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Memory Loss & Lamictal

Fri, 08/12/2011 - 23:08
Hi everyone. I'm Kat, I've been active on this board for a while but mostly in the Women With Epilepsy forum. I was going to post this in there but I feel like it should be more open to everyone since it's not focusing on women only issues. Since starting Lamictal almost two years ago, I have noticed some fluctuations with my mood as well as my ability to concentrate, that showed mostly as I got up in the dosage. I started at 25mg like most patients and eased my way up to my current 250mg BID (twice a day) dosage. I did the escalation slow as recommended & did not experience any obvious side effects. However, as I've gotten more into my medication routine with it, I have noticed that my moods seem to fluctuate (just a little bit, but still noticeable) and I know that Lamictal is also used to manage bipolar disorder. I am currently in the process of switching doctors so I've been waiting to talk to my new doctor about these issues. I don't have the best relationship with my current doctor & feel as if he doesn't listen so I don't see the point in even bringing it up. In fact, I believe I brought it up to him in the past but to no avail. His answer for everything is either "that's normal but not worrysome" or "lets increase the dose & call me in a week". To run through what I've noticed, the main thing is that I have a hard time handling a day regimen that requires me to multitask. This presents a lot of problems because I have a very busy life with working, managing my home due to my boyfriend being away a lot for his work, taking care of a new puppy practically by myself & being a college student, about to enter a very heavily crowded schedule. I have taken on two jobs in the fall after school starts & even though I have an optimistic look to it, I know from my past that my memory lapses cause a lot of problem. For example, I missed the deadlines for several things involving school that will make my semester hard such as missing the deadline for a grant that would be very helpful & missing the date to order the main campus parking permit & having to get one that's much more difficult to deal with. I've always been a little scatterbrained but it seems much worse lately. Sometimes someone can tell me something & in just fifteen minutes, I forget what they said. This causes a lot of frustration with everyone around me & makes me feel incompetent. I'm not entirely sure it's just the medication but in my heart, I feel like it has something to do with it. Does anyone else that's on Lamictal (I take the generic lamotragine) experience similar problems? If so, how much does it affect your life & how much is your current dosage? I appreciate any feedback. Thanks guys!

Comments

Re: Memory Loss & Lamictal

Submitted by lilahn1 on Sat, 2011-08-13 - 22:34
I also take Lamotragine and I have a lot of problems with my memory. I have been on Lamotragine for about 6 years and I take 900 mg / day, (300 mg 3 x a day). I am 26 and feel like I'm 80 sometimes.  I can sometimes forget something that someone tells me 10 minutes after they say it. I feel sometimes like I ask the same questions over and over cause I can't remember if I asked it already... I could go to a certian place a dozen times and still have to ask my husband for directions on how to get there. I do forget dates for dr appt. and hair cuts, things like that, so I have to use an alarm reminder in my cell phone. I can certainly tell a defferance in the way I think now and the way I did before all this medication. I also take Topamax 300 mg/day. When I sit down to concentration on something, I just feel cloudy and it is hard. It takes me a lot longer to think about things and make decisions. Another thing that I have started to notice is that every now and then I say the wrong word in a sentence when I'm talking then have to correct myself. For example if I'm walking out to the car with someone I'll say "Lets get in the can .... I mean car" It sounds silly but I do it sometimes and it makes me feel stupid. So I know how you feel because I also feel incompetent sometimes. I feel like it is my medication playing a big role.

Re: Memory Loss & Lamictal

Submitted by kattatstrophe on Sat, 2011-08-13 - 23:00
It's so comforting to hear your experience because it's just been recently that I've considered the medication causing problems like this for me. I kept blaming memory problems on my lack of organization, etc but then I got thinking about how I was before I was on Lamotragine. I can relate to feeling like your 80, I'm 26 as well & find myself forgetting things so fast. I tell people stories that I forget that I told them already, or even tell someone something & find out THEY were the ones that told ME in the first place! And the same thing with directions, I've asked a thousand times for them & always need more. I haven't experienced problems like you mentioned with the word mixups, but I will say that I often feel mixed up. Have you talked to your neurologist about it? If so, did they tell you that Lamictal can cause that?

Re: Memory Loss & Lamictal

Submitted by lilahn1 on Sun, 2011-08-14 - 22:06

I know what you mean. I sometimes think that I am being obnoxious because I ask or say something more than once. My husband and family understand but I get self conscious around people I don't know. I have mentioned it to my neurologist and he told me that it could be a side effect, as well as trouble concentrating and tiredness. He told me that for my specific situation the side effects did not out weigh the risk of me having more siezures. The combination of the lamictal and topamax were controlling me pretty well. Other meds have not helped me as well in the past. He just recently up my dose of Lamotrigene from 600 mg/ day to 900 mg / day cause I started having breakthrough seizures. Ever since he uped the dose was when I started with the word mixup things. That doesn't happen all the time, but at least a couple times a day. So anyways, yes I have talked to him and I am talking to a specialist in October to discuss a temporal lobectomy to remove the scar tissue. It would be awesome to be seizure free and possibly medication free someday.

 

I know what you mean. I sometimes think that I am being obnoxious because I ask or say something more than once. My husband and family understand but I get self conscious around people I don't know. I have mentioned it to my neurologist and he told me that it could be a side effect, as well as trouble concentrating and tiredness. He told me that for my specific situation the side effects did not out weigh the risk of me having more siezures. The combination of the lamictal and topamax were controlling me pretty well. Other meds have not helped me as well in the past. He just recently up my dose of Lamotrigene from 600 mg/ day to 900 mg / day cause I started having breakthrough seizures. Ever since he uped the dose was when I started with the word mixup things. That doesn't happen all the time, but at least a couple times a day. So anyways, yes I have talked to him and I am talking to a specialist in October to discuss a temporal lobectomy to remove the scar tissue. It would be awesome to be seizure free and possibly medication free someday.

 

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