Lamictal Quick Facts

Lamictal is an anticonvulsant, typically used in psychiatric medicine as a mood stabilizer, particularly for bipolar disorder.

Other Brand Names: none
Generic Name: Lamotrigine

Primary Uses:

  • Partial seizures
  • Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
  • Bipolar I Disorder

Other Uses:

  • Bipolar II Disorder
  • Treatment-resistant depression
  • Schizoaffective Disorder
  • BPD
  • PTSD
  • Depersonalization Disorder

Availability: 25mg, 50mg, 100mg, 200mg tablets

Contraindications:

  • Any known hypersensitivity to lamotrigine
  • concurrent or recent use of valproate or carbamazepine
  • kidney or liver disease

Side Effects:

  • loss of balance
  • loss of coordination
  • double vision
  • crossed eyes
  • blurred vision
  • dizziness
  • drowsiness
  • insomnia
  • anxiety
  • vivid dreams or nightmares
  • dry mouth
  • mouth ulcers
  • memory problems
  • cognitive problems
  • mood changes
  • runny nose
  • cough
  • nausea
  • indigestion
  • abdominal pain
  • missed or painful periods
  • vaginitis
  • lymph node swelling
  • rashes (note: rashes are common, about 5-10% experience this. If so, go to emergency at the first sign of rash. Fortunately, serious rashes are very rare (0.1%) and lead to death even rarer (0.002%).
Lamictal needs to be titrated up carefully, to avoid potentially harmful side effects. Typical titration is 25mg weeks 1-2, 50mg weeks 3-4, 100mg week 5 and 200mg week 6.

Black Box Warnings: may cause potentially life-threatening skin reactions. If any rash shows up, go to emergency immediately. May also cause aseptic meningitis.

Metabolized: Liver
Excreted: Kidneys
Half-life: 24-34 hours

Withdrawal Effects:

  • seizures
  • rashes

Lamictal should be tapered slowly to avoid withdrawal effects. Frequency of withdrawal effects are unknown.

Source: Wikipedia

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