baker32: Lamotrigine

[baker32]

Hi I have been on Escitalopram since 2015 after the request from my doctor to take me off citalopram because I stopped taking all my meds and end up le with low sodium and was hospitalized in the trauma unit. While taking citalopram I was working, but now I have been on disability since 2016. I have tried 4 new meds in the last year for my worsening anxiety since the pandemic. My PA suggested buspirone that gave me headaches and intense sweating, and it made me drowsy, so I was not alert while driving. The next one was citalopram for 20mgs, at least that is what my PA told me, but I didn't read the label on the bottle, and I took 2 which caused massive anxiety, I looked at the bottle yesterday it's 40mgs. Next it was bupropion 75mg that made me really tired, then 150 mg of the Bupropion XL THst gave me heart palpitations Then Duloxetine, and I had trouble breathing. The latest one is Lamotrigine and 25mgs have been on it for 13 days. This one is a doozy, 2 hours after I took it, I got bad stomach cramps and diarrhea, and I hadn't had anything to eat that would irritate my stomach. I am still getting stomach aches even if I take it with food. Next it was migraine type headaches, sore neck, and sensitivity to light. I called the doctor's office about that, and they told me something else was going on with me and Lamotrigine that isn't a side effect of that. Then I started getting weird back pain with numbness. Next was a bloody ear. So, I called my PAs office and said I wanted to send a message to my doctor, but her secretary reiterated that Lamotrigine doesn't do that. I was so mad! Her secretary complained to the office manager awhile back about me calling about my side effects and lately she hasn't been sending some of my messages at all and just tells me her opinion.  My doctor wants me to stay on this drug because everything I have said is not a side effect of this drug according to her, but according to CVS.com drug information center, it lists 3. Yesterday I wrote an email to my PA's office because I was so angry, I included a page from Drugs.com which lists side effects. That is another thing Lamotrigine is doing, causing agitation. She requested an appointment for tomorrow. 

 

I hope to God, that she doesn't make me stay on this drug. Does anyone have any tips if my doctor decides to get me off this nasty drug?

 

Has anyone gotten worse while taking Escitalopram? It causes me tactile hallucinations after I take Trazodone, so I have to take it in increments at night.

 

I called a different clinic about getting set up with a new doctor, insurance has to be approved first. He is booking in July.

 

 

Haloperidol 15mgs

Trazodone 200mgs

escitalopram 20mgs

Lamotrigine 25mgs

 

 

Edited April 26 by Emonda
Name to title

[Erimus]

Hello. We are a support forum for aiding people in tapering off psychiatric drugs, or recovering from psychiatric drug withdrawal. We are not here to suggest which drugs you might consider trying.

 

If you want to read about tapering there is a wealth of resources on the site for this.

 

Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQ

[Erimus]

8 hours ago, baker32 said:

Hi I have been on Escitalopram since 2015 after the request from my doctor to take me off citalopram because I stopped taking all my meds and end up le with low sodium and was hospitalized in the trauma unit. While taking citalopram I was working, but now I have been on disability since 2016. I have tried 4 new meds in the last year for my worsening anxiety since the pandemic. My PA suggested buspirone that gave me headaches and intense sweating, and it made me drowsy, so I was not alert while driving. The next one was citalopram for 20mgs, at least that is what my PA told me, but I didn't read the label on the bottle, and I took 2 which caused massive anxiety, I looked at the bottle yesterday it's 40mgs. Next it was bupropion 75mg that made me really tired, then 150 mg of the Bupropion XL THst gave me heart palpitations Then Duloxetine, and I had trouble breathing. The latest one is Lamotrigine and 25mgs have been on it for 13 days. This one is a doozy, 2 hours after I took it, I got bad stomach cramps and diarrhea, and I hadn't had anything to eat that would irritate my stomach. I am still getting stomach aches even if I take it with food. Next it was migraine type headaches, sore neck, and sensitivity to light. I called the doctor's office about that, and they told me something else was going on with me and Lamotrigine that isn't a side effect of that. Then I started getting weird back pain with numbness. Next was a bloody ear. So, I called my PAs office and said I wanted to send a message to my doctor, but her secretary reiterated that Lamotrigine doesn't do that. I was so mad! Her secretary complained to the office manager awhile back about me calling about my side effects and lately she hasn't been sending some of my messages at all and just tells me her opinion.  My doctor wants me to stay on this drug because everything I have said is not a side effect of this drug according to her, but according to CVS.com drug information center, it lists 3. Yesterday I wrote an email to my PA's office because I was so angry, I included a page from Drugs.com which lists side effects. That is another thing Lamotrigine is doing, causing agitation. She requested an appointment for tomorrow. 

 

I hope to God, that she doesn't make me stay on this drug. Does anyone have any tips if my doctor decides to get me off this nasty drug?

 

Has anyone gotten worse while taking Escitalopram? It causes me tactile hallucinations after I take Trazodone, so I have to take it in increments at night.

 

I called a different clinic about getting set up with a new doctor, insurance has to be approved first. He is booking in July.

 

 

Haloperidol 15mgs

Trazodone 200mgs

escitalopram 20mgs

Lamotrigine 25mgs

 

 

These drugs can and do cause all the symptoms you have listed. When you are taking such combinations it can be difficult to tell what is happening, as they all interact with each other and your brain. You might consider evaluating why you are taking so many drugs, and if reducing them might help with your anxiety problems.

[baker32]

Well I just got done talking to my doctor, she thinks I am a hypochondriac now and said she wants me to get a second opinion. She told me I can just stop taking Lamotrigine. 

[Erimus]

36 minutes ago, baker32 said:

Well I just got done talking to my doctor, she thinks I am a hypochondriac now and said she wants me to get a second opinion. She told me I can just stop taking Lamotrigine. 

I would take a reduced dose for a week before stopping, just to make sure it isn't going to cause any intense withdrawal reactions. You can cut the tablets in half if you're taking the immediate release version.

 

See: Tips for tapering off lamotrigine (Lamictal)

Edited April 26 by Erimus

[baker32]

Thank you Erimus, that what I was thinking too. I have tried natural alternatives for my anxiety, besides taking my regular meds and they worked but I got side effects. CBD oil gave me terrible stomach aches but worked really well, hops gave me headaches and valerian root gave me headaches and stomach aches. I called a local health store, and they suggested amino acids called GABA. It's not supposed to cause stomach pain or headaches. It's the same thing that is in meat. and it isn't very expensive. I don't eat much meat so maybe that's my problem, not having enough amino acids.

 

I hope the GABA works! I am so tired of trying things and wasting money on things that don't work, or if they work have too many side effects.

[Tweed9674]

16 hours ago, baker32 said:

Thank you Erimus, that what I was thinking too. I have tried natural alternatives for my anxiety, besides taking my regular meds and they worked but I got side effects. CBD oil gave me terrible stomach aches but worked really well, hops gave me headaches and valerian root gave me headaches and stomach aches. I called a local health store, and they suggested amino acids called GABA. It's not supposed to cause stomach pain or headaches. It's the same thing that is in meat. and it isn't very expensive. I don't eat much meat so maybe that's my problem, not having enough amino acids.

 

I hope the GABA works! I am so tired of trying things and wasting money on things that don't work, or if they work have too many side effects.

Please be careful with supplements. I don't want to scare you BUT some of them can have interactions with the medication you take.

For example, CBD oil have a possible (but not yet well researched / documented) interaction with escitalopram and maybe some other SSRIs.

 

Search the forum for information about a supplement before starting taking it!

The other important thing is to start with a low dose and observe how you react. Try to avoid introducing more than one new thing at a time.

Many of us are sensitive to supplements and bad reaction do happen.

[baker32]

Yes I found that out after trying the cbd, valerian and hops, now I am very careful. I didn't order the GABA because of all the side effects.

I took 1/2 of a lamotrigine today. I have a headache, my eyes are sensitive to light, feel feverish and have a stomach ache. I took covid test because my doctors thinks there something else going on with health wise, and it has nothing to do with side effects. I don't have covid, I don't know where I would get sick? I haven't been anywhere or been around anyone with the flu.

[Tweed9674]

1 hour ago, baker32 said:

Yes I found that out after trying the cbd, valerian and hops, now I am very careful. I didn't order the GABA because of all the side effects.

Alright, it's probably a good thing to not play with supplement until you stabilized.

 

 

You mentioned that you might have an appointment for today, did it happen?

[baker32]

Tweed, I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday. She thinks I am a hypochondriac now because she had me try 5 different medications in the past year and i couldn't tolerate the side effects so stopped taking them right away. she said I didn't have to taper the Lamotrigine 25mg because I had only taken it 2 weeks but called the pharmacist to check she said to taper.

 

So far I have I had stomach cramps, headache, extreme sensitivity to light and feeling feverish with no fever and my face isn't red.

This drugs makes me feel really weird like gabapentin 100mgs did when I took it for a couple days back in 2021 for nerve/sciatica pain. I feel really out of it and clumsy just like the gabapentin made me feel. one nice thing is I have no nerve pain in my left leg and hip which I have from herniated discs in my back.

 

Does anyone know if Lamotrigine is a really strong drug? I know Gabapentin is

[Tweed9674]

13 minutes ago, baker32 said:

Tweed, I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday. She thinks I am a hypochondriac now because she had me try 5 different medications in the past year and i couldn't tolerate the side effects so stopped taking them right away. she said I didn't have to taper the Lamotrigine 25mg because I had only taken it 2 weeks but called the pharmacist to check she said to taper.

 

So far I have I had stomach cramps, headache, extreme sensitivity to light and feeling feverish with no fever and my face isn't red.

This drugs makes me feel really weird like gabapentin 100mgs did when I took it for a couple days back in 2021 for nerve/sciatica pain. I feel really out of it and clumsy just like the gabapentin made me feel. one nice thing is I have no nerve pain in my left leg and hip which I have from herniated discs in my back.

 

Does anyone know if Lamotrigine is a really strong drug? I know Gabapentin is

Welp. I don't think you're an hypochondriac.

 

You might be hypersensitive to drugs because of the various drug switch you had to do over the years.

 

I'm sorry, I really don't know about Lamotrigine. I wish I could help more. But I do believe it needs tapering.

 

[baker32]

On 4/27/2024 at 8:02 PM, Tweed9674 said:

Welp. I don't think you're an hypochondriac.

 

You might be hypersensitive to drugs because of the various drug switch you had to do over the years.

 

I'm sorry, I really don't know about Lamotrigine. I wish I could help more. But I do believe it needs tapering.

 

Thanks Tweed, I don't think I am either, I don't wear masks or gloves anywhere and I don't think my headaches are a brain tumor or my new chronic stomach aches are stomach cancer. I think my doctor is an idiot.

 

Lamotrigine, which is used for epilepsy and bipolar. It can be used as a mood stabilizer. It makes me feel clumsy and like I am not in control and just weird like when I was on Gabapentin. Both Lamotrigine and Gabapentin are for seizures and Gabapentin is also used for nerve pain.

today after I took it, my hand felt was weak and like it was starting to fall asleep. Now tonight I have the sensation of bugs crawling on my face again like last night  and it's 3:30 in the morning and I am wide awake. 

 

My body feels exhausted, but my brain is wide awake, and normally I sleep like a rock. This is just like when I took Gabapentin for 3 days for my sciatic nerve pain. I slept terrible. I have had a heck of a time falling asleep on lamotrigine.

 

This drug might work for some people, but not me.

 

04/12/2024 Lamotrigine 25mg

04/27/2024 Lamotrigine 12.5 mg

[Tweed9674]

7 hours ago, baker32 said:

My body feels exhausted, but my brain is wide awake

 

So many of us are this way. It's not a fun place to be.

 

Have you tried melatonin? Maybe it could help you to get a bit of sleep. If you want to try, start with a tiny dose to be sure that you don't react badly to it.

It's usually well tolerated.

[baker32]

54 minutes ago, Tweed9674 said:

 

So many of us are this way. It's not a fun place to be.

 

Have you tried melatonin? Maybe it could help you to get a bit of sleep. If you want to try, start with a tiny dose to be sure that you don't react badly to it.

It's usually well tolerated.

I used to take melatonin but found it didn't work after awhile. Now I am sleeping terrible every other night. Last night I went to be at 4:30 am woke up at 10 am. Before the lamotrigine was added I slept like a rock with my meds. I also was eating about 2 meals a day on the lamotrigine because I had no appetite. it's starting to come back now. One good thing I can say about is it made my mild case of chronic sciatic nerve pain in my left  hip, back and leg feel better.

[baker32]

I decided not to taper anymore. I am just going to go cold turkey.

 

Haloperidol 15 mg

Escitalopram 20mg

Trazodone 200mg

 

Lamotrigine 25 mg 4/12/2024

 

Lamotrigine 12.5   4/26/2024-4/27/2024

 

Lamotrigine cold turkey 4/28/2024

[Tweed9674]

2 minutes ago, baker32 said:

I decided not to taper anymore. I am just going to go cold turkey.

 

Haloperidol 15 mg

Escitalopram 20mg

Trazodone 200mg

 

Lamotrigine 25 mg 4/12/2024

 

Lamotrigine 12.5   4/26/2024-4/27/2024

 

Lamotrigine cold turkey 4/28/2024

Please don't do this. You already took a pretty steep cut just yesterday. Give it some time. Further instability and drastic action is not going to help

[Tweed9674]

It does need tapering. you just went down 50%. Hold and see how it goes.

 

Please take a look at the information available here, it could help:
 

 

[baker32]

Hi Tweed, I called a local pharmacy and explained to them that I had been on 25mgs of Lamotrigine for 2 weeks and asked if I need to taper. They said no.

It's 11pm here tonight and I am starting to feel better. only one stomach ache for a short time this morning and the headaches are very few, I have my appetite back and I am getting sleepy. I am still more sensitive to light than I usually am but not as bad as it was. So overall it was a good day.

[baker32]

Second day cold turkey.

 

I slept like a rock last night for 10 hours! Yay! I am person who needs a lot of sleep usually. My uncle came for a visit which is nice.

so far I just a had twinge of a stomach ache briefly this AM. Headaches are very mild, but I am still very sensitive to light. I think part of it is because I have a pinpoint scar on my eye and  one of my pupils is larger to the other one according to an eye doctor I saw years ago. I also have floaters which drive me nuts.

 

So far so good.

 

[Tweed9674]

Keep us updated!

 

[baker32]

3 hours ago, Tweed9674 said:

Keep us updated!

 

I got a headache this afternoon so laid down and I fell asleep. Now my headache is gone.

 

[baker32]

May 1st I had more headaches. Those are my only symptom. I am sleeping well again.

 

[baker32]

Well May 4th my back upper back started hurting, my right shoulder blade had been giving me pain while on Lamotrigine. I have been feeling pain in it off and on ever since. Now my back pain is lower, and it also feels like my ribs hurt. My headaches are basically gone, I know longer feel like a space cadet, and my blurry vision is also gone. I feel like I have arm and shoulder weakness in both arms and it feels like they want to fall asleep.

 

I have arthritis, but not in my ribs. The nerve weakness/hand falling asleep started last week Saturday then went away. Now tonight it's in both arms. I am positive it's the Lamotrigine withdrawal. After seven more days it will totally be out of my system.

 

Like I said in my first post my PA has been trying to "Fix Me" with drugs. I don't think drugs are a cure all and my therapist is not helping me. I have been seeing him for 2 years but after I get done talking to him, I feel more depressed because we are on totally different wavelengths.

 

I made an appointment with a new clinic which is in July and this doctor has studied how meds not only affect the brain but the body also so I think he will hopefully be a good fit.