Do you know what this drug is ?

Question

my friend takes Lamictal and she says she don't know what it is.Does anyone know what this drug is for and is it an addictive drug? She always can call her Dr.but she wanted to know peoples opinions

Answer 1

Lamotrigine (marketed as Lamictal (IPA: /ləˈmɪktəl/) by GlaxoSmithKline, called Lamictin in South Africa, למוג'ין (Lamogine)[1] in Israel, and 라믹탈 in South Korea) is an anticonvulsant drug used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. For epilepsy it is used to treat partial seizures, primary and secondary tonic-clonic seizures, and seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Lamotrigine also acts as a mood stabilizer. It is the first medication since lithium to be granted approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the maintenance treatment of bipolar type I. Chemically unrelated to other anticonvulsants, lamotrigine has relatively few side-effects and does not require blood monitoring in monotherapy. The exact way lamotrigine works is unknown. Some think that it is a Na+ (sodium) channel blocker, though it is interesting to note that lamotrigine shares very few side-effects with other, unrelated anticonvulsants known to inhibit sodium channels, (e.g. Oxcarbazepine), which may suggest that lamotrigine has a different mechanism of action. Lamotrigine is inactivated by hepatic glucuronidation.

Lamotrigine has a wide range of clinical uses. It has been found to be useful to treat neuropathy and also is known to be effective in treating unipolar depression, therefore patients with only these symptoms can derive an optimum benefit from lamotrigine when suffering from only these two symptoms.

However, lamotrigine has also been successful in controlling rapid cycling and mixed bipolar states in persons with more serious psychiatric disorders and who have not received what is considered to be adequate relief from lithium, carbamazepine or valproate, because it is deemed to possibly have significantly more antidepressant potency than either carbamazepine or valproate.[citation needed]

Lamotrigine has recently been reported to be a useful treatment for some people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). A recent study reported beneficial effects on individuals with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar subtype with depression.[2]

Answer 2

(maybe your friend is too embarassed to discuss it?)

Answer 3

That medicine is used for bipolar people..

Answer 4

It's an anticonvulsant for seizure disorders, but can be used for Bipolar disorder as a mood stabilizer and it is not addictive. One of the side effects of this drug is a rash. It should be reported to your physician because it could lead to Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a life threatening condition where the layers of your skin would separate. It should not be stopped abruptly too.

Answer 5

Doesn't your friend know what she has been prescribed Lamictal for? It's either to control epileptic fits or against mood disorders.

You find all the answers you need here:

http://www.drugs.com/lamictal.html

Answer 6

Lamictal is for bipolar disorder and epilepsy. Its non-addictive but she must not stop it  without consulting her doctor.

Answer 7

Your friend has a mental condition or epilepsy.

She is just telling you she dosen't know what it is for.