I can’t believe that this keeps happening to me. I have my medications box and I know to take my meds – I take Lamictal- every morning and every night. And yet I sometimes forgot. My mom says I need a checklist right next to the sink or something like that.
I used to be able to miss a dose and just take a normal dose at night, but after three years of taking the Lamictal, even one missed dose causes painful withdrawal symptoms.
I am a work in progress and will just keep finding ways to make sure my meds are taken on time, every day.
Julie
FYI: Lamictal- also known as Lamotrigine- is an anticonvulsant drug that’s used to treat epilepsy. Like other anticonvulsants such as Depakote and Tegretol, it was found to have excellent mood stabilizing effects. Lamictal is for depression and rapid cycling. It’s not used as an anti mania drug. Depakote, Tegretol and Lithium are anti mania drugs. People with a lot of mania may take one of these and then add Lamictal. If you haven’t tried Lamictal, talk with your health care professional. It changed my life for the better. That’s for sure!
What I do so I don’t miss my meds is my pill box has an alarm on it and goes off when I need to take my meds just in case I forget.
I never miss a dose in years. Hope this helps in some small way.
“Reaching out to help one person at a time-Jennifer”
Bravo, good word!!
Mother of a Bipolar Adult
This is the first I have heard of “stiff neck” side affect, I thought I was going crazy. I have been using an incline (hanging my head off the end like a dead weight). It does help.
Hi Daphna,
I have found that splitting my meds up throughout the day and night really helps- I basically have a 24 hour rotation. There are times when I have no side effects- and others when they are full force. Who knows! My neck gets bad if I take too large of a dose later at night.
I’m glad you found out about the neck- as it sure can drive a person crazy when massage, etc doesn’t work!
Side effects can go away. That is a good thing. Thanks for writing. Julie
Does anyone of you who take Lamictal get sweaty on the back of your neck(under your hair) especially after waking up in the morning. I never had that before I started Lamictal.