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Lamictal rash - I am sure it was here before :(
So after 4 weeks on 25 mg and one week on 50 mg I got a rash. And black box on this meds leaflet related to rash. :( How stupid timing as it is Friday night. Where can I get psychiatrist at the weekend god knows. And Christmas in front of us. To go A&E is just a waste of time. I am going off it and can just hope it will go away. I had few times in my life some rashes which were horribly itchy. The cause is unknown. The last one started after sunburn and comes and goes without any reason. It is always at the same place on my arm. Piriton worked well on it.Now I have a rash on the half of my body. It is not very itchy - yet! No idea if Ican take Piriton now. Oh, have also sore throut. Anyone had similar experience? How did you deal with it?
Have to hold it together now. I sooo wanted it works to get better. What to try next? :(
Have to hold it together now. I sooo wanted it works to get better. What to try next? :(
Best Answer
DEFINITELY, you have to go to the ER now and bring your lamictal and other meds with you. You have to go now, because if it is the bad rash, you have to be treated immediately. I got the bad rash, and we caught it in time. It isn't for the psychiatrist to treat but a medicine M.D. I am 12 hours behind your post, so I hope you followed Lexis advise. If it isn't something to worry about, let the doctor decide that, not you. They have to look at it. That is what happened to me. I thought it was something less because the titration was careful and the rash is rare, but it ended up being Steven Johnsons Sydrome. That is what the bad rash is called. Antihistamines and topicals isn't going to do the trick to reverse Steven Johnsons Syndrome, it has to be stronger prescribed medications for that. Better to have someone look at it, especially by the way you describe how it is progressing.Go to ER.
Be careful, and see if you can get a dermatologist to follow you for a while. About 1/10 people who start lamotrigine will get a benign rash, and that's hopefully all you had. SJS is more like 1/1000, but it is majorly bad news.
Make sure you do an extra slow titration too. The usual recommendation I've seen is start with 25 mg, stay there for at least two weeks, then increase to 50 mg, wait two weeks, etc. up to 100 mg, and from then on you can jump by 50 mg. In your case, you might want to look at using children's doses or the scoring on the tablets to increase by 12.5 mg. every two weeks or even every 3 weeks if you can afford the time it will take to make you less likely to rash again. Naturally, you should get your doctor's approval before messing with your titration schedule, but I don't think they'd have problems being extra careful after an incident like you had.
Make sure you do an extra slow titration too. The usual recommendation I've seen is start with 25 mg, stay there for at least two weeks, then increase to 50 mg, wait two weeks, etc. up to 100 mg, and from then on you can jump by 50 mg. In your case, you might want to look at using children's doses or the scoring on the tablets to increase by 12.5 mg. every two weeks or even every 3 weeks if you can afford the time it will take to make you less likely to rash again. Naturally, you should get your doctor's approval before messing with your titration schedule, but I don't think they'd have problems being extra careful after an incident like you had.
Omg, that's awful what happened to you :(. Great you got it sorted in time. I can imagine it can worse very fast. I always read everything about any meds. Rather be paranoid than dead ha!
Have a part for my dishwasher and borrowed a plier from my neighbour. Wish me luck :))).
Oh and as Piriton worked I took 25 mg of Lamictal in the morning. So far no rash back! Thinking to make a decision that Lamictal has to work for me!!!
I will keep you posted. Marie x
Have a part for my dishwasher and borrowed a plier from my neighbour. Wish me luck :))).
Oh and as Piriton worked I took 25 mg of Lamictal in the morning. So far no rash back! Thinking to make a decision that Lamictal has to work for me!!!
I will keep you posted. Marie x
Hi 007Bunny! Well that's good. Sorry about your sun allergy. That's rough.
Glad you went to the ER and that it only took less than an hour. 4 hours is short here. You can be waiting 16 hours to the next day to be seen. When there is Steven Josnson Syndrome suspected, they have to rush you because it is a race against the clock.
Like strokes and heart attacks, the prognosis is best when treated as quickly as possible and goes downhill with every minute that ticks by. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital getting IV meds after a day thinking I caught scabies or maybe a contact allergy rash and I only went in to see my internist because I wanted her to discern if it was one or the other and prescribe a good scabies medication for me. It also went in my eyes. I wasn't on lamictal for long. It was pure luck that I got an appointment with her the next day. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here or probably lost my eyes then and there, and definitely have big skin grafts as well as other problems if I made it out of the hospital if I delayed or had a later appointment. They treat that bad rash like a severe burn, and sadly, if not treated quickly, it really gains momentum. It's pretty scary when your doctors start out being jocular and light with you and then seeing their faces turn serious and they get tense and quiet. They really don't lighten up until they can see a turnaround and they are absolutely sure that they got it beat. Lamictal-SJS Rash is on my chart allergies now in big letters. They stopped the Lamictal immediately, and I haven't been on it since.
I know resources get scarcer around the holidays when most of our support goes off to spend holidays elsewhere, but I'm pretty sure your psychiatrist will want to know about the rash and would want to give some input on whether you should continue to take it or what dose you need to start back on again. It gets increased slowly to prevent side effects or adverse reactions like the rash. That was a good observation about weekends and the holidays to be bad timing to start up on drugs without or with scarce support. It is very inconvenient.
I am crossing my fingers and sending you positive thoughts, strength and lighthearted wishes across the pond. I also hope you get the right dishwasher part soon! I like to tinker and do my own repairs too. I know axactly how you fel when the part is not right, but how incredibly satisfying when repairs go smoothly with the right part and the right tool. I guess my psych med history is alot like my plumbing repairs.
Glad you went to the ER and that it only took less than an hour. 4 hours is short here. You can be waiting 16 hours to the next day to be seen. When there is Steven Josnson Syndrome suspected, they have to rush you because it is a race against the clock.
Like strokes and heart attacks, the prognosis is best when treated as quickly as possible and goes downhill with every minute that ticks by. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital getting IV meds after a day thinking I caught scabies or maybe a contact allergy rash and I only went in to see my internist because I wanted her to discern if it was one or the other and prescribe a good scabies medication for me. It also went in my eyes. I wasn't on lamictal for long. It was pure luck that I got an appointment with her the next day. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here or probably lost my eyes then and there, and definitely have big skin grafts as well as other problems if I made it out of the hospital if I delayed or had a later appointment. They treat that bad rash like a severe burn, and sadly, if not treated quickly, it really gains momentum. It's pretty scary when your doctors start out being jocular and light with you and then seeing their faces turn serious and they get tense and quiet. They really don't lighten up until they can see a turnaround and they are absolutely sure that they got it beat. Lamictal-SJS Rash is on my chart allergies now in big letters. They stopped the Lamictal immediately, and I haven't been on it since.
I know resources get scarcer around the holidays when most of our support goes off to spend holidays elsewhere, but I'm pretty sure your psychiatrist will want to know about the rash and would want to give some input on whether you should continue to take it or what dose you need to start back on again. It gets increased slowly to prevent side effects or adverse reactions like the rash. That was a good observation about weekends and the holidays to be bad timing to start up on drugs without or with scarce support. It is very inconvenient.
I am crossing my fingers and sending you positive thoughts, strength and lighthearted wishes across the pond. I also hope you get the right dishwasher part soon! I like to tinker and do my own repairs too. I know axactly how you fel when the part is not right, but how incredibly satisfying when repairs go smoothly with the right part and the right tool. I guess my psych med history is alot like my plumbing repairs.
Hi again. Thank you for your support - nothing pleasant to deal with, no one to talk to about it :(.
Yes, I went to ER. And I was out in less than an hour. That's an UK national record as norm is about 4 hours lol. The rash is there but it is not so bad - so far! I had few allergies before - sun allergy and similar. It looks the same but I know it can go out of control very fast. It is really not too bad at the moment. So they explored the rush and said that it is up to me if I want to stop with Lamictal or not as they are not psychiatrists. They would stop to stop the rash but can't say what to do with my bipolar than. So I have to go back if it will get worse. The only info I didn't know was that I can take Piriton together with Lamictal. Piriton always worked for my sun rashes so we will see. It is evening here now so I will decide in the morning if I will take Lamictal tomorrow or not (I didn't have it today) - depends on how the rash will look like. And I have to get to my psychiatrist on Monday to make a decision.
I am trying hard to take it how it is at the moment. Lets hope all will be fine.
Yes, I went to ER. And I was out in less than an hour. That's an UK national record as norm is about 4 hours lol. The rash is there but it is not so bad - so far! I had few allergies before - sun allergy and similar. It looks the same but I know it can go out of control very fast. It is really not too bad at the moment. So they explored the rush and said that it is up to me if I want to stop with Lamictal or not as they are not psychiatrists. They would stop to stop the rash but can't say what to do with my bipolar than. So I have to go back if it will get worse. The only info I didn't know was that I can take Piriton together with Lamictal. Piriton always worked for my sun rashes so we will see. It is evening here now so I will decide in the morning if I will take Lamictal tomorrow or not (I didn't have it today) - depends on how the rash will look like. And I have to get to my psychiatrist on Monday to make a decision.
I am trying hard to take it how it is at the moment. Lets hope all will be fine.
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