Lamictal 300 mgs: Side Effect #3 -- Digestion Issues

The third post in my series of the most bothersome side effects of lamictal concerns the third largest tag in my list of side effects: GI issues.  GI issues with brain meds are pretty common.  Ever med I've ever been on has warned of nausea, for instance, but I never had this problem.  And for the first couple months of titration, and then only after titrating up to a higher dose, but it always went away after a few days.

Then I went up to 150 mgs.

In general, I'm not prone to digestive problems.  I've thrown up only twice since I was ten or twelve years old.  I can eat just about anything without getting heartburn, stomachache, or nausea.  But at 150 mgs, I found myself gassy, bloated, and constipated -- to the point where I bought a huge bag of prunes.  Not that they helped much.

Lamictal, Constipation, and Electrolytes

I promise, I'll stop writing about constipation soon.  Because I think it's finally going away. 

In a post last week, I wondered whether my GI problems might be caused by a minor electrolyte imbalance.  Electrolyte imbalance isn't a common cause of constipation.  Usually the culprit is a low-fiber diet.  My diet includes enough fruits and veggies that this shouldn't be a problem.  I tried eating prunes, and Cheerios, and and anything else that might have a laxative effect, but no luck.

I thought that perhaps the lamictal dry mouth is causing me to drink so much water that I'm pissing away electrolytes.  Over the weekend, I started drinking Emergen-C, which in addition to crazy amounts of vitamin C (which I don't really care about) serves as an electrolyte replacement drink.

And I can report that it helped enormously.  Can't say that I'm back to normal, but I'm feeling so much better.  So if you're having GI issues with lamictal, try drinking gatorade or any other electrolyte replacement beverage.  It might really help.

Lamictal 200 mgs: Cheerios, the Laxative of Last Resort

After experiencing some relief from bloating and gas (but not the constipation) that emerged when I titrated up to 150 mgs, I landed right back there when I hit 200.  My stomach hurts, my pants don't fit, and -- I'm sorry if I'm being gross here -- I just want to take a godsdamn shit.


This has brought me to my Laxative of Last Resort: Cheerios.

Since I was a teenager, Cheerios have gone right through me.  This is one reason I hate them.  The other reason is that they were the only cereal deemed to be "healthy enough" by my parents, so I ate them every effing morning until I was eight years old.  My friends, of course, got to eat Fruit Loops or Frosted Flakes or Lucky Charms.

My parents told me that my suffering was due to the fact that they loved me enough to make sure that my teeth didn't rot and I developed healthy eating habits.  Like most young children, I didn't believe them.  They made me eat Cheerios because they were mean!

Then, O glorious day!  Special K made the cut!  It was so exciting compared to those effing Cheerios!  I swore I would never eat Cheerios again.  And for the most part, I stuck by this promise to myself.  The exception was if I went to Girl Scout camp.  Cheerios got put in our gorp for some reason.  I noticed that not only did they made me run for the latrine, but they gave me mild heartburn.  I started eating around them.

Lamictal 150 mgs: An Overview of Mood and Side Effects

Today is my last day on 150 mgs of lamictal.  I've been at this dosage for a month, and tomorrow I'll be going up to 200 mgs.  This month has been difficult for several reasons -- life stress, mood stress, and side effect stress.  I guess I hit the trifecta.  Lucky me.

Being on 150 mgs has definitely improved my mood, but my mood suffered with the shift into autumn, so I started using my sunlamp.  In spite of this, during my third week on this dosage, I experienced more 4 to 8 pm troughs than I had in the previous two weeks.  The fourth week was much better.  What was different during the fourth week?  I had my period.

Yeah, I know that's not the stereotypical way for things to go.  And strictly speaking I don't have periods because I'm on hormonal birth control.  But this past week has been my "off week".  For some reason, hormonal birth control (this includes both The Pill and the NuvaRing, which is awesome) interferes with lamictal.  When you take your "off" week you have more of the med in your system.

Anyhoo.  My mood has not been high enough or stable enough for me to stay at 150 mgs.  It suffered with the waning light, it suffers when it's cloudy, and today, gods help me, it's raining.  The light will continue to wane, and my mood along with it.  When daylight savings time ends, it will suddenly be getting dark an hour earlier, and that's the point at which I started to crash last year.  In light of that (haha!), I'll be asking my doctor if I can ultimately go up to 300 mgs.  I just don't want to take any chances.

But the most remarkable thing about titrating up to 150 mgs has been the side effects.  Whooboy, the side effects.

Lamictal 150 mgs: Investing in Prunes, Gas-X, and Ginger Tea

I used to enjoy the stomach of a concrete elephant.  I never get the stomach flu.  Hell, I never even throw up.  Haven't since I was 12.  OK, there are two exceptions to this; the first was after three strong drinks, several clove cigarettes (I don't normally smoke), and a stack of strawberry pancakes.  The second was a few years ago when my husband's two-year-old cousin had the plague and every singe person who even touched her was knocked down flat.

I am now 36.  I have barfed exactly twice in 24 years.

As for other digestive complaints, I don't have 'em.  I'm not prone to indigestion, acid reflux, diarrhea, or constipation.  When I start a new med, I pretty much ignore the GI tract side effects because I know they won't bother me.  As I said, concrete elephant.

Until I went up to 150 mgs of lamictal, that is.