Q: Lamictal Side Effects + Lyrica

[NMethylTransferase]

I have started Lamictal, still titrating, at the 50 mg dose range. I'm using the manufacturer's kit, and towards the end of the third week. As soon as the dose went up from 25 to 50 mg, I noticed that I started to get aches and pains. I used to get aches and pains before, but that was an all-over tired sort of feeling. This is different. I get sharp pains in different spots, almost as if I have pulled a muscle. In fact, at first I thought I was being unusually clumsy and coincidentally pulling muscles and spraining tendons. However, the pain goes away a few hours later!

So I know that can't be inflammation. I'd definitely attribute the pain to Lamictal. Excuse my being all DramaQueen about it, but it makes me feel like I have fuckin' fibromyalgia! My question is, will this go away? And if it doesn't, would a bedtime dose of Lyrica help?

Also, has anyone tried Lyrica for their BP? In combination, or as monotherapy? Does it work?

And finally, if you take it at bedtime only, does it make you feel refreshed and more alert in the morning?

P.S. It also gives me headaches. I get occasional migraines, but the Lamictal Headaches are weird. They're like mini, transient migraines. Really, anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours, I feel like I'm getting a migraine, and then it goes away! A real migraine latches onto my head, and once it starts to gnaw, it doesn't stop until my whole day is ruined. The only way it naturally goes away is if I go to sleep. So any solution for the Lamictal Headache? I'm thinking Nimotop...

[Silver]

Anecdata-wise, the achiness with Lamictal does seem to go away. I've still not seen a convincing explanation of the mech of action of the common Lamictal headache. It also goes away. Some folks like to throw electrolytes (V-8 juice or Gatorade, etc.) at it, and that helps - I did, and it may have been a nice dose of placebo, but I didn't care, because my head stopped hurting. Others have said BZ / Tylenol / ibuprofen helped. You get the idea. Lower-grade anecdata.

If it acts like a migraine, and, like a migraine, resolves with sleep, it seems like ibuprofen is a logical choice...

I don't see why Lyrica would be any more helpful for mood stabilization than gabapentin... and I think it has the potential to be a little destabilizing, maybe, but I am on way-speculative ground there. As far as general achiness goes, I think that your overall exercise plans that you outlined elsewhere will do you more good than the Lyrica will, especially if you incorporate stretching/flexibility work in there. Why not start there?

Tangent - Allow me to link to one of my mostest favoritest ever entertainment-value studies, sponsored by Parke-Davis, the then-manufacturer of gabapentin... in which the gabapentin plus lithium group did worse than the placebo plus lithium group, despite some very enthusiastic manipulation on the part of the authors. I use this as a teaching article from time to time, right before we lead into the discussion of the great Neurontin overhype debacle.

[dumdum]

I dubbed Lamictal, "Head-Ache-Tal because I never had a migraine in my life until I went on that drug. So my neuro. added Topamax, which, in addition to treating partial seizures, helps with migraines. Worked wonders. The achiness? That goes away--just stay plenty hydrated.

Lyrica...currently weaning off of it as it messes up my poor IBS-ridden tummy too much. And I gained like 8 lbs. in 2 weeks without eating a bite more than usual. And I still had seizures. But whatever. I digress. These drugs affect us all differently. You're still new to the Lamictal trip, hopefully things will smooth out for you soon! (at the most, I took 600 mgs. for my seizures. It worked but DaYUNG my head hurt before Topamax was introduced into the mix.)