Lamotragine side effects

[GillyA]

Hi all,

I’ve had epilepsy for about 25 years, until recently well controlled with keppra with only occasional breakthroughs. Unfortunately I had a particularly nasty seizure and injured myself in December. Lamotragine was added in gradually hitting 100mg twice a day. In retrospect I started developing some minor stomach discomfort around the same time. In May I had two more seizures within 5 days, ended up in hospital and lamotragine was increased over 2 weeks to 200mg twice a day.

Although no further seizures I ended up back in hospital with a range of neurological symptoms including double vision lack of balance and difficulty framing sentences around the same time my stomach problems got much worse and I lost around 5kg in a month. Most of this has now returned to normal apart from the vision and the stomach problems.

I’ve just seen the neuro ophthalmologist for a separate but linked issue, he has ascribed my double vision to the lamotragine, I’m now starting to wonder if the stomach problems could be too.

Due to see my epilepsy specialist today, I was away from home when everything happened and although he agreed to the increase in dose it was very much at arm’s length. Will obviously go through side effects with him, but wondered if any of you have experienced similar.

[EpilepsyAction1 Partner Epilepsy Action]

Hi

I hope you hear from others on this platform, as sharing information and experiences can be a good idea. And I hope you’ve now had some information and support from your epilepsy specialist.

The British National Formulary (BNF) is the website that medical professionals use fore information on medicines. But it is available for anybody to use. The BNF lists nausea and vomiting as common side-effects of lamotrigine.

Can also I just check you also know about our other services?

We have our Talk and Support groups, social media and befriending service.

We also have a membership offer which is designed to help people stay up-to-date with all the latest epilepsy news, views and research.

Finally if you think it may be helpful to speak to one of our advisers in more detail you can contact us by live chat or the Epilepsy Action Helpline freephone 0808 800 5050. Our helpline is open Monday to Friday 8.30am until 5.00pm and Saturday 10.00am until 4.00pm.

Regards

Jess

Epilepsy Action Helpline Team