dentist's inspection "See you in six months!"👍Night shocks, like an electrical shock to the brain, sometimes flew out of bed, take a couple of hours to accumulate, not nice, ONLY happened while just on Lamictal!

[Blueruth in reply to Adlon57]

I have flown out of bed... i know what that is like. Not because of shocks though. My CAT flew out of bed twice ! the other night. That was quite disturbing to her and to me.

[Adlon57]

I have a sister with her two cats, probably happened to her a couple of times? No the effect of Lamictal when I was falling to sleep, it was literally like an electric shock, [like a loose connection in the brain] when I was attempting to sleep, I would fly out of the bed, it would take me a couple of hours for my heart rate etc, to get back to some state of normality, sometimes even when trying to get back to sleep, exactly same thing. I have reported this side effect to the drug company that makes this 'medication', it only happened when I was on Lamictal usually in the process of moving medication. I am currently on Vimpat and Briviact. I have been led to believe that the company that makes Lamictal knows about this side effect as others from this web site had similar findings, whether it is listed on side effects listed with the medication, I do not know as I have been off the 'stuff' since Dec. 2017! I have had many medications for my epilepsy over the 52 years the likes of Fycompa, Topamax, Keppra, Epilim, have done me no favours, possibly Fycompa the worse [I get a cold chill up my spine, even writing it down🥶] Lamictal up there with them! Sometimes the medication's side effects can be worse than the actual side effects of the seizures, they can affect the patient long term!