Lamotrigine for Epilepsy

It may take time and careful, controlled adjustments by you and your doctor to find the combination, schedule, and dosing of medicine to best manage your epilepsy. The goal is to prevent seizures while causing as few side effects as possible. After you and your doctor figure out the medicine program that works best for you, make sure to follow your program exactly as prescribed.

• Adverse effects. Lamotrigine treats a wide range of seizures. And most people tolerate it easily. It has fewer side effects than some of the older drugs (carbamazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital) used to treat the same types of seizures. But it does have the potential to cause a serious, even life-threatening rash. This side effect is rare in adults but somewhat more common in children. Gradually increasing the dose until the person is taking the full dose can lower the risk.
• Drug interactions. Many medicines for epilepsy can interact with other medicines you may be taking. This means that your epilepsy medicine may not work as well, or it may affect the way another medicine you are taking works. Some of these interactions can be dangerous. It is important to tell your doctor about all the medicines, herbal pills, and dietary supplements you are taking. Lamotrigine is a good choice if you are taking birth control pills, because it will not make the pills any less effective. But if you are taking birth control pills, you may need to take a higher dose of lamotrigine.
• Risk of birth defects. All medicines for epilepsy have some risk of birth defects. But the risk of birth defects needs to be carefully compared to other risks to the baby if the mother stops taking her epilepsy medicine. If you are thinking about becoming pregnant, it is important to plan ahead and talk with your doctor about the benefits and risks of taking epilepsy medicine during your pregnancy. It you are already pregnant, it is not too late. The best thing to do is talk to your doctor about your pregnancy before you make any changes to the medicines you are taking.
• Other concerns. For some people, it may produce side effects or carry risks that are not fully known yet. Report any unexpected side effects or problems to your doctor.

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