# lamotrigine?



## Bosko (Nov 9, 2007)

Ive read about this med and im sorry if this is a repost.

I have a box of these pills in front of me. I was precribed them yesterday to treat a thought disorder i have.

Are they like benzos? The dr was really vague about them, and just said they should level you out, he made a weird calm down gesture with his hands and that was it.

I am hoping they will help this horrible speration from my inner monologue that is plaguing my life.


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2010)

dancingwobbler said:


> Ive read about this med and im sorry if this is a repost.
> 
> I have a box of these pills in front of me. I was precribed them yesterday to treat a thought disorder i have.
> 
> ...


Lamotrogine or Lamictal is an anti-seizure medication and along with Klonopin (which is also a seizure medication) are two of the top medications proven most helpful in treating the symptoms of Dp. I was on Lamictal and it IMMEDIATELY stopped the rapid intrustive thoughts I was having. It seriously felt like there was someone in my brain talking a billion miles a minute and I couldn't get them to shut the heck up. It actually drove me to being suicidal because I couldn't take it anymore. Literally within the first dose that stopped. It is also the drug that set me on the road to recovery. It brought me out of depression, it reconnected me with my memories and feelings. It also brought reality back.

I think this is a good medication for mood and thought problems and it has great applications in Dp as well.


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2010)

tinyfairypeople said:


> Lamotrogine or Lamictal is an anti-seizure medication and along with Klonopin (which is also a seizure medication) are two of the top medications proven most helpful in treating the symptoms of Dp. I was on Lamictal and it IMMEDIATELY stopped the rapid intrustive thoughts I was having. It seriously felt like there was someone in my brain talking a billion miles a minute and I couldn't get them to shut the heck up. It actually drove me to being suicidal because I couldn't take it anymore. Literally within the first dose that stopped. It is also the drug that set me on the road to recovery. It brought me out of depression, it reconnected me with my memories and feelings. It also brought reality back.
> 
> I think this is a good medication for mood and thought problems and it has great applications in Dp as well.


No, it isn't sedating like a benzo.


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## RenZimE (Feb 10, 2010)

Hey tinyfairypeople,

I too am very interested in lamotrigine and its application in cases of DP. I was just wondering if you were unfortunate enough to have experienced any of the skin rashes that are documented as a "Very common side effect" of lamotrigine. The side effects list is quite scary (yet mildly familiar.. Effexor is a nasty drug!) in general but the idea of a potentially life threatening skin condition doesn't sound particularly appealing. However weighing up the pro's and con's, I am still very much inclined to give it a go.. So yeah, did you experience said problems?

Heres hoping the answer to all our problems is finally within reach :]


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2010)

RenZimE said:


> Hey tinyfairypeople,
> 
> I too am very interested in lamotrigine and its application in cases of DP. I was just wondering if you were unfortunate enough to have experienced any of the skin rashes that are documented as a "Very common side effect" of lamotrigine. The side effects list is quite scary (yet mildly familiar.. Effexor is a nasty drug!) in general but the idea of a potentially life threatening skin condition doesn't sound particularly appealing. However weighing up the pro's and con's, I am still very much inclined to give it a go.. So yeah, did you experience said problems?
> 
> Heres hoping the answer to all our problems is finally within reach :]


No, I didn't get the rash. See the thing is, there are horror stories about reactions for EVERY medication. But the thing is that each person has a unique body chemistry that is going to react to the medication differently. I think people tend to read about the bad and then not try the medication because they don't want to get into that hole. I know that I have done that. So I say, give it a try. Not every single person who takes it has the bad reactions. If it doesn't work for you, then move on. I, personally, had to stop taking this medication after 3 weeks because of some neurological side effects and I honestly wish that those had not happened because it did a LOT of good things for me.


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## Absentis (Jul 10, 2007)

If you titrate lamotrigine properly, it is very unlikely you'll get a rash. Even if you do get a rash, as long as you go see your doctor you'll be fine. It's only if you ignore the rash for weeks will it be potentially harmful.


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## no3one (Feb 23, 2010)

I have been on lamotrigine for a few years. It's been the most helpful out of the many psychopharms I've tried and it's a pretty long list. It didn't work intensely for me in the beginning. I noticed a difference but not much of one. The doc said to ramp up slowly and that would cut down on the chance of having a bad reaction to it. There are a few people I've talked with that ramped up too quickly and they developed a rash. They either stopped taking it altogether or they went back down to the original dose the doctor prescribed.

The few people that I've known to get the rash got it because, it was determined, they were ramping up too fast. As far as I know there weren't any other symptoms they had along with the rash but they really didn't go into it any farther than that. They did confess to their doctors about how they were tweaking doses without "official approval". A couple of them had to go off of it altogether and wait a few weeks before going back on it again. One of them was fairly reckless and just didn't tell his doc that he had a rash at all, and went back down to the prescribed dose and just waited for the rash to go away. Not the brightest. He luckily didn't have any thing serious happen.

Of the 7 people that I've heard talk about lamotrigine (at some group or another) only a couple of them could see no benefit from it. None of them had to stop taking it because of physical side effects as far as I know. Of course there are most likely other factors to consider among all of that. I've heard rumors of people dying because of taking lamotrigine but not from anyone I know to have been taking it. That doesn't mean to disregard that caution though. For me lamotrigine is a life saver but it did take it a while for it to work.


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## Bosko (Nov 9, 2007)

There is no doubt i am feeling suicidal over my thought intrusion. Just because it is so chronic and frightening. I am hoping for relief from this drug so much.


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