Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
Lamotrigine and Insomnia
Wed, 03/04/2015 - 23:21Hello all. I just wrote a War and Peace length response to an earlier post about wanting to quit all AEDs and switching from Dilantin to Lamictal. Somehow the browser I was using did not have me signed in when I thought I was, so the age old story, I lost the whole thing. Since it is late and I am exhausted, from adjusting to Lamictal from Dilantin because of insomnia, I wanted to briefly ask if others have this insomnia? At first Lamictal seemed like a dream come true, for a few days, with my energy level higher than I remember for years. Now that peppy side effect seems to be waking me up every night at 3 AM, leading me to be more fatigued than I was with Dilantin. Does this go away for most people? I am ready to go back on Dilantin. I will give Lamictal another month, but I cannot go on like this, being TOTALLY exhausted from lack of sleep.
Side effects will generally
Submitted by just_joe on Thu, 2015-03-05 - 13:03
Side effects will generally go away after 3-4 weeks. However if you are or were being weaned off dilantin and on to Lamictal you have both medications in your body at the same time. It can take 4-6 weeks for a medication to completely get out of your body. With some people both medications will help control their seizures well. I took them both along with phenobarb. If you are only on Lamictal and have not taken dilantin for about a month then give your body 3 weeks to get used to this 1 medication. I you have an adjustment made like increasing or decreasing the dosage levels then the time period will e cut in 1/2. It isn't easy but it can be done and be benificial to you. If you are off the dilantin but it hasn't been 4-6 weeks then you have both medications in you and yes they can make you sleep or wide awake. I was lucky since I have only needed 4-5 hours of sleep a night most of my life so i didn't let it bother me.