Lamotrigine at age 10?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our 13 yo girl developed a yeast infection and vulvar dermatitis after being on lamictal. They are also sensitive to SSRIs (daily bad nose bleeds).

Did you keep them on it? Switch to another mood stabilizer? Which one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 13 yo girl developed a yeast infection and vulvar dermatitis after being on lamictal. They are also sensitive to SSRIs (daily bad nose bleeds).

Did you keep them on it? Switch to another mood stabilizer? Which one?

We stopped. It’s a bad side effect. We’re taking a break before trying a new one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 13 yo girl developed a yeast infection and vulvar dermatitis after being on lamictal. They are also sensitive to SSRIs (daily bad nose bleeds).

Did you keep them on it? Switch to another mood stabilizer? Which one?

We stopped. It’s a bad side effect. We’re taking a break before trying a new one.

Hugs. I just picked up our rx. Fingers crossed it works for us. I hope your daughter is doing well even without the meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teen was on it for a while and it REALLY helped stabilize his mood. My concern was the possible severe side effect (Stevens-Johnson syndrome) which seemed scary. For this reason, I would not start my child on this med unless I was sure I could get them to take it on a rigorous schedule.

My kid got a rash three months after starting Lamictal. The doctors swore it wasn’t SJ but couldn’t determine what was causing it. In addition to his psychiatrist, we saw a GP, allergist and dermatologist. They all found the rash to be a mystery and declared it was a coincidence that he and recently started Lamictal. We stopped the medicine and restarted three months later and the same rash appeared. There’s nothing they can say that will make me believe it’s a coincidence.

Our psych said this side effect was most common with folks of Asian or Latino heritage. Does that apply to your kid?

Nope. Caucasian with European heritage. We have no Asian or Latino DNA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teen was on it for a while and it REALLY helped stabilize his mood. My concern was the possible severe side effect (Stevens-Johnson syndrome) which seemed scary. For this reason, I would not start my child on this med unless I was sure I could get them to take it on a rigorous schedule.

My kid got a rash three months after starting Lamictal. The doctors swore it wasn’t SJ but couldn’t determine what was causing it. In addition to his psychiatrist, we saw a GP, allergist and dermatologist. They all found the rash to be a mystery and declared it was a coincidence that he and recently started Lamictal. We stopped the medicine and restarted three months later and the same rash appeared. There’s nothing they can say that will make me believe it’s a coincidence.

Also what did you do after that? What mood stabilizer did you move to?

We tried one or two anti-seizure meds but the lowest dose made him sleep non-stop. We took a break from meds (for about 6 months) and did therapy, which has helped. He started a low dose of Focalin recently and that’s also helped. His doctor didn’t think he could tolerate any stimulant without a mood stabilizer but he’s done great. I think puberty exacerbated his issues earlier and he’s doing better with some growing, maturing and therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lamotragine is and excellent stabilizer that is weight neutral. I would strongly suggest you gave the Dr write the script as “name brand only”. “Lamictal” is the name. This particular drug does not perform as expected in generic.

NP here, really!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 13 yo girl developed a yeast infection and vulvar dermatitis after being on lamictal. They are also sensitive to SSRIs (daily bad nose bleeds).

Did you keep them on it? Switch to another mood stabilizer? Which one?

We stopped. It’s a bad side effect. We’re taking a break before trying a new one.

Hugs. I just picked up our rx. Fingers crossed it works for us. I hope your daughter is doing well even without the meds.

Did you get the brand name? Insurance issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 13 yo girl developed a yeast infection and vulvar dermatitis after being on lamictal. They are also sensitive to SSRIs (daily bad nose bleeds).

Did you keep them on it? Switch to another mood stabilizer? Which one?

We stopped. It’s a bad side effect. We’re taking a break before trying a new one.

Hugs. I just picked up our rx. Fingers crossed it works for us. I hope your daughter is doing well even without the meds.

Did you get the brand name? Insurance issues?

We got generic. It was a very small dose. Doc wants to ease in before tapering off of abilify. Rx literally cost 73 cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume you've tried several classes of antidepressants, not just SSRIs?

If a patient becomes "over stimulated" on SSRIs, it's a warning sign for bipolar. Another antidepressant without a mood stabilizer isn't going to fix the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 13 yo girl developed a yeast infection and vulvar dermatitis after being on lamictal. They are also sensitive to SSRIs (daily bad nose bleeds).

Did you keep them on it? Switch to another mood stabilizer? Which one?

We stopped. It’s a bad side effect. We’re taking a break before trying a new one.

Hugs. I just picked up our rx. Fingers crossed it works for us. I hope your daughter is doing well even without the meds.

Thanks. They are slowly healing, but we are working closely with my doctor because we have to try different things, and I’m a bit concerned it’s causing some emotional trauma at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teen was on it for a while and it REALLY helped stabilize his mood. My concern was the possible severe side effect (Stevens-Johnson syndrome) which seemed scary. For this reason, I would not start my child on this med unless I was sure I could get them to take it on a rigorous schedule.

My kid got a rash three months after starting Lamictal. The doctors swore it wasn’t SJ but couldn’t determine what was causing it. In addition to his psychiatrist, we saw a GP, allergist and dermatologist. They all found the rash to be a mystery and declared it was a coincidence that he and recently started Lamictal. We stopped the medicine and restarted three months later and the same rash appeared. There’s nothing they can say that will make me believe it’s a coincidence.

Also what did you do after that? What mood stabilizer did you move to?

We tried one or two anti-seizure meds but the lowest dose made him sleep non-stop. We took a break from meds (for about 6 months) and did therapy, which has helped. He started a low dose of Focalin recently and that’s also helped. His doctor didn’t think he could tolerate any stimulant without a mood stabilizer but he’s done great. I think puberty exacerbated his issues earlier and he’s doing better with some growing, maturing and therapy.

OP this may not be helpful since I'm an adult, but I read the thread since I've been on Lamotrigine/Lamictal for 20yrs. Like the PP's son, in recent years I've found it contributed to fatigue so I moved to talking it at night.

This may be totally irrelevant given your child's age and issues, but wanted to chime in. I wish you luck and hugs as you find what works best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assume you've tried several classes of antidepressants, not just SSRIs?

If a patient becomes "over stimulated" on SSRIs, it's a warning sign for bipolar. Another antidepressant without a mood stabilizer isn't going to fix the problem.

Is this accurate?

[Anonymous]

For seizure meds, generic versus name and even specific generics is important. The neurologists have all told me this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For seizure meds, generic versus name and even specific generics is important. The neurologists have all told me this.

+1

Same - we monitor manufacturer for generics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teen was on it for a while and it REALLY helped stabilize his mood. My concern was the possible severe side effect (Stevens-Johnson syndrome) which seemed scary. For this reason, I would not start my child on this med unless I was sure I could get them to take it on a rigorous schedule.

My kid got a rash three months after starting Lamictal. The doctors swore it wasn’t SJ but couldn’t determine what was causing it. In addition to his psychiatrist, we saw a GP, allergist and dermatologist. They all found the rash to be a mystery and declared it was a coincidence that he and recently started Lamictal. We stopped the medicine and restarted three months later and the same rash appeared. There’s nothing they can say that will make me believe it’s a coincidence.

Also what did you do after that? What mood stabilizer did you move to?

We tried one or two anti-seizure meds but the lowest dose made him sleep non-stop. We took a break from meds (for about 6 months) and did therapy, which has helped. He started a low dose of Focalin recently and that’s also helped. His doctor didn’t think he could tolerate any stimulant without a mood stabilizer but he’s done great. I think puberty exacerbated his issues earlier and he’s doing better with some growing, maturing and therapy.

OP this may not be helpful since I'm an adult, but I read the thread since I've been on Lamotrigine/Lamictal for 20yrs. Like the PP's son, in recent years I've found it contributed to fatigue so I moved to talking it at night.

This may be totally irrelevant given your child's age and issues, but wanted to chime in. I wish you luck and hugs as you find what works best.

Thanks. He was taking it at night. The problem is he would sleep the entire next day. He was sleeping 20 hours a day.