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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by gardenergirl on February 12, 2006, at 21:55:21
I upped my Lamictal from 75 mg to 100 mg yesterday. I also take 57.5 mg Nardil.
I remember the Lamictal headache I had for days when I first went to 75 mg. It's a frontal headache, going across both eyes, and tylenol doesn't touch it. That headache came back today, dang it. Anyone else get this, and what works to relieve it?
And there's this other new thing that's kind of weird and a little embarrassing. Last night while sitting in the office chair, it felt like the floor was slightly vibrating up through the chair into my rear end. I thought I was just feeling the floor vibrate while the furnace was running, since our furnace has a bad bearing and is quite loud at times. But when I went to bed last night, I could still feel a very mild vibration in my butt. Weird. It's not annoying or even all that noticeable when my mind is focused on other things. But it's definitely new.
What the heck is this?
gg
Posted by gardenergirl on February 12, 2006, at 22:01:59
In reply to Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect?, posted by gardenergirl on February 12, 2006, at 21:55:21
Well heck, I just noticed I'm sitting here bouncing my legs while I read. I never do that.
Sounds like a 10 mg Ambien night for me.
Will this pass? And why am I worried about this after only one day?
gg
Posted by Phillipa on February 12, 2006, at 23:05:03
In reply to Re: Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect?, posted by gardenergirl on February 12, 2006, at 22:01:59
Is it like muscle twitching? i get that from SSRI's and SSNRI's. And why wouldn't you wonder what it was. Heck it's new. Fondly Phillipa hope it goes away and you can sleep
Posted by fires on February 13, 2006, at 12:12:53
In reply to Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect?, posted by gardenergirl on February 12, 2006, at 21:55:21
> I upped my Lamictal from 75 mg to 100 mg yesterday. I also take 57.5 mg Nardil.
>
> I remember the Lamictal headache I had for days when I first went to 75 mg. It's a frontal headache, going across both eyes, and tylenol doesn't touch it. That headache came back today, dang it. Anyone else get this, and what works to relieve it?
>
> And there's this other new thing that's kind of weird and a little embarrassing. Last night while sitting in the office chair, it felt like the floor was slightly vibrating up through the chair into my rear end. I thought I was just feeling the floor vibrate while the furnace was running, since our furnace has a bad bearing and is quite loud at times. But when I went to bed last night, I could still feel a very mild vibration in my butt. Weird. It's not annoying or even all that noticeable when my mind is focused on other things. But it's definitely new.
>
> What the heck is this?
>
> gg
Could the floor have really been vibrating? If so, it wouldn't be that unusual for the sensation to continue long after the exposure to the vibrating.Also, I've attributed symptoms to meds that turned out to be wrong. I told my doc that I got way too sedate on 25 mg of Lamictal. I now take 300 mg of Lamictal.
The best thing to do, according to my neuro., is to drop the dose of a med down some, until the side effects go away, then raise the dose again and see if the side effects return. Failing to "rechallenge" a med can cause one to stop a med that could be very beneficial.
Posted by SLS on February 13, 2006, at 23:08:30
In reply to Re: Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect?, posted by gardenergirl on February 12, 2006, at 22:01:59
> Well heck, I just noticed I'm sitting here bouncing my legs while I read. I never do that.
That could be a good sign. It might represent the beginnings of a pro-dopaminergic effect that leads to an improvement of depression. The involvement of dopamine in the antidepressant properties of Lamictal is just a hypothesis of mine, so take what I say with a grain or two of salt.
> Will this pass?The bouncing legs? Perhaps not.
My guess is that the vibrating-butt thing will pass, although I can't give you an explanation as to what is causing it without more information. It could be muscular spasms, paresthesia, or some other neurological phenomenon. You'll find reports of these in the PI label. Either way, I wouldn't worry about it unless it persists for more than a week. At that point, I would ask for your doctor's input.
http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/lamotrigine_ad.htm
> And why am I worried about this after only one day?
That might take more than a day of psychoanalysis to figure out...
:-)
It is only human to want to know as quickly and completely as possible what's going on when one experiences something for the first time, especially when it deviates so much from prior experiences. It is intelligent to worry enough about a treatment-emergent event so as to ask questions of your doctor about it.
- Scott
Posted by fires on February 13, 2006, at 23:24:28
In reply to Re: Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect? » gardenergirl, posted by SLS on February 13, 2006, at 23:08:30
> > Well heck, I just noticed I'm sitting here bouncing my legs while I read. I never do that.
>
> That could be a good sign. It might represent the beginnings of a pro-dopaminergic effect that leads to an improvement of depression. The involvement of dopamine in the antidepressant properties of Lamictal is just a hypothesis of mine, so take what I say with a grain or two of salt.<<What other movements besides bouncing legs might be an indicator?
Thanks
Posted by SLS on February 13, 2006, at 23:35:48
In reply to Re: Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect? » SLS, posted by fires on February 13, 2006, at 23:24:28
> > > Well heck, I just noticed I'm sitting here bouncing my legs while I read. I never do that.
> >
> > That could be a good sign. It might represent the beginnings of a pro-dopaminergic effect that leads to an improvement of depression. The involvement of dopamine in the antidepressant properties of Lamictal is just a hypothesis of mine, so take what I say with a grain or two of salt.<<
>
> What other movements besides bouncing legs might be an indicator?
I hate to answer a question with a question, but what kinds of movements are you experiencing?Lamictal has been known to cause or exacerbate tics and produce parkinson-like movements and dystonias as well as akathisia. Although these things can be linked to dopamine, they aren't necessarily good things to experience. I really couldn't say at this point how these things might prognosticate for the ultimate outcome of Lamictal treatment.
- Scott
Posted by gardenergirl on February 14, 2006, at 15:11:56
In reply to Re: Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect? » gardenergirl, posted by Phillipa on February 12, 2006, at 23:05:03
> Is it like muscle twitching? i get that from SSRI's and SSNRI's. And why wouldn't you wonder what it was. Heck it's new. Fondly Phillipa hope it goes away and you can sleep
It's more like feeling "juiced up" or like someone turned my "electricity" up slightly. But not so much that it really is bothersome at all. I slept just fine, although I probably took 10 mg Ambien, if I remember correctly.
Just odd, that's all.
gg
Posted by gardenergirl on February 14, 2006, at 15:20:06
In reply to Re: Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect? » gardenergirl, posted by fires on February 13, 2006, at 12:12:53
>
> Could the floor have really been vibrating? If so, it wouldn't be that unusual for the sensation to continue long after the exposure to the vibrating.I still can't really tell. I'm quite sensitive, physically and emotionally, so if the floor were vibrating slightly, I'd be more likley to notice, than say, my husband. And I've experienced that feeling lasting after the vibration stopped at times like after roller coasters and stuff. So could be.
I still feel more activated at 100 mg, and that seems to be good for getting me going on a backlog of work. I don't feel like a three-toed sloth anymore. I guess I was worried about it getting worse or moving into hypomania or akathisia. I really HATE feeling jittery or wired.
>
> Also, I've attributed symptoms to meds that turned out to be wrong. I told my doc that I got way too sedate on 25 mg of Lamictal. I now take 300 mg of Lamictal.Yeah, I've done that, too. I thought some stomach upset was Lamictal related in the past, but my pdoc reminded me I'd been on a stable dose too long for something like that to appear.
>
> The best thing to do, according to my neuro., is to drop the dose of a med down some, until the side effects go away, then raise the dose again and see if the side effects return. Failing to "rechallenge" a med can cause one to stop a med that could be very beneficial.That is very good advice. So far it's not annoying enough to consider dropping, but I did do that back when going from 50 to 75 caused really bad insomnia. Now I'm at 100 mg and so far not bad, so your doc's right.
Thanks for your input.
gg
Posted by gardenergirl on February 14, 2006, at 15:23:47
In reply to Re: Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect? » gardenergirl, posted by SLS on February 13, 2006, at 23:08:30
> > Well heck, I just noticed I'm sitting here bouncing my legs while I read. I never do that.
>
> That could be a good sign. It might represent the beginnings of a pro-dopaminergic effect that leads to an improvement of depression. The involvement of dopamine in the antidepressant properties of Lamictal is just a hypothesis of mine, so take what I say with a grain or two of salt.That's an interesting thought. I do feel energized, and I'm getting more done without feeling like it's such a burden to even move. But I don't feel especially ramped up to the point of discomfort.
>
> > Will this pass?
>
> The bouncing legs? Perhaps not.
>
> My guess is that the vibrating-butt thing will pass, although I can't give you an explanation as to what is causing it without more information. It could be muscular spasms, paresthesia, or some other neurological phenomenon. You'll find reports of these in the PI label. Either way, I wouldn't worry about it unless it persists for more than a week. At that point, I would ask for your doctor's input.Yeah, it seems to be waning. And the furnace is still running. :) Although who knows what kind of resonance could have been going on. Nothing along the lines of the Verrazano-Narrows (sp?) bridge, though.
>
>>
> > And why am I worried about this after only one day?
>
> That might take more than a day of psychoanalysis to figure out...OMG! I can't stop laughing at that. Thanks! I may just have to borrow that line someday.
>
> :-)
>Thanks for the reassurance, laughs, and information, Scott. I appreciate it.
gg
Posted by fires on February 14, 2006, at 18:11:06
In reply to Re: Upped Lamictal--vibration feeling side effect? » fires, posted by gardenergirl on February 14, 2006, at 15:20:06
> That is very good advice. So far it's not annoying enough to consider dropping, but I did do that back when going from 50 to 75 caused really bad insomnia. Now I'm at 100 mg and so far not bad, so your doc's right.
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
> ggI just saw my pdoc and she told me to sit at 300 mg for 6 weeks. Says that it can take that long to feel full benefits. I don't mind sitting there for now because I went from 300 mg to 400 mg after being at 300 mg for only eleven days.
(It's just too easy to overshoot a good dose in the rush to feel better).
This is the end of the thread.
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