Posted by SLS on August 7, 2006, at 0:54:46
In reply to Re: Lamictal and Topamax, posted by lymom3 on August 6, 2006, at 21:06:50
> When I hit 100mg of the Lamictal I started having unexplained bruising and purple spots.
Unusual bruising is one of the warning signs of a serious reaction known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. This is very rare, though.
> Also started having chest pains. I did get checked out by my primary care doc to make sure she couldn't find anything wrong. Once I backed down to 50mg again I haven't had any problems.
I don't know about chest pains specifically, but shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat can be symptoms of this same reaction. So can headache, which you reported. I would proceed with caution.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a695007.html
> Pdoc wants to leave me on that because I did have the beginnings of good effects and add Topamax to it.
It is not unusual for people to experience a brief initial improvement at low dosages. This usually disappears, though, and doesn't return until a therapeutic dosage is reached at approximately 200mg.
> I don't know anything about Topamax and am not sure how it should or will augment what help I am getting now.
Topamax is not usually considered to be a drug given to help with depression. However, it seems to have a beneficial effect for some people with bipolar disorder. Although generally considered a mood stabilizer to prevent mania, it has had antidepressant effects for some people.
Topamax is also a particularly effective drug to treat migraines.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:674338
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060802/msgs/674428.html