I discovered that my lamotrigine is made with aspertame. In fact it's the second ingredient in " inactive ingredients" and now the ER and DR. OPTIONS

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

I’m not a big fan if aspartame generally, but the amount found in AEDs is very small. If you think you might be having a bad reaction to it, it can't hurt to check in with your doc.
 
Hi Janus,
Everyone is different I know that aspartame triggers seizures for me like crazy. According to my Dr. it causes more electrical activity
in the brain. Thanks for sharing this info. I find it very interesting. I wish you only the Best and May God Bless You!

Sue
 
Are you taking brand name Lamictal or a generic? Can you share with us who the manufacturer is?
 
My lamotrigine is made by zydus pharmaceu.
I think this lable indicates that it is not generic. But the original. ??? There is also a warning that phenylketonurics. At least. .7mg of phenylalanine (a component of aspartame )
The second ingredient in the inactive ingredients is listed as aspartame . It is a chalky, white pill. Does 'inactive' ingredients mean fillers and binders, ?
 
I think Zydus makes the generic. If the label says lamotrigine (rather than Lamictal) then it’s the generic you're getting, not the brand.
“Inactive” means anything that’s used as a buffer, binder, filler, flavourant, colourant, preservative, suspension agent or coating.
Because aspartame is a sweetener, I assume it’s in your lamotrigine as a flavourant. But the amount would be very small, and unlikely to affect you unless you are phenylketonuric or otherwise unusually sensitive to it.

Incidentally, my lamotrigine, made by Aurobindo, doesn't contain aspartame. The inactive ingredients are: microcrystalline cellulose (binder), lactose monohydrate (filler), povidone (dissolving agent), sodium starch glycolate (dissolving agent), and magnesium stearate (lubricant in the manufacturing process).
 
Thank you. I am curious though, my lamotrigine. Is a plain white chalky tablet.
Whereas my depakote is super-bright pink, plasticity coated and you would not believe how strong the smell is. After it has been somewhere for a short time it leaves a strong odor behind. I can see that containing aspartame
 
Is your lamotrigine a chewable? I think lamotrigine is slightly bitter, so it might just have a little aspartame added to balance out the taste.
 
No.. They are not chewable. That is one weird thing about this
 
On this topic. Does anyone know about which pharmaceutical company makes the depakote in a plain, white, non-smelling tab ? I had it before. It was a Delayed release instead of Extended release. It made no difference. I had no seizures for that month.. but now, my pharmacist moved and the doc says he knows nothing about it. I trust him, but am disappointed. It seems I have no way to track it down now. If I could bring the info about the pharmacist Co. That makes it. To request the visiting pharmacist was here a few years back and I do not know where they got their product. But this was all at my regular CVS in target. Now, no one seems to have ever heard of this form.
 
I never knew this. How long have they been hiding aspartame in Lamotrigine?! I took it in high school, but I do terrible with aspartame as well as all the other fun hidden fake sugar additivies like sucralose, neotame, acesulfame-K/potassium, etc. If it's hidden in a product like chocolate milk or something, I can usually taste it right when I put it in my mouth and definitely know by the way the room starts spinning and the brain fog I get. Explained why I might've had so many break through's, side effects, and more back then with it. I'm not on it anymore, but good thing. I don't think there's artificial sweetener in what I take now, but perhaps I'm gonna have to double check.

No, I don't believe that is okay at all. Artificial sweeteners have been known to cause convulsions in sensitive individuals. There's also nothing good about these. If ants won't even eat it then why should it be given to people? It's a lab made chemical.
 
It's listed here in the chewable form, manufacturer is not specified: https://www.drugs.com/inactive/aspartame-191.html

I'm aspartame sensitive. I'm also sensitive to acesulfame potassium, which is usually mixed with it or other artificial sweeteners. I'll start feeling "fuzzy" (have a simple partial) if it's in something that someone gives me, otherwise I always read labels and avoid them like the plague. It's now almost impossible to find bubble gum without aspartame.

Sucralose/Splenda seemed ok when I was on keto, but I wasn't 100% sure. It counts as a carb, so that may have been giving me problems, rather than the thing itself :( Stevia seemed fine. Saccharine, which is supposed to be safe, was impossible to find. I think sugar alcohols are just fine (usually have "ol" at the end), but they do count as carbs. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sugar-alcohols-good-or-bad#what-they-are

Sweeteners should NOT be in pills *palmslap*. Maybe it's cheaper than whatever they were using before as a filler, like cornstarch or something. I can't understand why stuff made in a chemical plant is inevitably cheaper than actual food. LOL, but it's sad. FWIW there is some kind of sweetener in Advil tablets coating, but I don't know what it is.

I've been forced to go on generics, and I've felt awful ever since. I've had problems with side effects and seizures on several generics for two meds.
 
It's listed here in the chewable form, manufacturer is not specified: https://www.drugs.com/inactive/aspartame-191.html

I'm aspartame sensitive. I'm also sensitive to acesulfame potassium, which is usually mixed with it or other artificial sweeteners. I'll start feeling "fuzzy" (have a simple partial) if it's in something that someone gives me, otherwise I always read labels and avoid them like the plague. It's now almost impossible to find bubble gum without aspartame.

Sucralose/Splenda seemed ok when I was on keto, but I wasn't 100% sure. It counts as a carb, so that may have been giving me problems, rather than the thing itself :( Stevia seemed fine. Saccharine, which is supposed to be safe, was impossible to find. I think sugar alcohols are just fine (usually have "ol" at the end), but they do count as carbs. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sugar-alcohols-good-or-bad#what-they-are

Sweeteners should NOT be in pills *palmslap*. Maybe it's cheaper than whatever they were using before as a filler, like cornstarch or something. I can't understand why stuff made in a chemical plant is inevitably cheaper than actual food. LOL, but it's sad. FWIW there is some kind of sweetener in Advil tablets coating, but I don't know what it is.

I've been forced to go on generics, and I've felt awful ever since. I've had problems with side effects and seizures on several generics for two meds.

Can you do xylitol? It's supposed to be a more natural sugar replacement - usually made from birch. I chew PUR Gum, it's aspartame free. They do have bubble gum flavor, too! The peppermint and wintergreen are good, too. It does have "natural flavors" so I'm not certain if there are other sweeteners, but I have never had a problem with it and it seems that xylitol is the only sweetener. It's also supposed to be keto friendly, but it's up to you to decide if that goes okay in your carb count, I think it's 2g carbohydrate per 2 pieces. Best quality gum I've used that hasn't bothered me.
 
Back
Top Bottom