lamotrigine and poison oak

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dustmansam

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i recently upped my dose of lamotrigine from 500 to 600 mg. two weeks ago I got poison oak behind my knee(i think) and it was exceptionally bad. Extreme weeping and then exfoliation almost like a burn. Just as it seemed to be abating, what I think is the lamictal rash started and has continued to grow for the last few days. I have read in numerous places that you should stay away form poison oak if you are on lamictal, but it never goes into why. any ideas
 
I googled and all i found was that the lamictal can make you respond even worse to the poison oak. Have you seen a doctor about the rash? Good luck!!
 
I'm on Lamictal too and about a month ago I got poison ivy VERY BAD! I'm not even sure how I got it because I don't do a lot of yard work but I know there is poison ivy around the house.

I woke up one morning with my eyes swelled. The next day they were swelled about half shut and I started to get a rash on my arms and legs. I went to a dermatologist and he told me I had 'some big medical word' which scared me to death because I had no clue what it was. Turned out it was only poison ivy.

He gave me steroids to take which would make it go away faster. If I didn't take them then I'd have to let it run its course which could last over a month.

It got a little worse before it started to go away. I got blisters in between my fingers and the rash spread some more. It was gone in about 2 weeks.

I don't think I've ever had poison ivy before but I wonder if the Lamictal could have made it easier to get?

My grandmother is also taking a seizure med (can't remember what one) and she just got poison ivy very bad too.
 
Lamictal seems to make all sorts of skin problems worse -- acne, sunburn, poison ivy, etc. I think it has to do with how it interacts with estrogen, since estrogen plays a role in skin health.
 
I know this comment is really late to the party, but I am trying Lamotrigine again after a few years. I am currently on Felbamate and have a VNS. They also have me on an aromatase inhibitor[anastrozole]. .5mg once a day. Because of your earlier comment about its interaction with estrogen, I was wondering if you have any comments on my current cocktail? Oh, I am titrating up on Lamotrigine 50mg once a day right now and the plan is to get rid of the Felbamate, eventually
 
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