Just started generic lamictal. Took for two weeks on 25mg. Took it in the evening. I had trouble sleeping at night and felt it did not make me tired. Switched to morning with my Zoloft and Doc upped it to 50 mg and told her I take in the morning. So now, I am so tired I can't stay awake. Will this side effect wear off? Or should I switch back to evening time to take?
Lamictal wired on 25mg and tired on 50mg?
Question posted by Jovial28 on 28 March 2018
Last updated on 9 April 2018
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Answers
WildcatVet
29 March 2018
Hi, Jovial! As you can see from the literature Lamictal can cause both insomnia and/or somnolence (sleepiness) in sensitive individuals:
"Very common (10% or more): Dizziness (38%), headache (29%) , SOMNOLENCE (14%)
Common (1% to 10%): Seizure exacerbation, incoordination, INSOMNIA".
The trick is usually to just give it enough time for the side effects to resolve which generally takes anywhere from just a few days to a few weeks. Since taking it in the morning now makes you tired why not try taking it at night again.
Jovial28
9 April 2018
Thank you for your reply and advice. I am no longer so sleepy in the am and have continued to take it in the am. I know side effects are tricky and can change as time goes on which it did. So I am going up to 75mg tomorrow and I will just tough it out with any side effects for the month and hopefully this will be a good drug to pull me out of major depression. So far there has been improvement!
WildcatVet
9 April 2018
Great!! Please keep us updated on your progress.
azabigail
29 March 2018
You might want to switch to evening because sometimes it takes awhile for the drowsiness affect to wear off, IF it ever does wear off. I took Zoloft for awhile, (maybe for different reasons than yours) and for the lower doses I was okay, but at the 50mg point the drowsiness started interrupting my days, and it never adjusted off. I switched to Celexa the same thing happened, but not as intense. The generic(Celexa) did the same thing and it was also useless with regard to the reason I was taking it.
Jovial28
9 April 2018
Thank you for your reply and advice. I am no longer so sleepy in the am and have continued to take it in the am. I know side effects are tricky and can change as time goes on which it did. So I am going up to 75mg tomorrow and I will just tough it out with any side effects for the month and hopefully this will be a good drug to pull me out of major depression.
Jovial28
9 April 2018
Thank you for your reply and advice. I am no longer so sleepy in the am and have continued to take it in the am. I know side effects are tricky and can change as time goes on which it did. So I am going up to 75mg tomorrow and I will just tough it out with any side effects for the month and hopefully this will be a good drug to pull me out of major depression.
Related topics
lamictal, zoloft, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, social anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, generic, sleeping
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