Lamictal and suicidal thoughts

My daughter, who is 22 yrs old now, has been on lamictal since January (seizures which came out of the blue after being ill for 2 years) this year. She ended up in the hospital for most of February with vomiting and diarrhea. She was first diagnosed with celiacs, then gastroparesis, all the time the neurologist is telling us it ABSOLUTELY CANNOT BE THE LAMITCAl...now, she has had some twitching and the doctor increased the lamictal from 100mg 2xs daily to 150mg 2xs daily. Well, the diarrhea, which she's already on all kinds of stomach/bowel medicine, never really resolved but now with the increase is worse. I just called and will take her back on Friday, but think we need to find a new doctor, Good luck to everyone. and God help us all.

wow! lamictal. im taking it for bipolar and it sounded so great due to the fact that it concentrates on the "lows" more than the "highs" and since i've been battling depression and suicidal thoughts since the 4th grade i thought this would be a wonderful addition to my medication. i would keep the seroquel at night and only take during the day "as needed" i was told there weren't very many side effects, just following starter kit exactly and i wont get that terrible rash. i didn't have access to a computer until a few days later after my first dose. so i didn't really get a chance to do much research. the first night i was surprised i felt a little loopy. didn't thank much of it. BUT several day late i felt i had the mind of a child. my speech slowed, my motor skills were off i felt heavy in body but light in the head. i could produce simple words. i knew the meanings of the words just had know actual word for them and would have to try to explain these words. stupid me started a new medication just before having to study for an exam( i was not expecting such a quick start of side effects) wow! i had no short term memory. could barely function. it was hard to even order a cup of coffee. of course there were other side effects such as pounding headaches and muscle soreness but they were nearly as annoying as the mental side effects. i started out at a low dose of just 25 mg. i had to stop taking it so my head would clear up and i could actually function just to take my exam. im not cleared up all the way yet but i do feel better. im sure my psych teacher will understand. ....but something im curious about is a weight limit issue. it really seems the side effects shouldn't have started so quickly and so intensely. i haven't been able to find anything about weigh a certain amount to take certain dosages. does any one know about this? should lower weights start even slower? im am a few pound below 100 and im thinking that might be why it hit so hard. considering its the weekend im not going to talk to my pdoc until maybe after my exam about stopping than restarting, but i do plan on restarting and giving it more time for the side effects to clear up

What side effects? I have taken Lamictal for 6 weeks. I am on a steady dose of 100mgs. I started out with severe depression (unipolar), and have also been diagnosed as bi-polar and borderline personality disorder. So who knows what I have other than to say that I have felt like a train wreck for 3 yrs. All the other meds I have taken did not help my constant cycles of severe depression. I felt like I was in a fish bowl and the world was going on around me, I could see it but was not a part of it. It was hell on earth. Other meds would help somewhat on certain symptoms, but nothing ever brought my life back to a level where I could say I felt joy and was truly happy until I started Lamictal. 2 weeks into the start of Lamictal (50 mgs), I woke up to a miracle. I realized I felt joy, I was laughing without trying to. I felt refreshed and prepared to go out in the world and face the day with a positive outlook on everything. My side effects so far have been nil. Not one thing...no pain, no headaches, no weight gain, no memory loss, no dizziness, no hairloss. Am I the only one? I know these meds effect people differently but wow, I am in heaven. I hope all of you eventually find something that works for you because I really felt ( before Lamictal) that I would never feel good again! Hallelujah! I do! bless you all!

I've only been on Lamictal for about 3 weeks now. I started taking it the day after Christmas. I take 25MG twice a day, with .5MG of Klonopin 3 times a day. I have been diagnosed as Bi Polar II, with very deep bouts of depression and suicidal thoughts. So far the Lamictal has been working for me. I have noticed that if I don't take it in the morning when I am supposed to, I let little things get to me. But as soon as I remember to take it, I feel better in a short amount of time; but that could also be the Klonopin. Anyway, the only side-effect I've noticed so far is that I started my period a week and a half early, and I have been on it for 2 1/2 weeks now. And it keeps getting heavier and that is very annoying.

Are any other females having period issues? Or is it just me? I can't find any other sides that list heavy bleeding or early periods as a side-effect.

I was diagnosed bipolar a year ago and worked my way up to 200 mg of Lamictal a day but recently desided to wean myself off of it as I have found some chinese herbs that will stabilize my moods without the side effects. Since being on Lamictal, I have had horrible pain in my left foot when I walk and it just kept getting worse. The pain got so bad I could not stay at work. I am a welder and have to be on my feet all day but after two hours I would be in so much pain and have to take tylenol 3 with codeine just to make it through an 8 hour shift. I am now down to 25mg of lamictal and soon to be totally off. My foot is now healing and I feel great personally. I am not irritable or moody but am taking Chinese herbs . I noticed when I got myself down to the 100 mg level then went to 75 mg of Lamictal, I got really sick like I had pnuemonia and I had severe chills, bad headache, swollen lymphnodes and very nauseated with no appetite for three days. I lost 5 pounds during this time. I got through it but felt like I was haveing a illegal drug withdrawal big time.
Lamictal was poison to my system. I feel great now. I can now start to run and exercise again. For anyone who has interest, go to Ron Teegaurdens Dragon Herbs web site and find a natural way. you will be much happier.
Lamictal is bad stuff.

anonymous