Lamictal/lamotrigine High...?

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My neurologist just increased my lamotrigine from 150mg to 200mg twice a day. I ramped up slowly and I’ve been at this new dose for about 2-3 weeks. Every day I can tell exactly when my medication is in full swing because I get really drowsy, and I feel kind of high, like suuuuuper relaxed and flighty and sort of in slow motion or something (similar to Xanax, if anyone takes that). I didn’t feel this way with 150mg, but I had a seizure while on that dose, which is why it was increased. The only other medicine I take daily is birth control, which never had this effect on me. It also doesn’t matter if I take lamotrigine with or without food—I get this high feeling every day no matter what. I know 200mg twice a day is a fairly average or even low dose, and the last time I was at this dose was when I was first diagnosed with epilepsy over ten years ago in high school (and to be honest, I don’t remember much of high school after I started taking it because it also gives me memory problems). I got laid off recently, and I’m a little worried about getting back into the workforce if I’m feeling like this every day, especially when I can drive again. Does anyone else get this feeling, or anything similar??

Comments

I wasn’t on this medication

Submitted by Patriotrehab on Mon, 2020-05-25 - 00:08

I wasn’t on this medication long enough to experience this kind of thing, but I did experience lots of side effects from it. Some of my side effects subsided after a month or so and that may be the case for you too, but I would advise you to report this to your doctor because it does sound concerning. I know that my neurologist now has a policy in place for me with medication increases where I am supposed to call his nurse and report if I am feeling any negative side effects or if the medication is not working after a specified amount of time (usually two weeks, unless the side effects are intolerable or signs of allergic reaction) so that he can make an adjustment without an additional appointment before our regular follow-up in two months. Hope that makes sense.

I wasn’t on this medication

Submitted by Patriotrehab on Mon, 2020-05-25 - 00:25

I wasn’t on this medication long enough to experience this kind of thing, but I did experience lots of side effects from it. Some of my side effects subsided after a month or so and that may be the case for you too, but I would advise you to report this to your doctor because it does sound concerning. I know that my neurologist now has a policy in place for me with medication increases where I am supposed to call his nurse and report if I am feeling any negative side effects or if the medication is not working after a specified amount of time (usually two weeks, unless the side effects are intolerable or signs of allergic reaction) so that he can make an adjustment without an additional appointment before our regular follow-up in two months. Hope that makes sense.

Hi Wendy, welcome to the

Submitted by Patriotrehab on Mon, 2020-05-25 - 00:25

Hi Wendy, welcome to the forum. I was a little confused by your post at first and was concerned that you may not get as many responses because you didn’t start your own thread. But, I’ll try to help. I completely understand being afraid of starting a new medication and I don’t want my personal experience with lamotrigine to be an even greater deterrent for you because it’s been my experience that medication is very individual from person to person. I has lots of intolerable side effects on a very low dose of lamotrigine, but I take a high dose of Topamax, which many people complain of side effects and I don’t have any from it. So, all that I can advise you to do is to work with your doctor and try it. Here is some information on the medication. https://www.epilepsy.com/medications/lamotrigine I know that if you get a rash, that is the one thing they say to definitely discontinue, call your doctor’s office and you should even go to the emergency room and tell them that you take Lamictal. As for other side effects, some of them may be intolerable for you and if so, call your doctor’s office and tell them. I also have trouble with my epileptologist’s office staff much of the time and I think you will find this at most places. I think you can try finding somewhere different, but the wait time to get in somewhere else is going to be long and you will probably experience this elsewhere too, even if it’s to a slightly lesser degree. I cannot advise you on whether you should try to find a different doctor’s office; only you can make that decision because you know what’s available to you. If I was my doctor, I would also be ashamed of the medical assistant that works for him too, but in all honesty...I don’t think he knows all of what she does to harm his patients and she puts on a good front from time to time. I think he’s too busy to know and he has other staff that are responsible for managing that because he works at a major hospital. I wish you the best.

Hi Wendy, welcome to the forum. I was a little confused by your post at first and was concerned that you may not get as many responses because you didn’t start your own thread. But, I’ll try to help. I completely understand being afraid of starting a new medication and I don’t want my personal experience with lamotrigine to be an even greater deterrent for you because it’s been my experience that medication is very individual from person to person. I has lots of intolerable side effects on a very low dose of lamotrigine, but I take a high dose of Topamax, which many people complain of side effects and I don’t have any from it. So, all that I can advise you to do is to work with your doctor and try it. Here is some information on the medication. https://www.epilepsy.com/medications/lamotrigine I know that if you get a rash, that is the one thing they say to definitely discontinue, call your doctor’s office and you should even go to the emergency room and tell them that you take Lamictal. As for other side effects, some of them may be intolerable for you and if so, call your doctor’s office and tell them. I also have trouble with my epileptologist’s office staff much of the time and I think you will find this at most places. I think you can try finding somewhere different, but the wait time to get in somewhere else is going to be long and you will probably experience this elsewhere too, even if it’s to a slightly lesser degree. I cannot advise you on whether you should try to find a different doctor’s office; only you can make that decision because you know what’s available to you. If I was my doctor, I would also be ashamed of the medical assistant that works for him too, but in all honesty...I don’t think he knows all of what she does to harm his patients and she puts on a good front from time to time. I think he’s too busy to know and he has other staff that are responsible for managing that because he works at a major hospital. I wish you the best.  

Hi Wendy, welcome to the forum. I was a little confused by your post at first and was concerned that you may not get as many responses because you didn’t start your own thread. But, I’ll try to help. I completely understand being afraid of starting a new medication and I don’t want my personal experience with lamotrigine to be an even greater deterrent for you because it’s been my experience that medication is very individual from person to person. I has lots of intolerable side effects on a very low dose of lamotrigine, but I take a high dose of Topamax, which many people complain of side effects and I don’t have any from it. So, all that I can advise you to do is to work with your doctor and try it. Here is some information on the medication. https://www.epilepsy.com/medications/lamotrigine I know that if you get a rash, that is the one thing they say to definitely discontinue, call your doctor’s office and you should even go to the emergency room and tell them that you take Lamictal. As for other side effects, some of them may be intolerable for you and if so, call your doctor’s office and tell them. I also have trouble with my epileptologist’s office staff much of the time and I think you will find this at most places. I think you can try finding somewhere different, but the wait time to get in somewhere else is going to be long and you will probably experience this elsewhere too, even if it’s to a slightly lesser degree. I cannot advise you on whether you should try to find a different doctor’s office; only you can make that decision because you know what’s available to you. If I was my doctor, I would also be ashamed of the medical assistant that works for him too, but in all honesty...I don’t think he knows all of what she does to harm his patients and she puts on a good front from time to time. I think he’s too busy to know and he has other staff that are responsible for managing that because he works at a major hospital. I wish you the best.

Lamictal/lamotrigine High...?

Comments

I wasn’t on this medication

Submitted by Patriotrehab on Mon, 2020-05-25 - 00:08

I wasn’t on this medication

Submitted by Patriotrehab on Mon, 2020-05-25 - 00:25

Hi Wendy, welcome to the

Submitted by Patriotrehab on Mon, 2020-05-25 - 00:25

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