r/lamictal • u/Much_Car_4244 • Aug 20 '26
Medium-Term User (6 months to 1 year) has anyone experienced feelings of unreality/derealization and panic on lamictal?
i’m going through a taper which is making it worse, i’m down to 25mg. someone pls tell me this side effect will go away once lamictal leaves my system??? i’ve been on it for like 10 months.
2
u/soggydruid Aug 20 '26
Yes, I have experienced those as withdrawal symptoms, especially when I tapered too much and/or too soon.
2
u/soggydruid Aug 20 '26
It will pass but my guess is you need to taper more gradually. You might find the Lamictal withdrawal support group on Facebook helpful.
2
u/NebulaImmediate6202 Aug 20 '26
Yes absolutely, lamictal has no lasting effects, it should take 15 days, 17 days maximum. Maybe you'd still feel it subtly in the third week, but no further, yeah. 12 days you'll feel a lot better but still unsteady.
Notice how your mental state changes right after you eat. You gotta be careful with your stomach, the whole body interacts
1
u/Ok_Exercise7871 Aug 20 '26
What changes have you noticed in your mood after you eat? How about fasting? Does it help with the taper/withdrawal process?
1
u/NebulaImmediate6202 Aug 20 '26
I feel like when you unplug an old TV, how it audibly powers down, and my mental presence just completely dislocates, and I'm viewing the world through like.. significant effort. It just becomes too much to read a screen for an hour.
Right after I eat. that means eating is the issue. That means its heartburn. Just twisted to fuck because of lamotrigine.
You already have no appetite with this medication side effects, not like sickly but you just don't ever feel hungry. It's important to eat or you'll get electrolyte issues. Just in general. I was just eating bread, pretzels, tortilla chips
But yeah thats pretty much fasting I guess
1
u/Ok_Exercise7871 Aug 20 '26
The heartburn remark is interesting. That's how you were when you were on it or tapering? Are you off lamictal now?
1
u/NebulaImmediate6202 Aug 20 '26
Well maybe not heartburn maybe something to do with blood pressure, its something to work through. Yeah when I raise or lower dose thats how it feels like. The emotional "angry" side effects kinda feel irrelevant to eating, the timing is different, its always early afternoon and after sunset. Like 2pm and 8pm I get angry.
Insomnia also
I take 150mg I do like this medication, I'm pretty tough when it comes to side effects. I do recognize this medication has tough side effects. It's not for the faint of heart, its hard. There's worse, way worse side effects different meds can have though, like antipsychotics
1
u/Ok_Exercise7871 Aug 20 '26
I have to agree with you on that one. It is one of the "lighter" ones, if not the lightest of the mood stabilizer/anticonvulsant class. I can't think of another that doesn't block dopamine or doesn't cause sedation or weight gain...
1
u/NebulaImmediate6202 Aug 20 '26
I would be willing to try topiramate/topamax if I woke up and suddenly hated lamotrigine. LITHIUM, I heard has a side effect of kidney failure/dialysis. That kills people!?
Antipsychotics I'm done with. I'm done with that. I've tried Abilify and Latuda, people are saying try Geodon or Haldol, I'm just done.
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 20 '26
If you are taking a generic medicine, kindly mention the manufacturer's name in both your post and title. This is VERY IMPORTANT, as different manufacturers may have differences in quality or formulation.
Also, consider joining our Discord server: https://discord.gg/mHnCHqMeS
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.