deetwang Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 I've been put on Lamictal, and as I upped my dose (to 100 mgs a day) I've been experiencing brutal headaches all day long for two weeks now. Is this normal? Will this go away in time? I'm about ready to go off it due to these headaches. Any advice would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryPoppins Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 I wish I could be of help to you but I didn't get any headache with Lamictal at all. I have with Cymbalta, though. Good luck with your research! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ophelia Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I've been put on Lamictal, and as I upped my dose (to 100 mgs a day) I've been experiencing brutal headaches all day long for two weeks now. Is this normal? Will this go away in time? I'm about ready to go off it due to these headaches. Any advice would be much appreciated. headaches seem to be a pretty common side effect with Lamictal. Everyone is different, but a lot of people say that their headaches do go away with time, whereas I have hear of others who have said that they did not go away (or maybe they possibly did not give it enough time... who knows?). Again, as with every medication, your mileage may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirMarshall Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Headaches are pretty darn common when *increasing* Lamictal. I had them. Generally they resolved in about a week. The solution is drop you dosage back down to where you didn't have headaches, and wait till they go away. Then start a slower, smaller titration. If you used the Starter Pack, it has you increase in 25mg doses. Try splitting the tabs for 12.5mg and see how it goes. Don't increase the dose until the headaches ease off. Remember, there is no race to increase dosages! a.m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deetwang Posted August 28, 2008 Author Share Posted August 28, 2008 Thanks Marshall and everyone. I went from 50 to 100mgs in one day, so will go back to the 50mgs and increase to 75 and see if the headache goes away. It's pretty much constant, starting right when I upped the dosage. Thanks again for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumdum Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Thanks Marshall and everyone. I went from 50 to 100mgs in one day, so will go back to the 50mgs and increase to 75 and see if the headache goes away. It's pretty much constant, starting right when I upped the dosage. Thanks again for your help! I don't refer to Lamictal as Head-Ache-Tal for nuthing. Geez, the headaches just would not abate. I nevet in my life had a migraine until I started taking this wonder drug. Then again, I was ingesting anywhere from 500-600 mgs a day. The only thing that helped was adding on Topamax (a known migraine helper.) Don't play doctor, though, consult w/your PDOC and see what he/she says. Communication is key in these circumstances. Best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowen Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I was getting those nasty headaches when titrating, and drinking about 3L of water a day helped. Not sure if the answer will be that simple for you, but I thought I would put my two cents in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meg Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 a hearty 2nd to what AM said about taking your time titrating with lamictal-- 50 to 100 is a pretty big jump imo, so hopefully dropping back down and taking your time coming back up (w/doc's blessing!) will do you good and resolve the problem. I'm personally SO SO SO glad that I waited out my 2-3 weeks of awful headaches while building up my dosage (I stopped at 100mg, btw, am taking it for unipolar depression rather than bipolar I/II). I wondered if it was worth it too, but getting through those rough few weeks between 50ish-100 was the worst of it, and I haven't had a problem since. I'm actually coming up on a year (! I didn't realize it'd been that long) on my lovely lamictal and the only times I have problems with headaches is if I miss a dose (can tell by the end of the day with a dull, heavy headache-- miss two days and I might as well lock myself in a soundproof closet and sit in the dark because everything makes the headache worse. eep.)-- BUT this shouldn't be a problem for you if you aren't into unconscious self-sabotage like I seem to have been a few times this year (from a pdoc's perspective I would be "non-compliant") so stay on them after you do all that work to titrate up and my bet is that you'll be okay. Stick with it a little longer if you can, if it works for you then the benefits waaaay outweigh a few weeks of misery. rambling again, sorry let us know how you're doing, m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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