Lamictal and jaw/ear pain- Help needed!

[AussieChris]

Just wondering if anybody takes lamictal (lamotrigine) and do they get swollen,sore glands/lymph nodes and sore ears or hearing loss?

I have been having no end of issues with ear pain and cant tolerate loud noise and even moderate nose and also developed tinnitus. Its got to the point where I cant sit in my kids dance concerts without ear plugs in for the pain

Now after being on it for 8 years I am rapidly loosing hearing and am suspicious it is the cause more so than allergies. I have had pain with it the whole time and assumed it was ear infections but i don't think so.

I do get body vibrations too and see Auras around people like psychic people do and am unsure if that is unrelated but who knows? I have never known a fellow lamictal taker to ask.

In saying that Lamictal is the epilepsy drug that makes my mind not sleepy and incredibly alert. I gave me back my life compared to the others and controls the seizures but may not be worth going deaf for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Fedup]

AussieChris

I take Lamictal as well and I think you have a point about the hearing issue, only in ways I am the opposite in ways I think.

The sore jaw thing has just started with me and there is no way I can stay where there is loud noise, drives me up the wall. and yet I can hardly hear what people are saying a lot of the time. Ear plugs are a good idea.

I have been on it a long time myself, it seems to increase my pain threshold a lot. I have discounted the ear infections or that it may be coming from your teeth. But I think and this is only me I prefer Lamictal to most of the others out there.

 

[masterjen]

It could also be a medical condition known as hyperacusis, and the causes of this can extend beyond medication. It is worth an evaluation by an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist to rule out problems with the inner ear and/or auditory nerve.

 

[BlueCat]

I've had increased problems with tinnitus lately too. Also just coming off a nasty cold so don't know if that's contributing to it all. Talking to the doc next week, will ask his opinion then.

 

[Penny]

I had some jaw pain when I first started lamictal several years ago. It only lasted a few months though.

After I had my stroke in July 2012 I began to have problems with some hearing lose. My stroke was in my right temporal lobe. Then came temporal lobe seizures (focal and partial seizures they are known as too). I have a lesion on the right temporal lobe from the stroke and they started realitively soon after. My hearing has become worse. I have to ask people to repeat things a lot which is annoying. I try to read lips while they are talking. I have to have the TV up loud which my family finds annoying also. It really stresses me out!

My neuro says its the temporal lobe that controls hearing and that is why I have a hard time. You might want to talk to your dr. about it.

Well wishes!

 

[AussieChris]

It could also be a medical condition known as hyperacusis, and the causes of this can extend beyond medication. It is worth an evaluation by an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist to rule out problems with the inner ear and/or auditory nerve.

I have seen a few of those for it over a few years and think they are (full of it) because they are looking to extract their fees from your wallet with the least amount of work possible. I mentioned Lamictal interference to them and they never bothered to research it as a possibility. They wanted to look in my ear and say nothing was wrong they could see. One guy told me it was my jaw causing it. The latest one is telling me it's epstien Barr virus and allergies and pumping me full of vitamins to fix it but it remains unfixed as usual.

If I double dose my meds by accident I get heaps of ear pain for a day.

 

[masterjen]

I have seen a few of those for it over a few years and think they are (full of it) because they are looking to extract their fees from your wallet with the least amount of work possible. I mentioned Lamictal interference to them and they never bothered to research it as a possibility. They wanted to look in my ear and say nothing was wrong they could see. One guy told me it was my jaw causing it. The latest one is telling me it's epstien Barr virus and allergies and pumping me full of vitamins to fix it but it remains unfixed as usual.

If I double dose my meds by accident I get heaps of ear pain for a day.

I have worked with several ENTs over the years, and your judging them as a whole is very unfair. There are many doctors in many specialties who might be "looking for a fee" but it is no reason to put down an area of medicine especially if it might be discouraging someone (ie. the original poster of this thread) from seeking the help he might need and find beneficial.

 

[AussieChris]

I have worked with several ENTs over the years, and your judging them as a whole is very unfair. There are many doctors in many specialties who might be "looking for a fee" but it is no reason to put down an area of medicine especially if it might be discouraging someone (ie. the original poster of this thread) from seeking the help he might need and find beneficial.

Lol you can thank my sister in law for that. She is a practicing doctor and clued me up that some doctors make up stuff if they don't know the answer and to tell you the truth I wouldn't know any different if they did. I don't want to say anything else about it but i have my reasons I said what I did but those things are in the past now not to be brought up again. I can only speak for the ones I have visited and them alone. i thought I phrased my other post so it would be read as the ones I visited and not a generalization. None of them would try for me about the anti consultant theory and brushed it off without trying

 

[AussieChris]

AussieChris

I take Lamictal as well and I think you have a point about the hearing issue, only in ways I am the opposite in ways I think.

The sore jaw thing has just started with me and there is no way I can stay where there is loud noise, drives me up the wall. and yet I can hardly hear what people are saying a lot of the time. Ear plugs are a good idea.

I have been on it a long time myself, it seems to increase my pain threshold a lot. I have discounted the ear infections or that it may be coming from your teeth. But I think and this is only me I prefer Lamictal to most of the others out there.

that's exactly what its like! hard at hearing but loud nose is pain. If I drop the teaspoon in the cutlery draw or he dog barks its instant pain.
I wonder if that drug company is hiding something about this drug they should have told us?

Edit: I notice this effect far more if I use the generic brand (cheap non lamictal) versions of it.


Did you ever feel like Lamictal was like taking some sort of speed that makes you feel more alert (or feel people and normal events in the world are moving slow around you) more than normal and you need to sleep less?

 

[kirsten]

Chris, is it possible that the tinnitus and the ear and jaw pain are two separate issues? I had really sore inner ears for months a short while ago and it went away when I stopped having so many tonic clonics and tonics all night, so I figure I was gritting my teeth during the seizures (that, and that I broke a lot of teeth at the time) and that was causing the ear pain. It was difficult to distinguish where the source of the pain was--inner ear, neck lymph nodes, jaw...but it was all down to TC seizures.

 

[AussieChris]

Chris, is it possible that the tinnitus and the ear and jaw pain are two separate issues? I had really sore inner ears for months a short while ago and it went away when I stopped having so many tonic clonics and tonics all night, so I figure I was gritting my teeth during the seizures (that, and that I broke a lot of teeth at the time) and that was causing the ear pain. It was difficult to distinguish where the source of the pain was--inner ear, neck lymph nodes, jaw...but it was all down to TC seizures.

I am not sure as there could be so many causes. It could be anything and I figure process of elimination is the best way and I have had ear issues the whole time I have been on it and not before at all so this is a great place to start.

 

[kirsten]

I'd think that if the pain is caused by tonic clonics, it'd produce the same symptoms as TMJ. Not suggesting that you actually have TMJ, but it seems logical that the effects would be identical. Here you are: http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/temporomandibular-disorders

 

[AussieChris]

I'd think that if the pain is caused by tonic clonics, it'd produce the same symptoms as TMJ. Not suggesting that you actually have TMJ, but it seems logical that

A ren't you smart, it might be that. My ears have been popping for years all the time too. Next stop dentist I guess.

 

[kirsten]

Not necessarily, Chris. The reason I linked to TMJ symptoms is because if you're gritting your teeth together during tonic clonics (as we all do, I think) then you would have the same symptoms as TMJ, but they wouldn't be caused by your teeth being misaligned, but from the seizures themselves. I'm suggesting that your pain might be caused by what you do during tonic clonics, and that maybe you're having a lot of those at the moment.

 

[AussieChris]

Not necessarily, Chris. The reason I linked to TMJ symptoms is because if you're gritting your teeth together during tonic clonics (as we all do, I think) then you would have the same symptoms as TMJ, but they wouldn't be caused by your teeth being misaligned, but from the seizures themselves. I'm suggesting that your pain might be caused by what you do during tonic clonics, and that maybe you're having a lot of those at the moment.

Ahh I see what you mean and where your train of thought is but mine is controlled really well and I only have them about one every 18 months usually so far. Where I pass out. I don't think anything happens in my sleep so I am not sure I have done it that way.