Talk:Lamotrigine
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[edit] Side Effects on Concentration
I cleaned up the concentration paragraph of the side effects section, and removed the following statement:
"Reported loss of concentration is mostly an issue only for people with intellectually demanding occupations; for example, people working in areas related to mathematical reasoning seem to have trouble in most cases."
It seemed a bit (albeit, unintentionally) classist to suggest that only intellectuals would "miss" their concentration, and the latter portion of the sentence requires a citation. However, I am unfamiliar with the relevant literature, so perhaps some version of this sentence would improve the article with a supporting reference. For the present, I just took it out. St3vo 14:56, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
Why was impairment of concentration mentioned in the article in the first place? I've seen a study that compared different anticonvulsants for their impact on cognitive function and the only category in which lamotrigine affected concentration negatively was verbal recall. GlaxoSmithKline has actually investigated lamotrigine as a potential treatment for ADHD.
http://ctr.gsk.co.uk/Summary/lamotrigine/studylist.asp
LAMOTRIGINE (Lamictal®) Treatment in adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), A pilot study.
Here was the conclusion of the study:
Of the 18 subjects entered in the study only nine subjects had complete data sets. Based on the limited data, no significant changes were observed in the ADHD ratings nor the other ratings scored in the study, with the exception of an increase in PASAT.
PASAT: Paced auditory serial addition test
--Substantiate 22:42, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] effects discussion by users; shouldn't be here
Hi. Iam am just getting on Lamotrigine (25 mg/day for five days--tomorrow I will take 50 mg /day) and find that I am very agitated and more depressed. Is this normal?Gouletan 00:20, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
- I've heard of it making the condition worse for some people. It didn't help me much until I got on the higher dosages. They start you out on the lower dosages so you don't get that rash thing. According to what I've heard, the anti-depressant effects can begin at somewhere from 25-100 mg, while the anti-manic effects don't start until 100 mg.Clarphimous 05:46, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
I can personally attest to the anti-depressant effects. I am taking about 200 mg/day and I have never felt better (39 year old caucasian male). --David Battle 05:49, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Rashes and Children
I would suggest that the rash may not limit the prescription of Lamotrigine for children, only require more careful dosing. My 4 year old was prescribed Lamictal for complex partial seizures once the first prescribed medication, Trileptal, stopped working. Thus, I'd think that there's not a real reluctance to prescribe for children. Or the neurologist is a maniac. :) --1Winston 20:23, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
- No, I don't think the neurologist is a maniac, GlaxoSmithKline did extensive trials on pediatric patients. However, since they are at higher risk for SJS, the Prescribing Information indicates that titration and monitoring of possible SJS symptoms require extra care. Lamictal is only indicated though for partial seizures and generalized seizures from Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in children age 2 to 16. --Frankieist 22:07, 1 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] effective dose
"Side effects Common side effects include headaches, dizziness and insomnia. In very rare cases, Lamotrigine has been known to cause the development of a dangerous rash in some people called Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The rash is more common in children, so this medication is often reserved for adults. There is also an increased incidence of this rash in patients who are currently on, or recently discontinued a valproates anti-convulsant drug, as these medications interact in such a way that the clearance of both is decreased and the effective dose of lamotrigine is increased."
Shouldn't this read that the "effective dose of lamotrigine is decreased" since less would have to be taken for a given level of effectiveness? Or the above passage could be changed to "the effectiveness of a given dose of lamotrigine is increased."
[edit] Attaches to irises? (not appropriate talk page discussion)
How much does it alter your thinking? I'm not THAT depressed or bipolar. Not sure if I want to take this anymore... i'm a bit paranoid now.
I'm not a WikiHead, but this discussion is, in fact, very helpful to Wikipedia as the above individual has just given the same impression of the article I get. I think I'd rather risk suicide than take this drug, now that I've read the article. Wiki needs to know how its articles impact users. Also, the user raises a legitimate point. There is little indication from the article the relative frequencies of these side effects. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.180.208.44 (talk) 21:57, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Citation needed for acute-symptom usage
The summary currently states that Lamotrigine "is the only anticonvulsant mood stabilizer that treats the depressive as well as the manic phases of bipolar disorders." However, the only clinical studies I've found show inconclusive effects for treatment of acute symptoms, with no statistically significant difference from placebo overall. Likewise, the page notes below that this usage is "off-label." The summary should either provide a citation supporting the claim, or clarify that such usage is not yet well-established.
- I could find no published verification of that claim, so I removed it from the lead paragraph. In its place, I inserted a published assessment. —Aetheling 14:36, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
One could also mention the huge expense of this drug.
[edit] Side Effects
About the insomnia... it can cause either that or drowsiness. So some people take it in the morning, and some people take it at night. I didn't have either side effect until I went up to 200mg, and it makes me drowsy, so I stopped having to use a sleep aid to get to sleep at night. I forgot to take it last night until 3:00am, which resulted in me being abnormally drowsy this Sunday at church. So I'm pretty sure it's what's doing it.Clarphimous 05:46, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
I used to take 100 mg/2x a day morning & night and I never had a problem with drowsiness unless I would forget to take it. January 2007 my Neurologist prescribed me 200mg/2x a day morning & night, now I can't go through the day without a nap. If I don't take it I can't stay awake during the day. About the weight loss, I've lost 25 pounds since January also. I was never large either. I'm 5'10 and 135 now.
[edit] links
I am re-adding www.crazymeds.us/lamictal.html (Lamotrigine page at a consumer-run psychiatric drug information site). This is the best single consumer information site for psychiatric medications I have found, presenting collated results of studies, labeling technicalities and interactions in a layman-accessible form. Significant portions of my recent rewrites of this article are based on content from this site; it's far more useful and informative than the manufacturer's site in many ways. -- Akb4 18:56, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
- Be careful with crazymeds.us as a reference. It's a site operated by a non-professional (but with good knowledge of medications), and unless you're already familiar with the pharmacology of the drugs he discusses, it's difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. The author has a tendency to overgeneralize from personal experience to conclusions that may at times be totally unjustified and misleading. His intentions are good, but most of what he writes may not match with what you will find on professional medication websites. Porkchopmcmoose 19:53, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] side effects
When jumping from the inital increases to full dosage, I had severe symptoms: hypersensitivity of skin-2 days(I couldn't stand clothing against my skin, especially seams), dizziness-3 days (the second being somewhat normal and the 3rd couldn't drive), out of it- I was a zombie at my in-laws. I would recommend a continued gradual progression to full dosage.
Side effects section of this entry is deficient in that this drug has a black box warning for severe cutaneous reactions that can be life threatening. I am adding this to the page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.73.158.222 (talk) 12:07, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] citation needed
I can not believe someone used "crazymeds" as a reference. I can see why wikipedia is ridiculed and parodied by the media. —Preceding unsigned comment added by GingerDemarque (talk • contribs) 16:45, 15 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Effect On Other Drugs
Here's my anecdotal experience: I've noticed that taking lamotrigine along with a number of different drugs (recreational drugs... I can't tell how it effects the effect of the other prescribed drugs I take every day) seems to decrease their effect ("affect"? whatever). On alcohol, I become very sober. To combat this, I've drank more and more during times when I took lamotrigine and stayed awake, and I continued to be largely sober and coherent (though my coordination was basically destroyed). A friend of a friend of mine was on DXM and he said it was bringing on a seizure, which he suffers from. He asked if I had any seizure medication in my bottle of pills, and I gave him some lamotrigine. He said the effects of the DXM quickly went away.
Okay, that's all totally anecdotal, which is why I'm not adding it to the article. However, I'm pretty convinced that it's true. Does anybody know of any study or respectable reference to back this up? --MQDuck 14:49, 7 October 2007 (UTC)
- The medical industry as a whole does not do studies of combining any given drug with naughty recreational drugs so, no, you won't find a reference. More's the pity, given that depressed / bipolar young adults are probably drug use demographic group #1. Been there, done that, took off the t-shirt and wandered up a mountain during a psychotic episode. Be careful, MQDuck. Dhatfield (talk) 14:37, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Local anesthetic effects?
Being that lamotrigine is a sodium channel blocker, does it have any local anesthetic properties? I don't know if it could not. Both extracelluar & intracelluar sodium channel blockers have local anesthetic effects. Nagelfar (talk) 06:25, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
