Lamotrigine and Insomnia??

Anybody taking Lamotrigine/Lamictal and having insomnia? I'm doing good to get 3 or 4 hours of sleep and thats stretching it some nights. funny thing is I wake up wired and ready to go. Physically tired but mentally wired...just curious if anyone else is dealing with this.

I haven't personally had this side effect from lamotrigine. What time of day do you take it? If you're not already it might be worthwhile to consider taking it early in the morning.

I am on lamotrigine as one of my meds and I have not experienced insomnia linked to the med itself as far as I can tell tho I do get insomnia due to break through mood disturbance. Have you ruled this out to make sure that things do not need to be stabilised more for you? In any case it might be worth letting your prescribing Dr know you are experiencing this.

Cracked

Hi

Ive only been on Lamotrigine 50mg for 7 days now, im sure its affecting my sleep. I haven't slept well for ages but before, i couldn't stay asleep despite feeling exhausted, now i wake up on and off through the night but feel wide awake !!!
Its definitely making me feel brighter (most of the time), although initially when i wake up in the mornings im a bit 'blah'..most of the days out of the past 7 i have been in a good mood, not high, and have felt pretty energised....ive actually spring cleaned my house

I been taking Lamictal for a few months... I was put on Trazodone due to the Lamictal causing me insomnia. Each time my Lamictal is upped, so is my Traz. Without the Traz I slept 2 hours and than was wide awake and ready to go! So my advice is to ask for a sleep supplement... Good luck!

Yes, this is the only side effect I've had from the med in the past. Insomnia for a week or two after it started.

I'm currently on 50mg of lamictal, going to 100mg in another week. I started lamictal four weeks ago, and the insomnia started pretty much immediately. I'm tired but fully awake. I'll fall asleep for 45-60 minutes, but it's not a deep sleep at all. I basically watch the clock tick off every hour all night. I find I need to take 6.25mg of quetiapine/Seroquel in order to sleep through the night at all (1/4 of a pill). If I take anymore than that, I'm utterly exhausted and can't keep my eyes open. Sleeping was never a problem before taking this new drug (for my bipolar), so I can only surmise it's the medication. I informed my doctor, but she wasn't convinced it was the medication completely and feels that my body will eventually get used to it and the insomnia will subside. Right now, I feel pretty good on lamictal after trying hosts of drugs the past four months, so taking a sedative-type of drug in order to sleep is the least of my worries since how I function during the day towards my family and friends is so much more important to me, right now. Good luck, and I hope they find a solution for you soon and you can get some sleep.

Still getting used to Lamictal. I've been sleeping just about as badly as usual :p

Like when I go to bed I know I'd have time for good 7~8 hours of sleep - then wake up 4~5 hours later. How tired I go to sleep doesn't seem to make any difference.

Had a chat about it with my mental health nurse today and she didn't seem too concerned of it. Guess since I can function (to some extent) during days even if I get just few hours of sleep its not a problem then..

YES YES YES! I've been on Lamictal since April 2013. It definitely has helped me out which is why I slowly increased from 50mg to 400mg. But the sleep deprivation is getting a bit too much. I take it at night before bed and I can fall asleep usually but have intensely vivid dreams and wake at least 3 times. I have a toddler so need to be alert and functioning so it's hard taking naps or relaxing I now have new insurance and now a new doctor and I'm definitely switching meds. I haven't adjusted like I thought (you know, get used to the pills) so I'm not dealing with this anymore

I had the opposite happen; taking it at night would make me drowsy and sleep a bit better.

For a while it was the only med I was on and since lamotrigine helps more with the depressive symptoms, it made me hypomanic. During the hypomania/mania I couldn't sleep well and needed additional medication for that.