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Lamictal side effects

Thu, 08/11/2016 - 09:47
Hello, I am 24 years old and have been on Lamictal since I was 16. Each time after a seizure my dosage was increased a little at a time. I am now at 600 mg. a day (300 mg. in the morning and 300 mg. at night). Taking 600 mg. all at once began to hurt my studies, because I began to not retain information and forget anything and everything. I have recently started having side effects: dizziness, double vision, blurry vision, occasionally mood swings (very rare), and anxiety. (I'm beginning to hate being social; I will not go anywhere by myself and if I'm left alone somewhere I panic; I want to go to a corner and start crying). However, the vision part is the worst. It only happens when I wake up and within three or four afterwards it is gone. I don't want my dosage decreased considering it is the only dosage that has worked; most can agree having vision problems is better than seizing. The vision problems got to the point I needed my mother's help getting out of a chair and walking to the bed to lay down and hope/wait for them to subside. I was curious if anyone knew of anyway to decrease the severity of these side effects. I would also like to note that my job has me work 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. I normally don't arrive home until midnight and normally in bed by 1 a.m. They have me scheduled the next day to work 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; meaning I have to be up at 6 a.m. (6:30 at the latest) in the morning. (I live 30 minutes from where I work and I've been instructed I need to be up for a certain length of time before I drive). I have wondered if this mixed with the (seemed to be) high dosage of Lamictal I'm on had anything to do with it. Any answers or suggestions would be highly appreciated. Thank you!!

Comments

welcomeYes your dosage will

Submitted by just_joe on Thu, 2016-08-11 - 15:31
welcomeYes your dosage will generally get raised to help reduce the number of seizures you have. You posted you recently started having side effects: double vision; blurry vision and mood swings.I went and researched side effects and found this Lamictal Side EffectsSeverity: MajorYou should check with your doctor immediately if any of these side effects occur when taking lamotrigine:More common: •Blurred vision•changes in vision•clumsiness or unsteadiness•double vision•poor coordination•skin rashSo have yo uchecked with your doctor? Something like this could be because a person might gt to a toxic level on a medication.I know about that because I got toxic on a medication, I would lose my equalibrum 30 minutes to an hour after taking it. I was toxic enpough to have to be imediately taken off it.As for the hours you have been working you might be causing a trigger since lack of sleep is a big trigger for seizures with some people.I hope this helpsJoe

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