Posted by Sunnely on April 6, 2002, at 20:46:18
In reply to Lamotrigine Rash Warning, posted by Bob on April 3, 2002, at 0:38:03
In mood disorder trials conducted to date, the rate of serious rash, defined as requiring both drug discontinuation and hospitalization, has been 0.06% (2 of 3,153) on Lamictal and 0.09% (1 of 1,053) on placebo. No cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) or toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) were observed. A low starting dose and gradual titration of Lamictal (see below) appear to minimize the risk of serious rash.
DOSAGE GUIDELINE FOR LAMICTAL, BOTH MONOTHERAPY AND COMBINATION, IN THE TREATMENT OF BIPOLAR DISORDER:
TREATMENT PERIOD: Weeks 1-2:
1) Monotherapy (Lamictal alone) - 25 mg daily
2) With Depakote - 12.5 mg daily
3) With Tegretol - 50 mg dailyTREATMENT PERIOD: Weeks 3-4:
1) Monotherapy (Lamictal alone) - 50 mg daily
2) With Depakote - 25 mg daily
3) With Tegretol - 100 mg dailyTREATMENT PERIOD: Week 5:
1) Monotherapy (Lamictal alone) - 100 mg daily
2) With Depakote - 50 mg daily
3) With Tegretol - 200 mg dailyTHEREAFTER:
1) Monotherapy (Lamictal alone) - 200 mg daily
2) With Depakote - 100 mg daily
3) With Tegretol - 400 mg daily
> I was perusing www.rxlist.com this evening and decided to look up Lamictal. Man! They are not fooling around with that warning. They are basically saying that if you develop any sort of rash AT ALL, that they recommend immediate discontinuation. It's one of the scariest warnings I've seen on a monograph. I don't even see things like that on MAOIs.
>
> You can check it out here:
>
> http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/lamotrigine.htm
>
> BTW... they also said a common effect that was found was weight gain. Really? Have people here found that Lamictal causes weight gain?
>
> Bob
poster:Sunnely
thread:101605
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020402/msgs/102184.html