Lamotrigine

[Olimar]

I've just been put on Lamotrigine 25mg, with a plan to increase it slowly every 2 weeks. Anyone else been on this? How did it go for you and how long until it started to have an effect?

My hair has also started falling out and I had no idea there was a link, I'll need to talk to my Dr about it.

@Olimar @Gingerkittykat your doctors may deny it. I had the same problem. I only found out as Lamotrigine is also used to treat epilepsy and i stumbled upon a forum where loads of people on it were saying they were suffering hair loss. I have no idea why doctors deny this when clearly it is a side effect. I was told to weigh it up by my psychiatrist and in the end, despite it keeping me stable, I chose to stop taking it as i wouldn't have been able to cope with the hair loss and impact on self image. I currently take nothing which is really hard due to mood instability and severe depression but I'm not up for feeling even more low about my self image due to this side effect.

My hair got thinner but after couple of years my hair is normal again.

I saw my GP and a dermatologist for my hair loss and they both couldn't give an answer and just said stress.

I think the benefits of lamotrigine outweigh the side effects for me since I was psychotic when I started taking it and now I am fine mentally. Other mood stabilisers have had worse side effects or have not worked at all. My next option is lithium but given I have a friend in kidney failure due to it I don't want to touch it.

I has Stevens Johnson Syndrome and Tocix Epidermal Necrosis as a result of taking Lamotrigine after around 3 weeks. It's a rare side affect but certainly something to be aware off.

I used to be on it for epilepsy and had no side effects whatsoever. If you hadn’t told me i was taking it I wouldn’t have noticed.