lamictal for bipolar side effects

t like the sexual side effects. Lamictal, though, seems to only be approved for treating bipolar disorder and epilepsy. I have never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder nor do I have epilepsy. Is my psychiatrist really going out on a limb prescribing Lamictal for anxiety/depression?

I am on Lamictal for my Bipolar, but i have also had a seizure. i know it is also a seizure med, and my bipolar issue is WAY more important. How much of the lamictal will be helping for my actual bipolar? I'm trying to understand, the doctor said it will treat both, but i need to be sure that the motivation was not for epilepsy, because that takes a backseat to bipolar, as i have only had a couple seizures, and am not diagnosed epileptic, and my MRI showed nothing of the sort.

The biggest side effect for the Lamictal is the rash that can occur in the beginning doses, and I have never heard of cysts being caused by it. However, the stress of having bipolar could certainly be effecting your body. If the Lamictal is working well for your bipolar though, I would hate for you to stop it. Best of luck to you.

Lamictal doesn't do anything for anxiety. Lamictal works great for my mood disorder. I take xanax as needed when I have panic attacks, but not daily.

If the side effects listed freak you out, look up all the side effects for a medicine you take on a regular basis, like tylenol or ibuprofen, to give you some perspective. And some side effects go away after a few weeks. TL;DR--if you have BP II or depression is your worst enemy, try the Lamictal first.

Lamictal has less of a potential for weight gain. As for the effects of specific medications on kidney function you'd have to ask your doctor about that. That is one of the side effects monitored for with lithium with the monthly blood test and not as much of a problem with other mood stabilizers but every medication has its specific set of side effects. Lithium does have a fair amount of side effects but its also highly effective.

I was briefly on Depakote when I was first diagnosed, but I was taken off of it after about 6 weeks. It helped tremendously, but I was having trouble with short term memory and word recall (I kept saying "You know....that thing.....the..um....."). Now I'm on Neurontin (generic is Gabapentin) and it's a god-send for me. At this point I don't care if it's a placebo for me...it works!

Lamictal is one of the greatest drugs out there for bipolar i had no side effects at all

Hi Nikki, I don't think you need to be as scared as you may be right now. I've been on Lamictal for over a year, with no side effects and excellent results. I was scared at first. This was the 1st medication that I took for bi-polar (vs other depression meds) but I was really happy with the results. Obviously there are some side effects that you should watch out for, but the odds are strongly in your favor that you wont have any of them.

However an anti-depressent by itself would not treat the manic aspects of bipolar and could potentially worsen it so you would need to stay on a full mood stabilizer as well (which is what Lamictal is).

I just started taking it for rapid cycling. My doctor states the key is the dose I’m on 750 mg. And she added Latuda and I feel much better.

I love love love being on Lamictal. It truly has been wonderful as far as depression/mood my only negative comment about it is I have trouble sleeping sometime.

He gave me some reading material and we discussed the side effects. Many of the side effects were similar to that of the other meds that I had already been on. The main issue for me is that it has raised my sugar levels. So I have to watch what I eat more than what I did before. BUT, ..... It has been the only medicine that finally helped me! (There was a small timeframe that Abilify was added, but I no longer take it).

I've been taking zyprexa for almost 6 months and am still suffering side effects. I get blurred vision and fogginess which makes it hard to concentrate. I'm sleepy all of the time and could fall asleep at my desk if I could. I've had bipolar disorder for 10 years and have never been sleepy all of the time. In the past, prior to this medicine, I've always had troubles sleeping. Does anyone else have the same problems as me?

how does this help for your bipolar..im on the hi end of bipolar..but not like really super hyper!! was on serquil to help me..had to stop it was causing my heart rate to go way up.........please explain??

I have had no side effects from Lamictal. I take 200mg twice a day. I have been taking medicines for Bipolar since I was diagnosed in 1990 and all gave me some pretty bad side effects except Lamictal. When I switched from valporic acid to Lamictal all my side effects disappeared with in a couple of weeks. Lamictal is now available in generic.

Its been almost three weeks now on lamictal. All side effects went away and now im doing better than ever. Seems lamictal is good stuff.

lamictal has a warning in the side effect booklet about taking with birth control; yes, it can (and usually does) minimize your birth control effectiveness. might wanna talk to your doctor, though.

Some times side effects will disappear, and it really depends on the dosage you are current taking. Certain doses of medication have higher risks for particular side effects. More than likely you will be tinkering around with different dosage levels, if you find a medication that works for you, but are trying to find less adverse side effects. I am curious if your Psychiatrist weaned you back down to 50 mg from 150 mg. With Lamictal you can't just jump from one level to another one.

I am on Lamictal and Geodone. It is a good combination for me. Didn't get any side effects with the Lamictal. With Geodone I have a few side effects. One side effect is I lost a lot of weight. Which was good to begin with as I was a size 12 going on to 14 but I am now a size six. I really have to watch that I don't lose anymore weight. I'd like to gain some muscle tone too. I also have some agitation, or it increased what was already there. I alway fidgited now I do it more.

I do not believe that bipolar disorder would cause that. Medications can have crazy side effects. You are on a lot of different meds so it might be hard to figure out which one - and they might be interacting with each other to cause that sensation. Talk to your doctor about it, he/she might be able to help you with that. I have been on Lamictal and Seroquel together and never experienced that, but everyone reacts differently. Good Luck!

My new doctor thinks I've been misdiagnosed for depression/anxiety. He says this based on everything I described to him and because general SSRI's just cause me more problems than good (high anxiety and side effects). He says I'm not BiPolar, but that I have a mood disorder, on the BiPolar Spectrum... maybe unipolar. He says he does not know exactly what kind of mood disorder yet, just that I have one. So he's trying me out on Lamictal.

Lamictal for bipolar side effects

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