I have been taking Lamictal for about 2 1/2 months now. I was initally suppose to start at 25mg. and work my way up to 200mg. After I finally worked my way up to 150mg. everything started happening. I started to bruise very eaily. I would find bruises and not know how I got them. I also started having headaches, after taking my meds, I would feel sicker than I felt before Physically. My hands started shaking and I would have involentary muscle movements all over my body especially when I was trying to sleep. I recently told my doctor these things,and he insist that it is not the meds that was making me feel this way. He says probably something else, of course he could not tell me what. I have discontinued the meds and of couse I know I shouldnt but I felt like it was really doing some physical damage to my body. I know that I can not last long like this. I really do need something but at this point I feel like I am caught between a rock and a hard place. I don't have another appoinment until next month but what do I do until then? This is a scary place to be. Does anyone have any of the experiences that I have had with this medication? If you have, can you tell me about it. Or is there anyone with any advice for me.
I could not take lamictal because it made me feel sick, too. Sometimes you have to put up with minor side effects when you are starting a med, but those side effects of yours do not sound minor to me. I think your doctor was wrong to brush you off. At the very least, he should have told you to go to a regular physician to see what was causing it all. Maybe if you call your pdoc and tell him you have QUIT the med, he will prescribe something else before you see him. Mine has done that for me before. You are right you need to do something and maybe calling him will help. He needs to know you quit the med, and if he won’t listen can you call another doctor? Good luck! and I’ll be sending good thoughts your way.
Hi Doll, Need to keep this short but Nand (?) was right about letting your Doctor know that you went off of your med. Lamictal. After years of being on Lithium (29), I was very very slowly taken off of it and very slowly put on Lamictal. You need to let your Dr. know because you could possibly get more problems if you just quit cold turkey. Will write again to see how you are doing.
Take care and a big hug, Sanna.
just a idea but try asking him to put u on tegretol retard this treats moods a mood stabliser i think they call it.it is a epilespy med like lacamital but mite suit you better.as for the bruising get it checked out ok
I am feeling some adverse affects from not being on my meds(depression slowly creaping in) I am going to call doc and give talking to him another try. I dont want to end up in the hospital again. I am continuing my Prozac so its not too bad. I am anxious that he get it right . I have to go back to work in a couple of weeks.
Hi there -
No, I’m not a doctor. There’s a website called “crazymeds.org” that has a lot of details about all these anti-depressants, and so on. So, I looked there for some info about Lamictal.
I also am on Lamictal, and needed to go up very slowly. I hate to disagree with your doctor, but nausea, headache, and muscle aches and pains are 3 of the more common side effects of starting Lamictal. I’m not sure about the shakes and “twitches.”
I too got all 3 of those, along with itching every time I “stepped up” my dosage. They would go away after my body adjusted, then come back at the next increase. I took benedryl for the itching, and it helped. When I went from 50 to 100, I got REALLY BAD nausea. headaches, and body aches (like the flu) and of course the itching. I went back down to 50 until those went away, then went up to 75, stayed there a week or so, then up to 100. After I dropped down to 50 on my own, I called my pdoc to tell him that it was working.
When you hit 150mg and started with the side effects, you really had a couple of options. You could have stuck it out for a couple of days and see if they went away. Or, you could have dropped down to the dosage you had BEFORE you went to 150. I assume you were OK on the smaller dose.
Is your doctor a pschiatrist? If he is, he SHOULD know this stuff. If he’s not, he may not be as familiar with all the side effects as he should be. ALL doctors have a reference book know as the PDR, Physician’s Desk Reference, which contains info on side effects and interactions for prescription medications. Especially if he’s not a psychiatrist – or someone whose “main” line of work is working with mood disorders – ask him to look this up again. Just tell him you’re read “online” that the nausea and headache can be caused by the Lamictal and would like for him to let you know.
I don’t know where you live, but if it’s in the US, you should have gotten info about possible side effects and all that from your pharmacy. Also, every prescription medications comes with something called “Patient Information” which is usually printed on some sort of very thin paper in teeny-tiny print. Again, in the US you can ask for this if you don’t get it. This PI discussed side effects, interactions, and all that stuff.
Sometimes doctors give samples when a person is starting out a new med. If that is the case with you, they you need to ASK the doctor what specific side effects there are, even the ones that don’t happen all the time.
Are you taking any other medications? If you are, you should ask your doctor about interactions.
Yeah, I know, it would be great if the doc would tell us all this. But, that doesn’t always happen, so we need to ASK for it, then ASK again, then ask again.
good luck. Some doctors don’t like a patient who knows too much. But we patients who take these Psych-medications, MUST learn all we can about them, for our own good.
I hope this wasn’t too confusing. The short version:
Nausea, headaches, and body pain can be side effects of Lamictal.
I hope you didn’t just STOP. Lamictal needs to be discontinued gradually, lowering the dosabe by about 25 mg, waiting there a while, then down another 25. This is the safest way, although some doctors may use others. You can ask doctor again about the side effects. INSIST he tell you about them. That is your RIGHT!
Maybe by now you have talked to your doctor, and this is all fixed. I hope so.
peace,
c.
Hi Doll,
Everyone has given you good information. We all have to educate ourselves about our illnesses, so we can ask the questions to get all the answers we need. Someone said once, “know thy enemy”. (our illness)
Wow! just read Stillonaseesaws letter. I agree with everything she says!You can tell she knows her enemy! I wish I had had that kind of advice when I first became ill, but it was so long ago they didn’t know much about Bipolar, or even medications, and I was misdiagnosed a couple of times. I said I think we still have a long way to go , but I believe they are really trying. It would be great if we could get rid of the stigma of mental illness. I wish all people would get an education about it, not just us! There is plenty of info about it if they would read or just turn on the computer and ask.
Hope you are doing just fine Doll, let all of us know how you are doing.
We’re here for you!
Sanna
Thanks everyone for your advice I am sorry that I haven’t gotten back sooner but I am learning a lot about myself and this condition . I did decide to continue my medicaton until I could see my doctor again. He is a MD but he strictly deals with patients that have problems like ours. I met him when I was admitted into the hospital on Jan. 23. He seems to be a very caring person but he is also swamped with patients. I agree that he should have given me more information about this medication and not leave it up to me to find out the hard way. I wont see him again until next month and if the symptoms continue as they have so far, I will discuss other options. Thanks again.
doll, I'm glad you decided to go back on your Lamictal. I was put on it mid-year last year and have done quite well with it. I go to a psych doc (not a general doc) who knows his meds and discusses side effects thoroughly with me. You can also look up meds on the web - like seesaw said earlier.
Pdoc started me at 25mg/day and slowly titered it to 300mg/day now. The dose needs to be very gradual though because the biggest side effect is an awful rash (I didn't get). I did experience some easy bruising but later discovered it was because my other doc had me on Bayer 81 daily. Once I stopped the aspirin, I quit bruising so easily. Are you taking anything like aspirin?
Anyway, I'll have to say the Lamictal curbed my appetite in the beginning, which is not a problem with me, but that's about it. It has certainly helped stabilize my mood, along with Prozac and Wellbutrin XL for depression. Hang in there and talk with your doc about a smaller dosage regimen and increasing it gradually. Perhaps that's where the spontaneous body movements are coming from. I don't know if you've thought about it or not, but I feel much better putting my mental health in the trust of a mental health professional vs. a general MD. Psychiatrists specialize in head meds! Be well & keep in touch.
Hello,i have just joined today and my sympathies are with you,i have been on Chlopromazine now for a month and have bad symptoms.
Shaky feeling all over,clicking neck,headache,feeling faint and the worse is constant fatigue,i saw my gp last week and he just renewed the prescription until i am seen by my appointed psychiatrist on the 11th April.A lifetime away for me.
I hope you get it all sorted out and hang in there.
welcome finn to the site i hope you find us a good bunch.
my doc has just in the last 2 weeks approx put me on chlopromazine and i have this incrediably thirst and dry mouth .
my neck and head hurts and i feel sick sometimes.i take one 25mg 3 times a day now i was on one tablet twice a day.he added this med after he put me on tegretol retard and i started having really bad episodes.
also i keep dropping things.
i know it's hard but we are all here to support you
Snuggly,do you get a click in your neck,i have it all the time now,it is strong stuff,i dont know if i will be put on a mood stabiliser or extra meds until i see the psychiatrist in two weeks time.
Thanks for the message of support.
I keep spelling stuff wrong and dropping things!
Finn, I went through a spell last summer of dropping things, not being able to type very well and clicking in my neck - also ringing in my ears like crickets. Late last year I saw a orthopedic doc about my neck and head and found I have a bulge in a bone pushing in on the nerves. It was so bad I couldn’t hardly turn my head without intense pain. Hubby took me to get steroid shots in the facets of my upper back and seemed to help. Ask your doc about those symptoms and see if you can get Xray or MRI. Mine didn’t show until I had an MRI. Good luck.