Lamotrigine

Lamotrigine is a mood stabiliser used to treat depression in people with bipolar disorder. Lamotrigine is a type of medicine called a ‘mood stabiliser’ because it can reduce feelings of excitability and over-activity and reduce mood swings. It tends to work better on the low mood and depression part of bipolar disorder. Lamotrigine can help to calm down the brain. There are gateways in the brain called ‘sodium channels’, which can be open or closed. When they are open, there is more electrical activity in the brain. Lamotrigine locks on to closed sodium channels and keeps them closed. Reduced electrical activity leads to reduced release of chemical transmitters that excite the brain, like glutamate and aspartate. It is still not fully understood how lamotrigine works to treat bipolar disorder, but the reduction in glutamate activity in the brain is thought to play an important part in this. 

It is common to experience side effects when starting a new medication, some of the side effects form lamotrigine include:

• headaches

• skin rashes

• feeling aggressive, agitated or irritable

• feeling sleepy, tired or drowsy

• insomnia (having difficulty sleeping)

• feeling dizzy

• shaking or tremors

• diarrhoea (loose poo)

• dry mouth

• nausea (feeling sick) or vomiting (being sick)

• having pain in your back or joints, or elsewhere

These are only some of the most common side effects, if you want more information please consult your doctor.

An uncommon but important side effect to be aware of is thoughts of harming yourself, thinking about taking your own life or trying to take your own life. This may be symptoms of you illness, including depression, but may be a side effect of medication. If you experience these thoughts, contact your doctor to seek immediate support to keep yourself safe.

Please do not worry about these side effects. Some people will not get any side effects at all. If you think you are getting side effects from taking lamotrigine, speak to your doctor or pharmacist. If you do get a side effect, please think about reporting it via the 'Yellow Card' system.

If you have taken more lamotrigine than the dosage recommended by the doctor who prescribed it to you, you must get medial help immediately - even if you do not feel any different.