Trigeminal Neuralgia - Lamotrigine

[Cornish13]

Hello 😊

I have been diagnosed with TN and I have also had an MRI and seen by a maxillo facial surgeon. He has prescribed me Lamotrigine as I’m due to start IVF and this is the only one deemed safe enough.

I’ve been taking it now since the 12th June and I was due my period on the 1st July and it still hasn’t arrived. I’m definitely not pregnant and my body is normally like clockwork.

Has anyone else taken Lamotrigine or something similar and it’s affected your menstrual cycle? I’m so gutted because it has relieved the pain but now I’m stuck because I can’t start treatment until my period arrives and god knows what’s happened with my cycle now 🥲

Ooh I am sorry Trigeminal Neuralgia isn’t called the suicide disease for nothing
I have taken 250 mg daily for 30 years including during3 healthy pregnancies resulting in 3 healthy sons
i am bipolar though and it’s prescribed off licence for that
No issues at all attributed to Lamotrigine
The more usual one prescribed for your condition is Carbamazepine which again is an anti convulsive
you may get relief from Targeted nerve pain killers Gabapentin or Pregabilin
please don’t be fobbed off and get the strongest drugs effective for you
i hope you’re feeling better soon

Ahh I’ve just thought Duloxetine is a dual action anti depressant and for Nerve pain which I was also on during pregnancy No effects in every way

My DD has been taking lamotrigine for years to treat epilepsy and it hasn’t affected her menstrual cycle. FWIW. 🤷‍♀️

@uncomfortablydumb60 it took a while to get it diagnosed! £1200 later after seeing 3 dentists and getting an unnecessary crown 😂 ended up going private to Nuffield and he diagnosed me within 5 minutes.

This is where it gets complicated! I’m waiting to start IVF and my IVF consultant doesn’t want me risking taking any of the others as they carry some risks, so understandable. I had to fight with the maxillo facial consultant for the Lamotrigine and his words “I’ve never prescribed it before for TN”. So I said well I can be your first as im not taking anything else 😂

I started on 25mg and upped to 50mg 2 weeks later and it has helped loads, the flare ups are gone and the zaps are minimal. The only other thing I can think is I ovulated later or stress 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’ve gone back down to 25mg just in case. I really hope it isn’t the Lamotrigine as I don’t think I can through IVF with the pain of TN, which is honestly just my luck 😂

@merrymelody ah ok! I’m hoping mine is just a one off and I ovulated late or possibly due to the stress of starting IVF. I’ve looked all over google (probably shouldn’t) and on some Reddit threads some women have said it affected them. I’m only on 50mg and it’s helped massively with my TN so I’m praying it’s not that!

Oh I am sorry I trapped a nerve in my shoulder once The pain was worse than having DS3 without even a paracetamol
I understand that you would need to be exact on ovulation but it’s almost certain it’s the stress causing your period problems
As I said I was on 250mg Lamotrigine during all 3 pregnancies resulting in healthy sons and this was 28 years ago
Its worth discussing your meds with a pharmacist They are a fount of knowledge

There are other nerve painkillers Amityptiline , Gabapentin Pregabilin Duloxetine( which is pregnancy safe )

I was on Lamotrigine for migraine and had to stop because of side effects. I swapped to Topirimate which has been brilliant, but AFAIK is not prescribed for TN.

Also, many of the meds listed here are not suitable for pregnant women or those TTC. OP, let’s hope this was a one off, Could you have had Covid or something?