Swollen Eye with Lamictal?

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Starburst

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Doesn't it just seem like everything strange starts happening when you take a new medication?

My toddler started taking Lamictal 2 weeks ago.

Yesterday, for no reason whatsoever, he suddenly had a swollen and puffy eye.

It stayed that way for about 3 hours and then went back to normal.

Is there any reason for me to think this might be related to taking Lamictal?

Do I need to ask the doctor or just forget about it since it went away on its own?

I read that swelling of the face and extremities sometimes occurs while taking Lamictal, but I did not read anything specifically about the eyes.
 
It's wise to use a very high degree of suspicion when you're dealing with Lamictal, especially in children or babies. I would make a call to the doc asap, and make sure to ask when an emergency room visit would be needed. Keep us posted!
 
Starburst

I agree with arnie, never take chances with Lamictal so see the doctor.
 
Thanks, everyone. I have contacted the doctor and am waiting to hear back. The eye became swollen again today, so I definitely want to see what he thinks.

Has anyone here experienced swollen eyes with Lamictal?
 
Also, what types of things do you think would prompt an ER visit? And what steps would they take to counteract any bad reactions?
 
Starburst

I think you already know what would prompt a visit to the E.R. as for bad reactions well it depends on exactly what you mean.
 
Not to be too harsh here, but this is a potentially life-threatening situation. You should be heading for the ER and not posting questions to a bunch of random people on an internet forum. It sounds like you have not been too well informed about the potential side-effects of Lamictal. There can be a rash, and it can be fatal. Don't mess with it. I think the best thing would be to get to the ER right now. If your doc didn't already tell you about the rash (which apparently he didn't) he might also be remiss in telling you what to do in this case. Also, whatever you have to do to make it happen, get an epileptologist for a doctor and not just a neurologist. You are dealing with your child's entire life here and neurologists simply are not capable of dealing with the intricacies of epilepsy. Keep us posted on how it goes after you get back from the ER.

Are you still reading? Why aren't you on your way out the door?

Onward!
 
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hi starburst,
i see you're not on, ended up going i guess?
if not... the first day i took it i had the rash, up the back of my arms, chest, neck, and some in my face. both eyes swelled almost shut too, called doc and went off for four days until the rash cleared up, then back on at half dose (12.5mg 2x).
the rash was back after a few days, minimally tho, just a bit on the arms, but my eyes swelled again, and stayed like that for a good week (tho every day it got better).
it sucked but my epi wasn't overly concerned, it's the rash that's life threatening and it was gone, so i just had to watch closely, a week later was fine and no problems since.

let us know how it turned out, hope he's okay.
 
My problems with Lamictal started the same way-- with swollen eyes. I agree to get it checked out a.s.a.p.

Take a picture in the meantime, in case the swelling goes down. It came back once already so they need to see it.
 
I take Lamictal and I've been on it for probably 5 years, maybe more.

First I want to say that this happened about 3 weeks ago, after I took my contacts out. I've worn contacts for about 20 years.

About an hour after I took them out one eye started bothering me, it hurt a lot. When I woke up the next morning, at 7am, the eye that hurt was swollen almost shut. It only hurt a little. I called the optometrist, at 9 because that's when the office opened, and he said he could see me at 1pm.

By the time I got to the dr my eye was almost back to normal, just a little puffy, and didn't hurt any more. He did an exam but didn't see that I may have scratched my eye while taking the contact out or that there was anything in my eye. He gave me some drops to take. By the end of the day my eye was completely back to normal.

I never had any problems before this and haven't had any since. I'm thinking taking my contacts out had something to do with it and not the medicine.

If it happens again or lasts longer if it does, then I'd get your son to a dr or ER asap, especially since he's so young. Defiantly mention something to the dr next time you take him though.
 
Starburst, as I said above, I really hope you will go to the ER and get this looked at as soon as possible, for the good of your son. We all have different experiences with our meds and our individual situations with epilepsy, and this is a case where you really need a personal, eyes-on evaluation done by a well-qualified person who knows the particulars of your son's case. Please keep in touch and let us know how things go.
All the best to you!
 
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Hello to everyone, and thanks a lot for your helpful replies. Since I wrote my initial post, the swelling happened a third time, and the doctor recommended stopping the medication for a few days to see if the medication or something else may be causing this.

My 19-year-old son also takes Lamictal, and I am aware of the potential seriousness of the rash issue. However, I did not know that swelling of this type could also be dangerous. No one ever mentioned it, and the doctor did not say it would be important to go to the hospital in the event of a rash or other symptoms. I am genuinely curious as to what they would do in the hospital...do they give a shot to counteract a bad reaction to Lamictal, or what is it that they would do exactly? If it's a shot, what kind of shot is it?

In my case, I am from the U.S. but currently live in a developing country...and if I had to go to the hospital for this issue, I would want to call them first to make sure they had the necessary staff and equipment to deal with the problem. We have local hospitals that are adequate for most issues while the more modern hospitals are located in the capital city, which is a little far away. Although I would certainly make such a trip for a genuine emergency, I did not want to rush to do so before I heard from the doctor. Although it may have appeared that I was being careless, I was, in fact, doing several things at once...contacting the doctor and waiting for his response, researching the issue on the Internet, and asking my questions here for additional insights. Perhaps I should have contacted the doctor immediately after I noticed the swelling, but I did not yet know that swelling could be one of the side-effects of the medication. I was thinking in terms of rashes and not swelling. Also, it went away, so I wasn't sure if it was important or if I was over-reacting since kids have so many odd things that happen with them on a daily basis irrespective of medication.

As for the doctor himself, we have been seeing him for nearly three years, and he appears to be a very experienced and competent doctor. He is board-certified from the U.S. and sees a high percentage of epilepsy patients, many of whom are children. Due to where we live, there is not a large selection of sub-specialties like epileptologist, but our pediatrician referred us to this doctor since he is one of the few in the country who deal specifically with childhood epilepsy. Your advice is very good, but I just wanted to explain where I am coming from and how this affects some of my decisions. I do think it is important for doctors to provide accurate patient-information and instructions on what to do in case of an emergency. You guys helped me tremendously by filling in the gaps, and I am really grateful for that. I'll be posting again once I know anything more about the swelling and whether my son can continue to take Lamictal.
 
Giveasmile...what kinds of problems did you have with Lamictal? Did you end up getting the rash?
 
Unfortunately it's known all meds are not for everyone. So better to be safe than sorry, call the doc and see what he says! :)
 
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