Comments on: Ridiculous Weight Gain, Med Change & Lamictal Side Effects

By: April

April — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

HOLY SHIT! Those are some tripped out photos… crap! Man, I am so glad u switches pills. The whole weight gain thing sucks ass too, ew.

By: barb

barb — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

i know, right? if i had the genetic predisposition, though, i think the symptoms would have shown up right away. i’ve been taking the stuff for over 6 months now, so it’s all good. still, the acne it causes just isn’t right.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Good grief! Those pictures are soo horrible. I hope you’ll be OK. <3

Take care. xD

By: Marie

Marie — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Wow those pics are horrible. I know what you mean about gaining weight because of meds. I am also bipolar and I have gained A LOT of weight because of risperdal and now I am a diabetic… lovely.

By: barb

barb — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

aren’t they horrible? when the pdoc first mentioned Lamictal to me i did all this research about the side effects because i had heard about the rash. it wasn’t til just the other day that i realized there must be pictures of it somewhere.

By: deb

deb — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Hi I found you over at Blogxchng..My son is bi-polar and so am I..I never mention it on my blog though. Lamictil..is something that was considered for my son but I decided against it due to the risks..I’ve heard it is very effective though..but I would be nervous if I developed any kind of rash while on it.

By: barb

barb — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

i had been taking Tegretol for years and it stopped working, so my pdoc decided to try Lamictal. in spite of the acne and weight gain, it worked quickly and well. unfortunately, for me, the depression set back in, and the acne and weight gain contribute to the depression, so it’s like i’m on a merry-go-round that i can’t get off of.

By: Cy

Cy — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Someone near and dear to me (to say the least) is on Lamictal. Your statement “it would have shown up by now” is dangerously incorrect, according to my info.

Lamictal is a “build-up” drug - you maintain a level of it in your system at all times while taking it as prescribed. Therefore, there can be a situation where, after years on the meds at the same dose, the rash pops out unexpectedly. Could have something to do with retaining more in your system than normal, or something to that effect.

The one saving grace, if you can call it that, is that my information tells me that the rash is very distinctive (as your photos kinda show) and not likely to be confused with anything else; and also that it tends to tint brown in color and is horrifically painful. Nature’s way of saying “Hey, Craphead! Something is wrong! Here, have some pain, so you know!”

Scary side effect, but at least there’s a visible warning sign.

(Since others are sharing, it was prescribed for this individual for epilepsy.)

By: barb

barb — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

oo, i stand corrected. i didn’t realize that it might take a while to manifest itself.

i have to admit that i’m worried about this acne because like i said, it isn’t like “regular” acne, but it looks nothing like these pictures, either. and they’re mainly in two spots: my jawline and my chest.

a very scary side effect, indeed.

like Tegretol, Lamictal was used to treat epilepsy, then some genius (heh) figured out that it also works as a mood stabilizer.

By: Cy

Cy — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Yep - like the genius who decided Neurotin could be used to treat my migraines. Sort of like how a lobotomy would treat them.

“Off-Label Use” is what they call that.