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Alcohol and Lamictal Rate Topic: -----

#41 User is offline   pat214 

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Posted 16 July 2008 - 11:41 AM

Hi stumbled upon this forum while googing aroung a bit....

anyways I have TSC(tuberousis sklerosis complex) all my life and take lamictal against seizures for about 6 years now(dossage of 350mg)... when i got 16(legal drinking age in austria)(so about 3 years ago). i started to ask my self the same question can i mix alchahol with lamictial? So i started to experiment with it.. i started with small dosages of alcahol( 0.25L of cider) and gradually increased the amount i would drink when i go out... personally i never had in these 3 years any problems with it... and i had nights where i had way too much even for a person who takes no medication. If u consider drinking start slowly, and if u dnt experience any problems u can raise the amount u drink in a night BUT be careful every one reacts differently. Besides the hangovers are quite unpleasant if u over do it :P


-patrick

#42 User is offline   Dr.Faustus 

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Posted 17 July 2008 - 07:23 AM

. If u consider drinking start slowly, and if u dnt experience any problems u can raise the amount u drink in a night BUT be careful every one reacts differently. Besides the hangovers are quite unpleasant if u over do it :P [/ end quote]

OK, my personal experience? Tegretol would play with the alcohol....I couldn't get drunk, or it waited till I had too many and I got ultra drunk all of a sudden. But LAMICTAL ??????????

The kiss of death. One night with only about three drinks I was falling down staircases and the like and have no memory of any of it. If that wasnt bad enough I tried again. This time the booze fueled a three day manic bender which left me talking to invisible people.....several of them, among other wonderfully psychotic break moments.......so for me? Lamictal and Alcohol = :Trigger:

Just my two cents tho I've seen others mention similar horror stories........hence the general warning that alcohol and pysch meds don't mix.

cheers

This post has been edited by Dr.Faustus: 17 July 2008 - 07:27 AM

You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever,
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun.
-Tales of Brave Ulysses

BP on Lamictal, Elavil, Xanax

#43 User is offline   Enterich 

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Posted 12 August 2008 - 03:40 PM

I quit drinking completely when I started Lamictal but started (socially) drinking again a few months later as I became more comfortable on the medicine and my dose started to stabilize. However, I went up to 200mg a few months back. Now when I drink more than maybe one drink, I will have for the period of maybe an hour to an hour and a half shortly afterwards a terrible moodswing. I still have moodswings now and then but since starting Lamictal they have changed such that the lows are not as low and they don't last nearly as long as they used to. I also get less angry and frustrated at things. Anyhow, I haven't been able to find any documentation that says Lamictal can do this with alcohol - I'm guessing that the alcohol's depressant effects are simply amplified by the drug. I am not supposed to drink anyhow because alcohol lowers the seizure threshold and effectively renders the medication ineffective, but one or two beers doesn't tend to cause problems.

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Posted 12 October 2008 - 01:25 PM

View PostEnterich, on Aug 12 2008, 08:40 PM, said:

I quit drinking completely when I started Lamictal but started (socially) drinking again a few months later as I became more comfortable on the medicine and my dose started to stabilize. However, I went up to 200mg a few months back. Now when I drink more than maybe one drink, I will have for the period of maybe an hour to an hour and a half shortly afterwards a terrible moodswing. I still have moodswings now and then but since starting Lamictal they have changed such that the lows are not as low and they don't last nearly as long as they used to. I also get less angry and frustrated at things. Anyhow, I haven't been able to find any documentation that says Lamictal can do this with alcohol - I'm guessing that the alcohol's depressant effects are simply amplified by the drug. I am not supposed to drink anyhow because alcohol lowers the seizure threshold and effectively renders the medication ineffective, but one or two beers doesn't tend to cause problems.



I had two drinks about 3 months after starting Lamictal. I had a seizure after 5 weeks of being seizure free. I have not tried it again. :(

#45 User is offline   alcheme 

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Posted 13 October 2008 - 07:28 PM

Haven't had a problem with it so far, but I am still titrating up. Until I find the proper cocktail to make like bearable, I am a self-medicator. That being said I have Bipolar I (with sever depressive episodes, as well as sever manic ones), severe OCD, and DDNOS. I am not stable enough to get on a real anti-depressant, but after begging my pdoc for a month, I finally got the Lamictal Starter Kit. Hopefully it will help with the depression, I don't know about the OCD (but Klonopin has helped a lot with that, at least anxiety wise). I have hopes, and patience, because the other alternative is going back to teh way I used to be, and even on the little bit of medicinal help I have been on, I cannot go back there...
"The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not a man."

Dx: Bipolar I (08/20/08), OCD (09/15/08)
Rx: Geodon 80mg HS, Geodon 20mg TID, Paxil 40mg HS, Lamictal 100mg BID, Klonopin 1mg / Valium 10 mg PRN
Prev Rx: Abilify (akathisia / suicidal ADHD), Geodon (made me pass out at 40mg, had to take 5 times a day at 20mg), Seroquel (made me gain weight)

#46 User is offline   kei13 

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Posted 13 October 2008 - 10:22 PM

View Postherrfous, on Jan 25 2006, 06:49 AM, said:

Ashamedly, I get completely trashed several times a week (which takes 6+ drinks in less than an hour for me), and this has yet to have affected the pharmacokinetics or end effects of Lamictal. For what it's worth, I shouldn't be doing this. Perhaps I'll stop doing this once I actually get a job that everybody else thinks I deserve.


Herrfour:
Fuck what people think, do what's best for you. If you know you shouldn't be drinking, try to STOP at once. Speaking from experience, don't do shit that you can be ashamed of.

This post has been edited by kei13: 13 October 2008 - 10:27 PM

Rx Morning: Wellbutrin XL 300mg, Lamictal 100mg, D-amphetamine Salt 15mg (Adderall) Lithium 300
Afternoon: Wellbutrin XL 150mgEvening: an occasional beer Klonopin
Bedtime or so: Klonopin 1mg 2mg, Lamictal 100mg, Estazolam 2mg, Lithium 300
Rx: Celexa 10mg towards 20mg, Breakfast
Wellbutrin 450, morning snack
Tapering of klonopin at night and Lithium 600 at bedtime
Other RX: Calms Forte(homeopatic), B12 1000mg daily, Multivitamin with L-Tyrosine, Excersice

Dx BD mixed, ADHD, PTSD (plus my PDoc suggests Borderline Personality, maybe a bit of OCD blah blah blah... I avoid screenings; I don't really need any more Dx's)

DX being re-evaluated

My strenghts: Smart, pretty, fun, strong.(sometimes)

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Posted 20 October 2008 - 01:32 AM

I'm a 24 year old female, and I have been on Lamictal for 3 years and I found that at first, drinking just sucked, I felt terrible and had hideous hangovers the next day. I am definitely not a big drinker, only at parties... I have always had a really low tolerance for alcohol, but I have found that at this point I alcohol has much less of an effect on me, but it's not as pleasurable, I don't really want a drink.

I can drink 8-10 drinks at a party, mainly shots, and I feel fine, a little tipsy, compared to my friends who drink the same and are trashed. I am pretty clear-headed at the end of the night, and people are like "why aren't you even drunk? I do have less coordination, and I'm clumsy but I think pretty clearly. I think that it's due to the lamictal, but I don't really know. It is not something that I seek out at this point, because it really doesn't feel very good, I don't get as happy as I used to get from drinking.

I do smoke weed occasionally, and I enjoy it the way I have always enjoyed it. Hallucinogens such as mushrooms and acid have the same effect, and so do downers like Klonopin. Coke is also just as pleasurable as it always has been (not that I do that very often, maybe 1-2x a year tops, but I live in San Francisco and it's readily available at parties, etc)

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Posted 20 October 2008 - 01:37 AM

View PostGuest, on Oct 20 2008, 06:32 AM, said:

I'm a 24 year old female, and I have been on Lamictal for 3 years and I found that at first, drinking just sucked, I felt terrible and had hideous hangovers the next day. I am definitely not a big drinker, only at parties... I have always had a really low tolerance for alcohol, but I have found that at this point I alcohol has much less of an effect on me, but it's not as pleasurable, I don't really want a drink.

I can drink 8-10 drinks at a party, mainly shots, and I feel fine, a little tipsy, compared to my friends who drink the same and are trashed. I am pretty clear-headed at the end of the night, and people are like "why aren't you even drunk? I do have less coordination, and I'm clumsy but I think pretty clearly. I think that it's due to the lamictal, but I don't really know. It is not something that I seek out at this point, because it really doesn't feel very good, I don't get as happy as I used to get from drinking.

I do smoke weed occasionally, and I enjoy it the way I have always enjoyed it. Hallucinogens such as mushrooms and acid have the same effect, and so do downers like Klonopin. Coke is also just as pleasurable as it always has been (not that I do that very often, maybe 1-2x a year tops, but I live in San Francisco and it's readily available at parties, etc)


Me again, I forgot to say that I've been diagnosed as BP II for the past 5 years, have had lot of depression, anxiety, and really uncomfortable hypomania, but except for occasional mild depression, I have been mostly symptom free since I started lamictal. I've even been able to stop taking lithium. All hail Lamictal :)

#49 User is offline   dianthus 

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Posted 20 October 2008 - 02:13 AM

i get too sick to function mixing alcohol and lamictal. usually i have to work the next day, and the unpleasantness is too much to bear. it's not worth it to me.
"And though I'd move my world to be with him, still the gap between us is too wide."

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Posted 21 November 2008 - 11:35 AM

well i have drank on it before, but last night i did and have been VIOLENTLY ill all day. Im shaky, puking, hot flashes, cant hold anything down.

so, for me, screw that, i used to be quite the little whiskey girl, and i have NEVER felt this bad from a hangover. EVER. i dont puke when i drink either. shoot, i may have stopped years ago if i felt like this after a night out!


nomore mixing for me,not worth it

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Posted 26 November 2008 - 05:04 AM

This thread is extremely interesting to me. I've been on Lamictal and Wellbutrin XL for approximately 2.5 years now. The most taken was 200 mg of Lamictal and 150 mg of Wellbutrin during this time period. Currently, sitting at about 150 mg of both daily. Treating what was possibly BP1, I'm skeptical having not had any symptoms for a few (3-5) years.

Used to be a fairly heavy drinker (10-12 drinks an evening/5'8" ~150lbs), 1-2 nights a week on the weekends but my current work schedule dictates not drinking for roughly a month at a time and then having 1-3 of these heavier nights over a two week period of leisure time.

Does anyone one else experience what I consider Lamictal "cutting out" after they drink for a night or two? For example, once resuming a period of non-drinking, do you have extremely vivid dreams for the first night and wake up feeling any different (in my case, much more sleep, more tired) the next day? I just find it odd, after being climatized to this medication for awhile that the same thing continues to happen. Also, after even a mild night (1-3 drinks), I tend to sleep alot less (~5 hrs) naturally and feel much sharper the next day until what feels like the medicine resuming the next night of not drinking.

I'm past using any other types of recreational forms of enrichment at this point in my life so I can't really comment on anything else.

#52 User is offline   lysergia 

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Posted 26 November 2008 - 10:19 AM

View Postsusanb, on Oct 20 2008, 08:13 AM, said:

i get too sick to function mixing alcohol and lamictal. usually i have to work the next day, and the unpleasantness is too much to bear. it's not worth it to me.


never noticed this thread before!
yup susan you said it. any more than one or two (three if it's a really weak girlie drink!) and i can't even continue, or i know i'm going to be sick. and even if i have three and don't get sick that night, the next day sucks.

some kinds of alcoholic beverages are worse than others (for me). the higher the alcohol content, the worse i'm going to feel (even if i just have a little bit).
current rx: bupropion SR 300mg, lamotrigine 200 mg, citalopram 20mg, 0.125 mg synthroid, 300mg B6, clonazepam in various doses, thc, nicotine, caffeine, refined sugar as needed
current dx: depression (maybe bp2), ptsd, ddNOS, anxiety NOS, narcolepsy/sleep disorder pending dx, ED issues, cat-induced insanity, motherhood
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Posted 22 December 2008 - 05:25 AM

View PostGuest, on Oct 20 2008, 06:32 AM, said:

I'm a 24 year old female, and I have been on Lamictal for 3 years and I found that at first, drinking just sucked, I felt terrible and had hideous hangovers the next day. I am definitely not a big drinker, only at parties... I have always had a really low tolerance for alcohol, but I have found that at this point I alcohol has much less of an effect on me, but it's not as pleasurable, I don't really want a drink.

I can drink 8-10 drinks at a party, mainly shots, and I feel fine, a little tipsy, compared to my friends who drink the same and are trashed. I am pretty clear-headed at the end of the night, and people are like "why aren't you even drunk? I do have less coordination, and I'm clumsy but I think pretty clearly. I think that it's due to the lamictal, but I don't really know. It is not something that I seek out at this point, because it really doesn't feel very good, I don't get as happy as I used to get from drinking.

I do smoke weed occasionally, and I enjoy it the way I have always enjoyed it. Hallucinogens such as mushrooms and acid have the same effect, and so do downers like Klonopin. Coke is also just as pleasurable as it always has been (not that I do that very often, maybe 1-2x a year tops, but I live in San Francisco and it's readily available at parties, etc)

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Post icon  Posted 22 December 2008 - 05:45 AM


I am a 26 year old and have just been diagnosed with bi-polar/depression. Lamictal is the drug I have been given along with clonazepam. I am one to self-medicate (I guess) after reading all these blogs. I like to drink and party here and there and I am a little afraid to now. The past few years drinking has usually lead to a little craziness...not remembering things, "doing things" I would not do without the drinking. Not each and everytime, but I am usually the fun and crazy one as I have been told by my friends. Sometimes I do not remember hours of the night. I do not want to cut that part out of my life completely...sounds crazy but I like to go out and have fun and I guess going out without drinking doesn't really sound appealing to me? I am just wondering if my whole life is going to change with taking these meds and I am afaid I wont be me anymore? Just wondering if anyone has any advice for me cause I feel so nervous about everything now, and I didn't before this. I have a lot of very supportive people in my life but I think they would all be very angry if I even spoke about drinking or anything else.....This is all new to me and I am just feel so blah..... haven't returned to work yet after the had a severe low and took many pills t take my own life and ended up in the Er and was near death. I do want to live, be happy, but I still want to be me....

#55 Guest_D_*

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Posted 12 January 2009 - 08:48 PM

I went the route of trying to quit drinking and using recreational drugs when I finally ended up being prescribed Lamictal, Wellbutrin, and Seroquel. If your question is "Do these medications change you?", my answer is yeah. I experienced some of the bad things with Lamictal like headaches, nightmares, and the inability to remember shit and spell as proficiently for about the first 1.5 yrs (been on these meds 3 yrs now minus the Seroquel).

You have to remember that these medications are being taken for a reason. If you were completely happy with yourself, then why subject yourself to taking super expensive, powerful, pharmaceutical medications. The point is, whatever your system was prior, it wasn't working. Yeah, your personality and lifestyle will take a drastic change if you stop using recreational drugs and alcohol. Will you miss your old self? Um Yeah. I think it's a helluva lot more entertaining/exciting to be the life of the party instead of the guy nursing his only brew of the night. So what's the tradeoff? For me, I've traded away the agonizing months of depression and suicidal thoughts for more stability and less partying. Is it more fun? No, but it's certainly less traumatic than hiding out in your house trying to figure out the best way to off yourself.

People will always test out how these things mix so at least this site provides some insight in regards to the effects. Read all of the posts though. Some people feel like shit, some people can drink more now, some people can drink less, some unlucky people have had seizures.

It's kind of a mixed bag considering that other people are taking different meds and have different biological systems. Roll the dice on the table if you want to play. Most people aren't completely self-destructing from what I've read.

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Posted 12 January 2009 - 09:10 PM

My, that was a bit off the point. Yeah, I've mixed it. With alcohol, the hangovers sucked badly while on my way up to 200 mg/day. After taking it for a couple years, the massive hangover effect has slightly diminished (still worse I think). Also, hangovers don't seem to be as bad the second day if you ended up going out and drinking both nights on a weekend.

I wouldn't drink on it unless you are already climatized to the medication and feeling decent and stable. Obviously, it depends on how much you drink as well. I'm speaking more from the perspective of people drink to get drunk (or end up drunk sometimes). Even my psychiatrist says you can have 1-2 drinks on it occasionally if you aren't using it for epilepsy. Under those circumstances, the effects aren't too noticeable for me.

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Posted 14 February 2009 - 03:53 PM

I'm treated for bipolar disorder and i'm taking 200mg of lamictal every evening and .5 mg of risperdal in the morning and in the evening. I smoke marijuana occasionaly with no side effects. Is it safe to drink while taking these meds?

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Posted 17 March 2009 - 04:20 PM

Allergy to gluten most likely. Makes me a raving, insatiable madman.
[/quote]

Wine is actually gluten-free. Only beer and particular liquors contain gluten. Flushing is often caused by high blood pressure, which can be caused by a number of factors.

#59 User is offline   icebird200 

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Posted 18 March 2009 - 06:34 PM

View Postchickiedisco, on Jan 25 2006, 12:14 AM, said:

Hey, I'm new here and just started a starter kit of Lamictal. How does it interact with alcohol? I know that I've been self-medicating over the years, but nonetheless I hope to still have your occasional glass of wine etc. Will it work OK or do you find you have cut down with the booze??


I think a half a glass of wine would put me to sleep with these meds im taking, especially after starting lamictal.
So, for me...I never would drink on it. however, I don't really drink to begin with.

...Why is lamictal so popular on this forum?
DX: Asperger's Syndrome, Anxiety (unknown type), Depression (unknown type), OCD (possible)
RX: Remeron 15 mg - Risperdal 1.5 mg - Klonopin 2 mg prn

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Post icon  Posted 02 April 2009 - 06:04 PM

hey im 18 and im on lamictal (200mg/ day) for epilepsy for like... 3 months now. I don't have seizures but i have what's called myocolonic jerks where you loose muscle control. theyre basically "seizures" if you wanna call it that but theyre for like .5 seconds. i go to college parties alot and i started with drinking 1 beer, then 3, then like anywhere from 5 beers and 2 shots and i havent had any side effects. if i get enough sleep i'm fine i don't "twitch" or drop stuff. however when i get like 3 or 4 hours of sleep i do. then again, people with epilepsy are supposed to get their rest, avoid strees, alcohol and street drugs.

im not gonna lie. i smoke weed. not alot but i do. and i drink. and it hasnt affected anything and believe my i am TERRIFIED of having a seizure. literally. sometimes i cant sleep at night because i have an anxiety attack about having one. but i never have one lol.

i know people read these forums for reassurance (i know i do). and this is my story.

is there anyone who has these "jerks" who is taking lamictal?
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