Coming off lamictal

[jenagade]

Hi all,

I'm coming off lamictal at the moment, 25mg decrease a week and the process has just been horrific. I've been nauseous, had chills, ridiculously intense headaches etc. and I just wanted to know if anyone else has had this kind of thing happen coming off lamictal because I have heard it can be quite a rocky withdrawal.

 

[Nakamova]

I didn't have the problems you describe when I tapered down on Lamictal (I tapered from 225 to 175). But I went very slowly, slicing my 25mg pills in half and staying at least two to three weeks at each increment. If you can, slow your taper down -- it makes it much easier on the brain if the increments are small and the time-frame is long.

I have gotten mild but persistent headaches when I've changed my Lamictal dose in either direction. I can tell that they are related to the Lamictal because unlike my "normal" headaches, which respond to ibuprofen (advil), the Lamictal ones only respond to acetaminophen (tylenol). I don't know if that will help your headaches, but it may be worth a try. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water too. I hope you feel better soon. If you can hang in there, the withdrawal side effects will eventually go away.

 

[jenagade]

I've only got another 25mg to cut out next week and then I start coming off Keppra so hopefully things calm down a bit.

The headaches are probably the least of my worries because they respond pretty well to painkillers and I get pretty severe migraines anyway.

 

[Nakamova]

Best of luck to you. I hope you can do the Keppra taper slowly too. Unless you need to taper off instantaneously because of an allergic reaction, a slow taper is the way to go even with a drug like Keppra that has a short half-life.