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Lamictal side effects

Tue, 01/24/2006 - 06:27
Hi. Am a new user and it is good to be in touch with people who know about this! I have been on lamictal for about a year and have had epielpsyt out of the blue for about 2 years. Havin upped the dose several times my seizures seem to have stopped -for a while at least -i am not holding my breath as this has happenned before! Anyway, for the last few months (similar to the time I last upped my dose) I have little patches of itchy dry skin on my face and body and larger patches on my legs. Does anyone know if these are realted to lamical or just coincidence? Many thanks!

Comments

Re: Lamictal side effects

Submitted by KelleyV on Tue, 2006-01-24 - 09:43
You should call your Dr right away. My son just started taking Lamictal and was told if any rash appeared to call him right away. The Lamictal website can give you information about rashes, but from what I hear, you should not be taking Lamictal anymore. Call your Dr !!!

Re: Lamictal side effects

Submitted by coolcanadian on Tue, 2006-01-24 - 23:33
Hi elspeth, don't wait, don't hesitate- get in touch with your MD right away! My neuro told me to watch for a skin rash when I started Lamictal. There's a small risk of a potentially fatal skin rash from Lamictal. I don't know if what you describe is that particular type of rash, but don't take the chance. Hope this helps, don't put it off, OK?- cc

Re: Lamictal side effects

Submitted by scorpio on Wed, 2006-01-25 - 12:41
Rashes are a not uncommon side-effect of Lamotrigine/Lamictal, occuring, I believe, in about 5% of people who take it. They are usually mild but can be severe. In the days when I was taking 400mg/d I used sometimes to have a mild rash - reddish skin that itched - appear on my torso, legs and arms but that only happened during/after extended exposure to the sun. Now I am on 200mg/d this no longer happens (neither do the periods of giddiness that sometimes used to manifest themselves). What other side-effects the Lamot causes I can tolerate at the dosage level I am take now. If you have not discovered already, the extent and nature of the side-effects of AEDs vary enormously from one person to another. I hope you find an effective one that you can tolerate. Chris

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