Lamictal (lamotrigine) and Frisium (clobazam)

[SarahHowden]

Hi I have juvenile myoclonic epilepsy which is grand mals and little myoclonic jerks. I have had total control -NO grand mal seizures for 4 YEARS!!! on 200mg of Lamictal per day. I still had some jerks so my doctor put me on 10mg of Frisium/Clobazam a month ago. It stopped the jerks but a few weeks ago I had my first grand mal in 4 years ;( Then I had my first big seizure in public last week - my husband caught me! I am heart broken. I think the Clobazam has decreased the effectiveness of the Lamotrigine. Has anyone had any similar experiences?

 

[epileric]

Welcome Sarah

It's good to have you here. Sorry to hear that the effectiveness of your meds is lessening. You're so lucky to have gone 4 years with a GM though.

I"m on tegretol right now but it doesn't fully control the seizures, I still have them every day or 2. We do keep trying other medications in conjunction with the tegretol & they all seem to work for a very short time then they all stop working. I'm at the point now that I don't get excited any more.

I know some medications that have increased seizure activity in people (myself included). Is it possible that that's what the Frisium and/or the clobozam have done? Personally I believe that we should be put on no more than 1 new medication at a time so that if there's a reaction to it (good or bad) we know what our body is reacting to.

You might want to start keeping track of your seizures, when you take your meds, your sleep patterns, eating patterns etc. That might help you track what triggers them.

Also, I moved your message to the foyer where you can introduce yourself to everyone, also More people will probably see you here. Hope you don't mind.

 

[RobinN]

My daughter tried four different medications, seperately. Each caused new and different seizures.

I am surprised that a doctor would suggest adding additional medication. The suggested protocol is monotherapy. I sure wish they would suggest some alternative therapies instead of additional meds.

Nutritional changes have helped my daughter a lot. In fact another mom has seen improvement in her daughters JME while on the Modified Atkins Diet.

 

[Nakamova]

The two meds don't officially affect each other (in terms of absorption/potency), but the Clobazam is a fairly powerful benzo -- it could have messed with your sleep or metabolism, and that could be an extra stress that your relatively low dose of Lamictal couldn't handle.

I'm surprised your neuro prescribed the Clobazam since people tend to develop a tolerance to it, and it's very risky when you withdraw from it. If your neuro decides to take you off of it, you'll need to go slowly just to be safe.