Lamictal - double vision

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Ramjet

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I had four simple partial seizure events overnight last Wednesday which,as usual, manifest themselves as sweating episodes. I had been over 60 days without such events. I am on a 400 mg dose of Lamictal XR, which I take in the morning (7:30) with juice, coffee, and cereal.
Just after 5:30 that afternoon, while on my way to my health club for my daily swim, I had a period of double vision. This has never happened to me before. I returned home immediately. The documents received with the medication and various websites indicated this was a possible drug side effect. Several websites indicated I should drink large quantities of water. I did this and after about an hour was seeing normally. I know from looking at messages on this board that others have experienced similar double vision incidents. Apparently this it is a common side effect with many anti-seizure medications.
Today the doctor's office indicated I should take an additional 100 mg, to try and stop the sweating/seizure events. In discussing the double vision with his nurse, she indicated I should always take the medication after a more complete meal, not just a light breakfast as I have been doing, and that possibly I should snack more during the day to make sure I was not absorbing the medication too rapidly.
Any comment from others on this message board who may have had similar side effects?
 
I take my Lamictal when I first wake up, at least a half hour before any meal. It's not the extended release version, so I also take a dose in the early evening before dinner. I have no problems with taking it this way. Not to say that your nurse's advice was wrong, just that there are no hard and fast rules about this stuff. I would think that the whole point of the extended release version is that you don't have to worry about "absorbing the medication too rapidly," so the nurse's comment seems a bit odd. Do you have any blood sugar issues? Maybe that was part of her concern.
 
The Lamictal XR instructions say that you can take it with or without food -- If your stomach is bothered when you take it on an empty stomach, then it makes sense to try taking it with food. But there's no mention of absorption issues. Taken once a day, Lamictal has a half-life of at least 26 hours, so it should work fine regardless of how many times a day you're eating.

In fact, I located one study that suggests that it's best to take it on an empty stomach! See http://www.icmr.nic.in/ijmr/2005/May/0503.pdf
 
When I started Lamictal I started getting double vision if I didn't eat enough when I took my meds. I started taking them after lunch instead of after breakfast because I don't usually eat enough at breakfast (usually just a bowl of cereal). Sometimes it still happens anyway, in which case lots of water does help.
 
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