Sleep problems on Lamotrigine

[Michael_M]

Hello everyone, in the last few months I have been having really bad problems with sleep.

I can get to sleep absolutely fine but wake up 3 or 4 times in the night so I never get a good, unbroken night’s sleep and wake up feeling exhausted.

I take Lamotrigine for temporal-lobe epilepsy and these sleep problems seem to have worsened as the medication has been titrated upwards.

Do any of you have the same problem? Especially other people taking Lamotrigine, I’d love to know how well you sleep.

[EpilepsyAction1 Partner Epilepsy Action]

Hi Micael_M

Having disturbed sleep is awful. It can have such a big impact on you.

People with epilepsy have a higher chance of having disturbed sleep or a ‘sleep disorder’ than people who don’t have epilepsy. Here is a link to our information on sleep and epilepsy.

epilepsy.org.uk/living/heal...

Unfortunately, lamotrigine can cause sleep problems as a side-effect. If things don’t improve it may be best to talk to your epilepsy specialist about your treatment options.

bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/lamot...

Communicating with others in a similar situation can be helpful. So I hope you hear from others in this community soon.

If you don’t, as well as managing the HealthUnlocked community, Epilepsy Action has other ways for you to contact others. These are:

Facebook facebook.com/epilepsyaction

Twitter twitter.com/epilepsyaction

Talk and Support epilepsy.org.uk/talk-and-su...

From our experience, in most case people find it helpful to talk to or contact people who understand what they are experiencing.

If you wish to talk to our helpline team and you live in the UK please do phone our freephone helpline 0808 800 5050.

Our helpline is open Monday to Friday 8.30am until 5.00pm, and Saturday 10.00am until 4.00pm.

Regards

Diane

Helpline Team

[Nines]

Hi , I started having seizures in 2009 and unfortunately they have never been controlled and I’ve been on Lamotrigine and pretty much every medication there is for us to try and I’ve had a VNS and you have pretty much described my sleep pattern since being diagnosed almost like you know me. I’m currently taking Clobazam and Epilim Chrono daily and have been since 2016. I just wish there was a cure so I could get my life back. Take care, Amy.