I'm on 125mg and I want to work with my doctor to increase to 150mg because of bouts of depression, but my experience has been that even with small increases or decreases (6.25mg), I get fogginess and an inability to concentrate. This affects my job.
Could this be because I'm taking generic (lamotrigine)? Is the medicine being absorbed too quickly for some reason? Am I having an allergic reaction? Is this a toxic reaction? After about 4 or 5 days, the side effects tend to go away but I'm concerned that maybe the medicine might not be right for me because of the extreme side effects. I took Lithium for 43 years and it was good but it started to lose effect, so I was switched to Lamictal. I like Lamictal, but the process of getting to the sweet spot is very difficult. Does anyone else have a similar experience and how do/did you deal with it?
Is Lamictal right for me? I get terrible side effects if I increase or decrease it?
- Asked
- 10 Jun 2018 by lance938
- Updated
- 15 June 2018
- Topics
- lamictal, depression, bipolar disorder, side effect, doctor
Responses (2)
Well my daughter was taking the 25mg dosage twice a day. She had side effects for 3 months. It took her a while to tell me. I had to keep onto her about it. She actually wasn't listening to me to begin with. You know how 13 year olds can be lol. When she finally actually listened to me about the side effects she realized she had been having them for a while. The first time I used drugs.com was to check if she could take over the counter cold meds. Nope none not Tylenol not advil you can't take anything like that with this medicine. It interacts with everything!! I do know if you are under 16 yrs old Lamictal/Lamotrigine it is not approved or safe for those kids who do not suffer from a certain type of seizures. She was always foggy like on it. Her grades fluctuated bad during this time. She acted like she could care less about anything and everything. She was in a constant state of being zoned out from the world. It can cause binding of the eyes or other mellinan rich tissues. No I don't know what that means. It changes your eye sight. She also complained of her back and extremities ( legs or arms) hurting all the time. Her back hurt in two areas. One area was her kidneys. It does affect the kidneys. She had dilated pupils constantly on it. It was like going to the eye Dr and having your eyes dialated!! I gave it about 7 days to see if it was from a combination of it and her anxiety medication Hydroxyzine. Then I stopped the hydroxyzine (as needed anyway) to see if it was one or the other alone. It was the Lamictal. Do you still feel the fog affect when taking your normal dosage 125mg?? If you don't then I wouldn't increase the dosage but that's just me. If you do experience the fog effect no matter what dosage you take I'd think back to when I first had this side effect up to now and if it's been longer than the normal 6 weeks of side effects stopping I would stop taking it via Dr advisement first of course. Now with my daughter my pharmacist told me to take her off of it now to not wait to take her to the Dr she had an appt in a few days anyway. The pharmacist scared the crap out of me. It was all at once "GET HER OF IT NOW!! DON'T GIVE IT TO HER ANYMORE!! DO NOT WAIT FOR DR APPROVAL!!" Talk about flipping me out. Anyway I hope this helped. Good luck. Oh she is on Trileptal and she is doing very well on it. You can't take it with abilify it lowers the amount your body uptakes. Aslo if you have low blood pressure don't take it it lowers you sodium levels. If you have low white (both types) blood cell or red blood cell counts do not take it. If you're diabetic with high blood sugar seriously do not take trileptal. That's the sdie effects of it some anyway. My daughter takes abilify too the Dr looked to see if they interacted with each other and said no. Well I found otherwise on here. At least this Dr did try to do her job right. She actually did look unlike all the others she had that left. She also knew Lamictal isn't safe for kids with Bipolar Disorder under 16. She's awesome compared to the other 2 who left and the 1 at another office. I hope this helps!! Oh yeah trileptal it same type of medicine as Lamictal but it's somewhat safer. She's not had the foggy side effect. She is a normal 13 yr old mouthy smarta** brat hahaha but she's my brat. Talk to your Dr for sure.
You are not supposed to adjust the dose at all except to build up to a therapeutic level. It has to be introduced from tiny amounts as it can cause a serious condition which presents as a rash, it can be fatal. Once you have reached the correct dosage, 100, 200, 300mg or whatever feels right then you stay at that exact amount.
I had a bad situation, I got a rash after 3 years but it may have not been caused by lamictal. Anyway, I came off of it and it was a nightmare. I went back on 100mg but am having issues with confusion, mania and lack of motivation. I am talking to my Dr about going back up to a much higher dose again to see if it stabilizes.

Further Information
- Lamictal Information for Consumers
- Lamictal Information for Healthcare Professionals (includes dosage details)
- Side Effects of Lamictal (detailed)
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Thanks for your reply. I've been on the 125 mg for 2 months now for bipolar and I know that with increasing and decreasing it, I get the fogginess/lack of concentration side effects, but they have gone away in 4-5 days as long as I stay at a constant dosage. Once I stayed on the 125 mg, the side effects went away, but I would get the bouts of depression, so I'm thinking that I need to increase it somewhat. Yes, you're right about interactions. I've had interactions with Mucinex for congestion and also an anti-anxiety med-klonopin while taking it where it makes the lamotrigine less effective. I wonder if it's because of taking the generic-lamotrigine instead of the brand name lamictal. I will ask my doctor about that.
Yeah it's possible. It causes side effects that are symptoms or signs of Bipolar Disorder. Which type of bipolar disorder do you have?? My daughter and husband her dad both have Bipolar Type 2 Disorder. She was first diagnosed with type 1 well abilify is not for type 2 where it's classified as an antidepressant and also antipsychotic. Which anyone with type 2 isn't supposed to take a normal antidepressant where it can and does increase depression in those with type 2. Now she doesn't have the psychosis part of bipolar. She was on the generic of Lamictal too. It's a side effect of brand name and generic version. If you have type 2 you need to more than likely switch. It's not meant for prolonged use for bipolar either. It's also supposed to be a last resort for those with bipolar who all other meds don't work or stop working and there maybe something else with that part. I'm not sure.
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Oh yeah the dangerous rash that it says is called Steven Johnson... Blah blah blah blah blah (the rest of the 4-5 words they list with it) it's actually 2 different rashes. I found that out recently. The toxic Epidermal necroylsis is another type of their medical terminology classification you know what I mean. Lol make sure all your other meds don't have the very same description of allergic reaction like these 2 skin syndromes. If they do and you get a rash go to ER immediately!! It could be the syndromes!! My daughter's anxiety medication does. I hope you stay healthy and safe taking this medicine.
I've been bipolar 2 all my life without psychotic symptoms. Antidepressants have never helped me.
I'm not sure what you meant about more than likely having to switch. Switch medications or switch to brand name or generic? All I am taking is lamotrigine alone. Does your husband also take a anti-epileptic to stabilize moods?