lamictal rash

[gr33nr0se]

my neuro emailed me back this morning and told us to come in imediately. it IS the lamictal rash and he brought my lamictal down to 50 to ramp it up more slowly. he said i have to take benadryl three times a day and if it gets worse i am going on a steroid as well. im so itchy but at least we are taking care of it.

 

[Nakamova]

Aaaaaaaaaargh! Your neurologist blew it by starting you up so quickly. It's "common knowledge" that the Lamictal ramp-up needs to be low and slow. This really makes me stabby-cranky, and I want to yell at the neurologist on your behalf.

Okay, rant over. I hope this time works better for you, and that you are not itching for long. Fingers-crossed that no steroids are needed.

 

[Endless]

OH, sheesh!!!!!!!

Those docs. I'm glad you are okay, though, and it isn't THE rash (SJS).

I hope that your mom is watching your backside - literally. I'm just worried about you. Still watch yourself like a hawk. What did he say about the flu-like symptoms? The flu???

When I took lamictal the first time, the doc ramped me up at 1/2 the normal rate and I still got a lamictal rash. It looked like razor burn with little bumps in it, and it burned like razor burn. He took me off cold turkey, which was awful.

Second time on Lamictal (yup, we had the not-recommended second trial), I went up 1/4 speed, still got a rash, and a dermatologist helped treat it until it eventually went away. Neither time was it THE rash (SJS), just a drug reaction rash.

Now I'm happily on Lamictal, no problems. At least with my skin.

I'm so glad you went in to your doctor. It's important that he knows right away when something like that pops up. (no pun intended)

 

[gr33nr0se]

thanks guys, he said the lamictal rash that i have comes with flu symptoms. but the rash looks different all over. he said he started me up so fast because i was seizing so much but now that i am a little more stable its ok i guess. but he still gave my mom clonapin(spelled wrong) and diastat for me incase of a big seizure. and yeah i'm being watched, although that is not exactly a change.

 

[Endless]

lol.... gr33nr0se, you crack me up. No, being watched wouldn't be a change. I bet instead of checking in on you every 3 hours, now your mom has bells tied to your toes.

 

[gr33nr0se]

nope lol just a baby monitor and my little sister is sleeping in my bed tonight. my sister cleaned my room so i told her she could. and my mom is just relieved because if the baby monitor fails somehow, my sister can be there. she said she wants to be an epilepsytologist because she knows EVERYTHING about seizures. she even tells my parents to ask her questions if they don't understand something. its quite hilarious but i love that kid

 

[gr33nr0se]

this can't get any better (sarcasm) so we called my neuro this morning to tell him it got worse and he made us come in again. we live over an hour away. so we did and he put me on prednizone and lowered my lamictal down to 25mg. he also put me on banzel, (i've never even heard of it) but its the only choice we have. its not SJS thank goodness but i'm still itchy and now i'm on benadryl 3 times a day and we just keep messing with my drugs. i wanna be med free so bad.

 

[Endless]

Ohhhhh... Gr33nr0se. I'm sorry, oh itchy one. Don't scratch! Also try some of that clear calamine lotion. That helped my itchy rash a lot.

Is there a local dermatologist you can see who is closer, and can help keep an eye on it for your neuro?

 

[gr33nr0se]

i will try the calamine and i am trying not to scratch. there is a dermatologist but he is kind of an idiot so we are dealing with traveling. my mom travels to the bronx for work every day and that is an hour and 45 min away. so its not that bad

 

[Endless]

:roflmao:

I just love it when you call an idiot an idiot!!!

 

[Nakamova]

this can't get any better (sarcasm)

I don't know what I would do without sarcasm, I swear. I would probably murder my neurologist.

I hope you get some relief soon.

BTW, I just saw the movie "Black Swan". Don't go see it until your rash is better. Trust me.

 

[gr33nr0se]

haha it's all good i saw it two weeks ago, amazing movie. my 20 years old brother chickened out in the middle. i didn't think it was scary, just disturbing. and yeah, if i had had the rash then, i think i would have been paranoid, thinking i was turning into the black swan.

 

[Chel]

Oh, gr33nr0se, I'm so sorry to read that this rash goes on and on! At least you can maintain your sense of humour/sarcasm- we'd be lost without it.

I'm not sure whether I want to be adopted by your family or not: you have so many who love and support you, and now your sister wants to be a "epilepsytologist". How cute LOL However, I'm kinda fond of owning my bedspace *wink*

Feel better soon
Hugs
Chel

 

[gr33nr0se]

ok really? im tired of this. sometimes i just want to scream! the rash got a little better the day before yesterday and then it got wayyyyyy worse. my mom took me to the ER and they upped my steroids and added zyrtec and pepsid(apparently its a good antihistamine) they said if it spreads to my eyes or mouth, we have to come back and be admitted. today, my little brother is babysitting me and my mom is calling from the restaurant that we own to "remind me to do laundry" i finished my laundry yesterday so she is asking me to do hers. honestly its just an excuse to keep calling. if its not my 13 year old brother, its my 7 year old sister insisting that she will call 911 if something happens but she will still try to put clonapin in my mouth even though we told her it was too dangerous. i used to be the favorite babysitter between the families we know, now i'm seeing status updates on their profile "looking for a good babysitter". on top of wanting to scratch my skin off, i want to tell everyone to leave me alone! but i can't because all of a sudden, i'm being babysat, by everyone. i don't mean to rant, actually yes i do, but i'm tired of this. and still itchy, very very itchy.

one good thing though. i have a 22 year old cockateil that likes to masturbate on a pillow when ever he sees me upset or gets out of his cage. he won't let anyone else go near him instead of me. so i guess i still have one being who treats me like an adult lol. the masturbating is a little weird, but it is really funny, kind of disturbing, but funny. sorry if that was too much info lol

 

[Nakamova]

So sorry about the rash of unwanted attention. Sorry about the other rash too.

Glad you've kept your sense of humor though! That cockatiel is hilarious, if a little disturbing.

My brother had to get rid of his family's cockatoo because of allergies. They gave it to a local store, and it still yells out the name of one of my nephewd from time to time. (It picked up the habit from my sister-in-law's scolding.).

 

[Endless]

Oh, Gr33nr0se,

It isn't fair that you are still going through this.

I'm a little worried that they draw the line at mouth/eye involvement. Excuse the straight talk here, but what about other mucosal areas, like genital? Or throat? I'm quite worried that they've kept you on the lamictal.

Was it a dermatologist + neurologist who made the decisions about this?

In the meantime, itching is horrible. Torture. Were you able to get some calamine? I also put on gloves so I wouldn't scratch myself. Scratching makes it MUCH worse. A cool bath with a ton of oat flour in it also helped me (make oat flour by whirring up dry oats (oatmeal) in the blender or food processor until it is a fine powder. I almost lived in that bath for a couple of days. When I got out I just left the bath in the tub, and re-stirred it when I got back in. If all else fails your doc can also give you stuff to put on your skin that kind of numbs it, but that is really temporary. It doesn't last long.

I'm also so sorry about your loss of responsibility in your family. I think in time they will see that you are still your old self, even if you do have seizures. And how wonderful are your little brother and sister! Wow!

Lol... on your bird. He should get together with my sister's dog. Any time there is company in the house he plops down in the middle of them and licks himself for about an hour. I think your bird and my sister's dog are the perfect pair.

Will you let us know how you are doing later today?

P.S.... if I had small children you could babysit for me any time. You would be at the top of my list. You are responsible, compassionate, good values, calm in an emergency, and you sound like lots of fun. All the good things in a babysitter that are so hard to find. (Have you thought of applying for the position on your relative's facebook page? lol...)

Hugs....

 

[gr33nr0se]

they took me off lamictal a couple days ago. thats why my mom freaked out when it got worse. my eyes are itchy but not unbearable and i woke up with a sore throat but it went away. i think it was just dry in the house.

the thing with the babysitting, is that i used to babysit for them. the risk of me having a seizure while changing a diaper is too high. that's why they don't want me as a babysitter.

the calamine does help. i am so glad i have everyone on this site. when i post something, i always feel better afterwards. thank you guys. hugs

 

[Endless]

Gr33nr0se,

The half life of Lamictal is about 24 hours in healthy adults who aren't taking certain other drugs.
http://professionals.epilepsy.com/medications/p_lamictal_pharma.html

That means if the last time you took it was 2 days ago, you still have 1/4 of it in your system. That would be enough to spark more allergic reactions. Reassure your mom that the more time goes by, the less Lamictal will be in your body.

I'm glad you feel better when you post in here. I do too.

 

[Chel]

Okay, now I've decided I definitely do not want to be adopted by your family. Except maybe your cockatiel. I like your cockatiel - he has no shame *wink* One of my girls (dogs) is in season at the moment, and she also has no shame, so it's all fun and games around here at the moment, too.

Gr33nr0se, you are singularly the most mature 16 year old I have ever met, so square your shoulders, hold your head high and know that you will get through this difficult and frustrating period. Just come in here to rant whenever you need.

But make sure you do the housework first *shakes finger*

 

[gr33nr0se]

thank you chel. i love my family, i wouldn't trade them for anything but they, like everyone else, get a little overprotective sometimes. i know this won't last forever, but i would give everything to know the day when it will get better. but wouldn't we all?