The good/bad/UGLY of Lamotrigine

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ATM she is quite bombed out in the mornings and needs to sleep in seems like a chemically induced thing which I am not liking but my daughter does have a big reduction in seizures and it is not as severe like the tonic clonic of past 3 minutes which makes me nervous.... currently on 50mg Lamictal twice daily and Trileptal 300mg morning and 600mg night with Frisium (Clobazam 15mg morning and night). She is also on Melatonin at night. We will be seeing the neurologist next month for review the meds.
 
I've also taken it for over a decade. I take 200mg twice daily and it's had the least side effects of any drug I've taken.
Occasionally I've had what seemed almost like an aura.
Would you mind describing the aura? :) as I am trying to understand what my girl may be experiencing/feeling as she is a nonverbal but behaviour is the one cue that lets me know if something is off.... as there does seem times she is really emotional for no apparent reason... and sometimes she may have a seizure later...
 
My doctor tried to add Lamictil/Lamotrigene as a third AED, but I can't use it. It is related to Tegretol. Within a few days of starting it, I felt a rash starting across my upper back, just like the one Tegretol started. I stopped it immediately.
 
Lamotrigene was the first AED i was tried on. It reduced my seizures slightly, but i had insane paranoia while on it. I even knew i was being paranoid but couldn't help myself. At work i was convinced everyone was talking about me and i'd try to "catch them out" by listening at doors and stuff, and that's 100% not like me at all. I think i gave it a good go and was on it for over a year before i said i couldn't cope with it anymore. The paranoia gave me really bad anxiety, leading to depressive thoughts because i was on the verge of destroying relationships with my colleagues, friends and family.
A relative of mine also began having severe bouts of paranoia after taking Lamictal. Due to the relative's age, doctors merely called it dementia. I had no idea that paranoia was a possible side-effect of Lamictal.
 
I currently take 400mg/day of both Zonisamide & Topiramate. Zonisamide (the generic version of Zonegran) hasn't given me any strange side effects. My neurologist switched me to it from Vimpat when our insurance company changed. The new company expected me to pay for Vimpat out of pocket--it would have cost $1600/month!

Side effects of Topiramate that I'm experiencing are short term memory problems, "word loss" issues (you know what you want to say but can't), and hair loss.
 
I've been taking lamotrigene for about 10 years. I can't say what may or may not be from the meds. One thing I do know is this Tremor that I have is a side effect from lamotrigene . Said my neurologist. It's bad. I usually can't carry a cup of coffee to another room. On some days can't hold the coffee without spilling, at all. I'm not sure what else is from she or not. I also have a TBI so that's different effects. So I'm not sure about the future, side effects of not, things are ok so far.
 
I take 500 mg of Lamictal a long with 400 mg Briviact. Unfortunately The generic, Lamotrogine doesn’t control My seizures. The big bummer is it’s very expensive! I am constantly battling the insurance company. I have been on Lamictal For seven plus years. It does work well, but I have the shakes pretty bad. It can be embarrassing at times. Also, I have Memory And coordination issues a long with brain fog. Sometimes I have a hard time finding the right words.
 
I take 500 mg of Lamictal a long with 400 mg Briviact. Unfortunately The generic, Lamotrogine doesn’t control My seizures. The big bummer is it’s very expensive! I am constantly battling the insurance company. I have been on Lamictal For seven plus years. It does work well, but I have the shakes pretty bad. It can be embarrassing at times. Also, I have Memory And coordination issues a long with brain fog. Sometimes I have a hard time finding the right words.

I take 200 mg of Lamotrogine 3 times a day. I started off with Lamictal, but once the VA took over, it's been nothing but Lamotrogine (gotta save that wasted government money on something else that doesn't matter 🙄). When I started having seizures in 2009, I started with Lamictal and my seizures stopped until 2014. Guess what happened. Yep, they came back once I was given Lamotrogine instead. I got out of the army in Oct 2012 so I lost my VA Tricare, which allowed me to choose. Now that I’m only with the VA, it gets to choose. I'm going to bring this up with my doctor today and see what he says. If I had to gamble I'd say that he will give me a crazy look and say it doesn't matter (no difference). He'd have to prescribe just the name brand for me to get it and be approved.

I don't know how it worked better, but the one I take now is a chalk pill. Lamictal had a partial hard cover with the middle partially exposed. It's almost like it allows it to dissolve throughout the day as opposed to it hitting you all at once. Again, I don't know. Kinda like drinking beer versus liquor. Either drink slowly over time and just buzzed or take a couple of shots and be puking drunk within minutes. I just dunno 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Lamotrigine I take but I do not see it as a plus. Doesn’t get rid of seizures nor make them fewer. My neurologist thinks they are good though. He only has me at 300 mg per day and knowing I still have seizures, he doesn’t get me taking higher doses… possibly due to my other drugs. I keep wondering just why my neurologist has be taking this drug… maybe I should just quit taking it 🤨
 
It was my second medication -- remember an emotional side effect if I saw something I thought was beautiful either in real life or on TV like a selfless act, some romantic act, I would start crying/eyes watering. Definitely made me more risk taking, got into needle play in a big way. It gave me Cluster headaches in the end, thought it was something else, ended up doing a naughty thing to self, so decided to try again with some other med.
 
Lamotrigine has been a mood stabilizer for my daughter, it has been a plus atm. However, I have always been vigilant on drug interactions and side effects.
 
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