Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Day 40: Lamictal, dizziness, and exercise

Last week I noticed something odd when I was working out.  Every time I went to do lunges of any sort, I had an unusually hard time keeping my balance.  This was true of both my dominant and non-dominant legs (I'm right handed, therefore my left leg is also dominant, and stronger).  I was wobbling all over the place, and all of the stabilizing muscles in my working leg were working overtime.

When I started doing lunges three years ago, I was about 50 lbs heavier and recovering from a knee injury, and I could still keep my balance better than this.

I'm noticing balance issues even when I'm not working out.  It's not like dizziness or vertigo.  I get that with ear infections, and it's kind of like the floor is moving up and down.  This is more like a milder and more prolonged version of standing up too quickly.  I notice it when I'm standing or walking, but I have less of an issue remaining upright when I can use both legs.

This seems to be related to the dose increase.  Last week I was ready to blame it on the inferior generic lamotrigine, but this week I'm back on the Teva, and it's still happening.  I hope to gods it goes away soon, because my adductor muscles are getting overworked.  My knee is also annoyed, and none of this is helping my left hamstring.

So although I am experiencing more muscle pain than I have been, it's related to straining to keep my balance.  Delayed-onset muscle stiffness is still blissfully mild, when it's there at all.  The only other change in side effects I've noticed is some dermatitis on my upper arms that seems particularly bad around bedtime.  Here's hoping the balance issues improve soon.

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