Lamictal and Weight Gain

this post is actually in response to a comment Crissy A. left under Ridiculous Weight Gain, Med Change & Lamictal Side Effects. when i began gaining weight, my pdoc didn’t think it was the Lamictal, because it isn’t supposed to cause weight gain. but after gaining 20 lbs. in about three months, he finally took me off of it about three or four weeks ago. i lost 2 lbs. the first two weeks. i don’t have another appointment for another week or so, and i will have a weigh-in then (i haven’t owned a scale in ten years!)

my appetite is much smaller and i haven’t had cravings for peanut M&Ms. i’m convinced (as is my pdoc) that it was caused by the Lamictal. i haven’t lost a lot of weight since i stopped taking it, but i went from consuming 2800 calories one day, down to 1800 the next! we still have a big bag of peanut M&Ms and i haven’t been tempted to eat any. however, i’ve been eating an awful lot of Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, particularly the Cookies ‘n Cream flavor. well, at least they have way fewer calories and fat. the drastic change in my eating habits is kind of weird to see. i’m still keeping track of my food on my FitDay Journal, but i admit that it’s kind of a pain in the ass.

i’m certainly no doctor, but for anyone who gains weight after starting to take Lamictal, it’s worth mentioning to your doctor. however, it doesn’t seem like a lot of people have weight gain as a side effect, which is why my pdoc didn’t think it was the Lamictal at first.