newbie to the site

[kiwicas]

hi all
Im a newbie to this site. and wanted to say hi and blessings from New Zealand. I am a 49 year old male I have been diagnosed with sleep Epilepsy after several major seizures upon waking up..
I have a win brother ( Identical )who has had general epilepsy for 10 years now.
Im currently on Lamotrigine 100mg x 2 a day and have been for 3 months
I would be interested to hear from others on this drug and its side effects.
Mine included tiredness, irritability, dizziness, apathy depression. to just list some.

thanks

kiwicas

 

[Nakamova]

Hi kiwicas, welcome to CWE!

I've been taking Lamotrigine for about 6 years now. The first few months it affected my sleep. I slept very restlessly and would have very vivid dreams. I would get low-grade but persistent headaches. Occasionally -- usually after a dose increase -- I would experience dizziness along the lines of "the spins" and mild but persistent headaches. But those side effects went away after about 2 to 3 months at a stable dose. (I'm currently at 175mg/day). I have also experienced a gradual blurring of my distance vision -- nothing debilitating, but since I had a perfect vision beforehand due to laser surgery, it's frustrating. No lasting mood problems though (in the first month I was a little "hyper" during the daytime, no doubt a carryover from the same side effect that was making me restless at night).

If Lamotrigine isn't working out for you, let your neuro know -- there are other meds to try that may be a better fit.

The link below will take you to CWE threads that discuss Lamictal (Lamotrigine):
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/tags/lamictal.html

Best,
Nakamova

 

[lindsayschu2]

Welcome to this site! I think you will find lots of support and understanding here. I am also on Lamotrigine. I have experienced very few side effects on this drug, especially in comparison to the other drugs I have been on. My side effects have included some sleepiness, very vivid dreams, a mood lift (all of which I actually welcomed), and severe myoclonic twitching at higher doses (which I did not). The latter was resolved by dropping back down to 200 mg. This med helped me get better control of partial seizures. Best of luck to you!

 

[kiwicas]

hey great to meet ya

hey great to meet ya
Its sounds like Lamotrigine is working well for you, which is great news. Are you taking a total of 200mg a day?, or 200 morning and night?. I seems everyone has different experiences with this drug, and mine is fairly negative.
I have been seizure free for 5 months, so theyre doing there job, however I would prefer not to take them, as I found the side effects very overwhelmimg
All the best with ya future
god bless

Kiwicas:cheers:

 

[lindsayschu2]

I'm taking 200 mg a day but only because that is my limit with the drug--I'm also taking 200 mg a day of Topamax, and don't have 100% control yet, so I may still go up on that. Finding the right med is certainly trial and error, and if the side effects don't work for you, at some point a change may be in order. It is however a blessing that you are seizure free--not everyone can achieve that. There was a time not that long ago I would have been willing to tolerate almost any side effect to be seizure free--but it's easy to say that when you are not, less so when you are.

 

[N Sperlo]

Welcome kiwicas.

Seizures upon waking was the last hurdle to jump for me. Some great people here. You've already met some, and there are more from where they're from.