Weight loss taking Lamictal?!
Question: I just recently started taking Lamictal for bi polar disorder. I'm only on the 50mg because I just started taking it about 2 and a half weeks ago and my mood has been great so far, but me and my girlfriend have just been noticing that my appetite has changed and my weight has just gone down ever since I started taking it. I'm not exactly the type that should be losing weight either. I'm 17 years old, about 5'2" and I usually weight around 105 lbs. Lately though, my weight just keeps going down and down and now I weigh about 97 lbs. I love the way the medication is working on me psychologically, but physically, it feels like it's sucking the life out of me. I don't know if I should just talk to my psychiatrist about it or ask my therapist on our thursday meeting about it and see what he thinks. Is it normal for me to lose weight as a beginning stage of taking this medication? Or is it something I need to look into and start taking a different medication?
Answers: I just recently started taking Lamictal for bi polar disorder. I'm only on the 50mg because I just started taking it about 2 and a half weeks ago and my mood has been great so far, but me and my girlfriend have just been noticing that my appetite has changed and my weight has just gone down ever since I started taking it. I'm not exactly the type that should be losing weight either. I'm 17 years old, about 5'2" and I usually weight around 105 lbs. Lately though, my weight just keeps going down and down and now I weigh about 97 lbs. I love the way the medication is working on me psychologically, but physically, it feels like it's sucking the life out of me. I don't know if I should just talk to my psychiatrist about it or ask my therapist on our thursday meeting about it and see what he thinks. Is it normal for me to lose weight as a beginning stage of taking this medication? Or is it something I need to look into and start taking a different medication?
I suggest mentioning it to your doctor. If you are like me when I am happy and feeling great I lose weight. And the opposite when I'm depressed. Lamictal itself usually will not affect your weight either way. It will not prevent you from losing weight as most drugs do and does not increse appetite. It could simply be that you are losing weight because you feel great. In any case discuss it with you psychiatrist not your therapist, I know mine are very clear as to who I should talk to regarding the medical aspect of it(eg:medications) and let him know what is going on. Good luck, I hope I've helped a bit.
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I had the opposite -- I gained 7 lbs. within two months and quit taking it.
you are on a very,very low dose of lamictal.wieght loss is not a side effect of lamictal for bi-polar patients.GO TO YOUR DOCTOR WHO PRESCRIBED THE MEDICATION and tell him that you are losing wieght.He will probably try another medication of which there are many.your body is just not right for the drug,its trial and error.
good luck!