Lamictal and derealization

Hello to you all!

I am opening new topic with the side effects I am noticing in my case.
As the tittle suggest, I am experiencing quite a weird feeling and I think it might be derealization. I mentioned it to my doctor the last time I had an appoinment but didn't seem to care much.

I ecplained my feelings like I am in the buuble, and all the world is happening around me like it did before but I am not "feeling it". Like in a movie i suppose. Or like I am a bird and observing the world. DOes that seem weird to you?

Mind you I've been of my therapheutic dosage for aproximately 22 days now (little more than 3 weeks) and I do think my anxiety gets better, also my bad mood linked to that I presume.

Another side effect I am noticing is dizziness and feeling sleepy specially in the early morning. I take my Lamictal and took it all the time (even when I was increasing my doze) in the morning around 9AM.

Maybe I should take it before bedtime, since id doesn't have that effect on me like being super filled with energy? Maybe also derealization will then eventually pass.

Thanks for you help and hope someone will find him/herself in my story Best of luck to you all!

Hi Cocinella,

sorry you didn't get many responses to your original post. I am moving this one to Bipolar -- I know a lot of people there take Lamictal so hopefully you'll get more attention.

Thank you Oliveira! I hope so too...

Have a nice day

I've been taking Lamictal for over 2 years now. I'm at 400mg and have taken it at night from day 1. My doc suggested I do this and I almost feel drunk within an hour of taking it. I've missed taking it at night a few times and done the next morning thing... that didn't really go well for me

I take the generic - lamotrigine - and I have had some of the same issues. My doctor refers to it as dissociation. I have no real way of knowing whether or not it's the lamotrigine. I never thought about it, actually. I do know it happens when I get really stressed. It's never made me sleepy or drunk feeling, though.

I am on 400mg and had a lot of trouble moving up to that level. I had dizziness to the point of falling over and definitely experienced a not really here effect, I thought it was epilepsy at the time but it wasnt. Of course I will never know if it was the lamotrigine or the antipsychotics as well. One big benefit is that the lamotrigine keeps my epilepsy under control.

I'm on 100MG Lamotrigine and 60MG Cymbalta, and I feel that very disconnected felling that you do. It's like I'm not really here. I tried not taking them for 2 days and the anxiety started crawling back. I definitely feel trapped with or without the meds.

It feels like I'm not here and I keep having to refer to past reference points for behavior because I don't feel the emotion of the interaction with other people or the world. It's like being completely numb and trying to run. I can fake it by swinging my limbs in the direction they are logically supposed to go, but it feels too alien.

Thank you for all your kind replies

Well yeah I defenetly know how it is to feel like your floating and like a fly, just observing the surroundings. It is a horrible feeling but yes, if you stopped taking it and feel anxiety than that is even worse.

Well in my case I only take Lamictal and Torendo if I can't calm down (which I wasn't able to twice for the last couple of days). I am experiencing this derealizations last 2 weeks or so. Like I wrote in another topic of mine I've been on my therapheutic doze for 4 weeks now and I do hope all these side effects and just a sign of the med starting to work. If you think about it, AD needs 4 to 6 weeks, Lamictal is much more slower than that, so it needs more time, so maybe I still haven't lost all hope.

I do hope that the "emotionless", derealization and me feeling worse anxiety than before (al though still less of the anxiety than before when I was just swinging in mood and didn't take any med), slepiness and diziness and also heat waves in my face plus kinnda weird heat going through my face and arms....are all incidators that the drug started working and the side effects will eventually go away and my old self will come back again.

Just a hope though and I hope I am right. But I am glad that pretty much all of you are already doing great. I wish you all the best, best