The Lamictal Switch
- Thread starter Robert
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lureswinger
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total waste of time and money
well home again home again jigetty jig thank god thats over.
it was like being a bleeding monkey having to watch everywhere u went for your tail (the cable connectin you to the wall )
and once over even with all the glue out of your hair it still feels like its there hours later.
cant see that they have seen anything happen as they didnt remove meds till it was too late and only gave me half a day without half of my dose of lamotragene ud ofthought theyd of started removing tabs as soon as i went in oh well their loss unless they want me back in for another go later in the year in which case the answer will be no way its my busiest part of the year i wont have time for hospital stays they will have to wait til this time next year
well home again home again jigetty jig thank god thats over.
it was like being a bleeding monkey having to watch everywhere u went for your tail (the cable connectin you to the wall )
and once over even with all the glue out of your hair it still feels like its there hours later.
cant see that they have seen anything happen as they didnt remove meds till it was too late and only gave me half a day without half of my dose of lamotragene ud ofthought theyd of started removing tabs as soon as i went in oh well their loss unless they want me back in for another go later in the year in which case the answer will be no way its my busiest part of the year i wont have time for hospital stays they will have to wait til this time next year
lureswinger
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not half as much as i am lol god i hate hospitals too full of sick people an i felt like i was conning them as it didnt feel like there was anything wrong with me but i guess thats their fault lol
Hi I have been taking it for about 4 years it gave me my life back. I was on epilim for years and was like a zombie I had controll also something that epilim didnt really do. I have just lost controll a bit not massively and things do seem to be settling. I have weird excess hair growth that may be caused by the drug not sure though and my white blood cell count is a bit low but not massively so and I manage it. I was fine with the rash when I swapped and like you it was done very gradually.My doc had been talking about swapping me because it wasnt working as well I am taking 400mg a day the dose was upped by 25mg and like I say this does seem to help but it is a big dose do if things do go bad again they may advice a change wich i am hoping wont happen because this has been a great drug tor me x
This is just a suggestion but try to take on a new med with a positive approach. I did horrible on lamictal but my doc said many of his patients love it. I guess what I am trying to say is that once you are on it start talking to others and do some comparing. Sometimes if we freak ourselves out we may not give the meds a chance. Hopefully you trust your doctor. Bottom line, we just don't know how we will respond to a drug until we take it. Don't let a non doctor prescribe your treatment because they did poorly on lamictal. I can tell you I hated it. Worse 5 days ever but I still think you should try because many patients really love it. I hope it works for you. You will know soon enough if there are negative side effects and you can stop. I had horrible side effects, took a pill on Sunday morning then quit. Monday morning when I woke my side effects were gone. Good luck. Finding the right med is scary......
Sheri
Sheri
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Well... at least see your neurologist plus a dermatologist right away if you get a rash while on Lamictal. It may or may not be a drug reaction rash, and even if it is, the dermatologist may say you can stay on the drug with close monitoring and treatment. That's what they did for me, and the rash stopped after a couple of months. But both my dermatologist and my neurologist watched me like a hawk.
Not all drug reaction rashes turn into SJS, but SJS is extremely serious. Most docs will take you off your meds right away just to be careful.
Not all drug reaction rashes turn into SJS, but SJS is extremely serious. Most docs will take you off your meds right away just to be careful.
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The rash is definitely scary. I thought I was getting it when I first started Lamictal but whatever the cause, it faded within days. I've been on Lamictal for 8 years now, overall it's working really well. Fatigue and memory loss are the big side effects for me, but it's worth the seizure control. I used to be on tegretol and I was like a zombie. The switchover was awful though, I barely remember those few weeks. I was sleeping 12 hours a day, being on a full dose of both at one point.
I felt so sharp on lamictal, I was in university at the time and I jumped a whole gradepoint.
I've seen my seizures follow long term patterns since I've been on Lamictal. At least a year of each:
1. Periodic tc's and frequent sp's.
2. Then no tc's and frequent sp's.
3. Then a 3 year remission period (Thank God) with no activity, during some really hard times in my life.
4. As soon as things turned around the sp's started again, out of nowhere.
they were very frequent for a long long time, almost every day.
5. Then the sp's stopped out of nowhere, and the tc's started again. I was having one every three weeks on average.
6. Now I've been free of tc's for 19 weeks.
Who knows what will happen next.. I'm very grateful for this stretch I've been on but I know it won't last forever.
I felt so sharp on lamictal, I was in university at the time and I jumped a whole gradepoint.
I've seen my seizures follow long term patterns since I've been on Lamictal. At least a year of each:
1. Periodic tc's and frequent sp's.
2. Then no tc's and frequent sp's.
3. Then a 3 year remission period (Thank God) with no activity, during some really hard times in my life.
4. As soon as things turned around the sp's started again, out of nowhere.
they were very frequent for a long long time, almost every day.
5. Then the sp's stopped out of nowhere, and the tc's started again. I was having one every three weeks on average.
6. Now I've been free of tc's for 19 weeks.
Who knows what will happen next.. I'm very grateful for this stretch I've been on but I know it won't last forever.
lureswinger
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switchover
while i was single i was on epililim and i was spending anything up to 12 months totally seizure free but after i got married thats when my family discovered the side effects of epilim (giving me really bad mood swings) so my neurologist decided to start the switch onto lamicital but this is turning my life hell i dont think i have gone for more than 2 weeks at the most without any petite mals let alone the tonics
while i was single i was on epililim and i was spending anything up to 12 months totally seizure free but after i got married thats when my family discovered the side effects of epilim (giving me really bad mood swings) so my neurologist decided to start the switch onto lamicital but this is turning my life hell i dont think i have gone for more than 2 weeks at the most without any petite mals let alone the tonics
life on lamictal
had a complete right temporallobectomy 10 years back and been on lamicatal ever since. it's changed my life. you pay the price but it's small after 30 years of seizures. my short term memory is definitely shot. sleep? not without bromazipam. get 5 -6 hours max then I'm WIDE awake. been almost seizure-free apart from a couple of times when I overdosed on caffeine.
I live in europe so I've never had to pay a cent for all those drawn-out hospital stays, rehab and tons of medication.
my advice is to opt for surgery as early on as possible and then get yourself on monotherapy. combinations are risky as you get older.
had a complete right temporallobectomy 10 years back and been on lamicatal ever since. it's changed my life. you pay the price but it's small after 30 years of seizures. my short term memory is definitely shot. sleep? not without bromazipam. get 5 -6 hours max then I'm WIDE awake. been almost seizure-free apart from a couple of times when I overdosed on caffeine.
I live in europe so I've never had to pay a cent for all those drawn-out hospital stays, rehab and tons of medication.
my advice is to opt for surgery as early on as possible and then get yourself on monotherapy. combinations are risky as you get older.
I'm on
Lamictal as well. In addition to 3 other meds. I'd had it before, and it combined badly with Depakote, and I gained a TON of weight--then I took some time off from it.
Now the mix that I have is working well--and most nights I get about 6 hours of sleep. My thinking is really fairly clear, although I CAN be an airhead at times. Yup, I have the little floaters in my eyes occasionally, and dry mouth, but I do drink plenty during the day so that helps quite a bit.
Hair loss is another issue.....I do have quite a bit of that, but I do have plenty of hair. I've also had a thyroid issue over the years, so it's debatable whether the Lamictal is the cause of the loss or not.
I've been pretty lucky, but then again, I'm on a fairly low dose of Lamictal--150 per day. 75 in the morning and evening.
Good luck!
Lamictal as well. In addition to 3 other meds. I'd had it before, and it combined badly with Depakote, and I gained a TON of weight--then I took some time off from it.
Now the mix that I have is working well--and most nights I get about 6 hours of sleep. My thinking is really fairly clear, although I CAN be an airhead at times. Yup, I have the little floaters in my eyes occasionally, and dry mouth, but I do drink plenty during the day so that helps quite a bit.
Hair loss is another issue.....I do have quite a bit of that, but I do have plenty of hair. I've also had a thyroid issue over the years, so it's debatable whether the Lamictal is the cause of the loss or not.
I've been pretty lucky, but then again, I'm on a fairly low dose of Lamictal--150 per day. 75 in the morning and evening.
Good luck!