lamotrigine: I would like to hear from... - Epilepsy Research...

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lamotrigine

robertgoddard profile image
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I would like to hear from people that take lamotrigine. Likes and dislikes

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robertgoddard
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19 Replies

Hi. I take lamotrigine 275mgs twice daily. I also take zonisamide 200mgs twice a day & clozabam all for epilepsy. What do you want to know about the tablet?

robertgoddard profile image
robertgoddard in reply to

I just start on the lamotrigine and wondered how it effected different people

in reply to

Two drugs is the MAX for epilepsy treatment. 3 drugs are a thing of the past. Has the cause of your epilepsy been fully diagnosed.

PS. I'm a neuro + epilepsy patient. That's why I'm replying to everybody.

Rubiksolver profile image
Rubiksolver in reply to

Interesting to hear that you say two drugs is the max for epilepsy, I had a brain tumour partially removed 30 years ago, I get an annual scan and a regular check up on my medication, I take Lamotrigine, kappra and clobazam dally clobazam is too stop seizures through the night.

robertgoddard profile image
robertgoddard in reply to

I'm only at 50 mg qd wirh plan of going to 100mg I take nuerotion 700mg

Rachisawire profile image
Rachisawire

It initially made me drowsy but after a few days that wore off. I've been on it for 13 years and had a healthy baby whilst still taking it. I am in the process of replacing lamotrigine with Keppra as it isn't as effective as hoped for myself

Kiera49 profile image
Kiera49

Hi I've been on lamotragine for 14 years initially had really bad diarrhoea which went after a week, sometimes feel a bit shaky but no other problems. I have also had a healthy baby on lamotragine have never had a fit on it and was even controlled epilepsy through chemo. Hope this helps

jules1973 profile image
jules1973

Hello i did take lamotrogine for 3 weeks but in that time i became allergic to it and was taken off immediately and i cant tolerate the side effects of them all except tegretol and zonisamide i dont take zonisamide anymore as i had a temporol lobe lobectomy done in 2013 jst one set of tablets to go and i will be free of them

Lamotrigine has one of the highest success rates. If you take it, you need to change your diet. I did. Plenty of fruit and veg. Spread the meds out over the day. i.e. every 8 hours. Take them after eating. That's VERY important. Drink plenty of water. Twice as much as before. Drink as little as possible during a meal. Cut back on sugar. You'll feel drowsy at first. Let me know how you get on.

Andy

Tenerife1234 profile image
Tenerife1234 in reply to

Hi

Why do you have to change your diet on lacosamide

TEAH35 profile image
TEAH35 in reply to

Thanks for that you have indeed given me confidence and I will take your advice and watch my diet

Tenerife1234 profile image
Tenerife1234

Do you need to change your diet with vimpat too?

in reply toTenerife1234

Yes. And get a full diagnosis. Vimpat isn't 100% approved.

Tenerife1234 profile image
Tenerife1234 in reply to

How do you know that vimpat is not 100% approved.

monaco1 profile image
monaco1

I was on it for 16 years! I had a very hard heavy sleep! When I went to sleep. I definitely had a set pattern which was good. However I was on 300mg AM and 200mg PM. With my seizures, it was like blowing up a balloon! The bigger the bubble - the bigger the bang! The longer I went without a seizure, then when it came, the bigger it was! My parents knew that and prepared themselves for it! But when I walked into the doctor's office and was told they had to take me off it, I knew my life was to change! I was told that if I wouldn't come off it, my kidneys would burst! So I had no choice! The one problem with it is coming off it! It took me 11 months to come off it and another 6 - 12 months to finally know what was normal again! I suppose it can be different for everyone - that was my experience.

Rubiksolver profile image
Rubiksolver in reply tomonaco1

I have taken Lamotrigine for years now I take 300mg in the morning and 250 at night, I also take Kappra and clobazam, l have clusters of seizures and the only one to really correct them is lamotrigine I have always slept a lot so I can't say if they cause this but I have found that fennel tea causes clusters.

Hayleyminx84 profile image
Hayleyminx84

I have only just started taking lamotrigine for my epilepsy. I'm in 25mg for two weeks. 50mg the next two weeks then 100mg. Yesterday was the first time I'd had a drink whilst I'm on these tablets. It was only one glass of wine and lemonade but I didn't even finish it as I had s strange feeling going on kind of like the aura I get before my seizures.

I'm sure most people will be fine drinking with it but I think alcohol has a massive impact on my epilepsy. I seem to have seizures when I've had a drink,

berlina123 profile image
berlina123

I have been tailed off to Lamictal from Lithium Carbonate since April 2016. I suffer from Bipolar Disorder & Lamictal is used as treatment as well. Been taking very small dosage and now I take 100mg three times daily. When I just started at the beginning though on a very low dose I would wake up during the night and became very impatient like not able to wait after people when I needed to be patient in order to act normally. I would be walking on a pavement in a very common pavement near shops and would not feel able to control my walking behind other people.

Since I have been increased on Lamictal of 300mg daily I have been loosing a lot of hair when washing my hair etc. I always had this problem guess since been taking Venlafaxine for depression ( which now I stopped but it had increased dramaitically. I informed my psychiatrist who let me know that I should check if this continues after 2months and let him know.

However though I hate loosing this amount of hair I still want to continue taking this medication since I found it so well for me. I'm less nervous like wanting to eat all the time which I associated as a side effect of Lithium Carbonate. Moreover, the best side effect I guess is that it makes me loose wieght.

TEAH35 profile image
TEAH35

Tonight was my first day dosage of Lamotrigine.

I have recently been diagnosed with bipolar (which BTW I am quite pleased with as it makes so much sense of my life), and was prescribed Seroquel. This drug has been so fantastic for my sleep, (or lack thereof as it was in the past), but unfortunately it has been a dismal failure in helping me with my mood swings which have been constantly low for the past two months.

Yesterday I had an appt with my psychiatrist, and he has now prescribed this new drug.

I am somewhat rather concerned about the side effects. They do not sound to be very pleasant, and in one case, actually quite scary.

On Googling it ... the following information became available.

It is an anticonvulsant medication used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder. For epilepsy, this includes focal seizures, tonic-clonic seizures, and seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

It is an anti-epileptic med, also called an anticonvulsant. It is used either alone or in combination with other medications to treat epileptic seizures in adults and children. Lamotrigine is also used to delay mood episodes in adults with bipolar disorder.

I do not suffer from anti-convulsants in any way shape or form. I have never had an epileptic seizures or a focal seizures, or a tonic-clonic seizures. I'm not even sure what they are.

I have however, albeit only on a couple of occasions, had RLS convulsions.

RLS is my primary disease and I have suffered from the torment of this hideous disease for 60 plus years.

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