Are my issues caused by lamotrigine, I wonder?

Posted by tisme @tisme, Apr 5 4:00am

started lamotrigine a couple of weeks ago and lately i have been getting a lot of palpitations, and tachy, up to 117beats. the palps dont always come with rapid heart beats but I often can hear the heart beat in my ears. freaky. So I am going to get off this stuff, I dont want to end up being on it too long to be able to get off like effexor ( the side effects of that are the reason I am still on it).

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ashleyharris728 | @ashleyharris728 | Apr 8 7:09pm

In reply to @tisme "@ashleyharris728 SJS??" + (show)

@tisme SJS is the name of the life threatening rash (Stevens Johnson Syndrome) however sometimes people get rashes that are benign as well. I believe if you get any type of rash they discontinue the medication out of caution. You can try it again in the future if you and your doc agree. You can also get medication allergy testing but that can be hard to find.
Some medications are meant to be taken long-term. There is not a huge risk of dependence for many of those types of medicines. It is so unfortunate that many of the meds for bipolar do have side effects that are difficult to tolerate. I do hope you are able to get in touch with your doc and you feel better soon.

tisme | @tisme | Apr 8 8:12pm

In reply to @brokenbones "I’m on lamotrigine. I’ve been on it for years now. I hear my heartbeat in my..." + (show)

@brokenbones saw my doc , ears etc are clear wants me to stay on the med ( especially i think cos its taken him so long to get me to finally try a mood stabiliser)

BrokenBones | @brokenbones | Apr 8 11:23pm

In reply to @tisme "@brokenbones saw my doc , ears etc are clear wants me to stay on the med..." + (show)

@tisme
My PCP checked my ears as well and said he could not find anything wrong either. I am in another support group and someone mentioned about hearing their heart beat and breathe through their ears. I can’t remember the name of it but I searched it and the symptoms matched me perfectly. I will be going to the nose eye ear throat doctor to be checked. Through the decades I have found doctors do not know things out of their speciality. I had a dr tell me I was not bipolar so I suffered for 13 yrs. He was a general dr . This is why there are specialists. I’ll try to find the mane of the problem and post back to you.

tisme | @tisme | Apr 9 12:10am

In reply to @brokenbones "@tisme My PCP checked my ears as well and said he could not find anything wrong..." + (show)

@brokenbones it was my family general doctor that suspected bipolar and proceeded to organise assessments n such with so called specialists. I have TMJ too so ears are often an issue

rosekatie | @rosekatie | Apr 19 9:36am

I'm sorry you are not feeling well on this medication. If you are tapering without advice you don't have to go it alone. If your prescriber is not helpful to you there is another resource that could help you. Talking to a pharmacist is of great benefit. They know more about your medication than your prescriber. I have used a pharmacist to taper medications over the years and it gave me peace of mind in knowing that I was being guiding to a better place, in the safest way possible. As for Lamotrigine, I was prescribed (250mg daily) in 2001, as a medication for Bipolar Disorder. It is one of the few medications that I have been able to tolerate.