Lamotrigine
A medication often used to help prevent the depressive side of bipolar.
Lamotrigine is a medication originally developed for epilepsy, used in bipolar disorder as a mood stabilizer. Its strength is the depressive side: it is used mainly to prevent the lows rather than to treat acute mania.
It is known for being started very slowly. The slow start is not extra caution for its own sake — building up gradually lowers the risk of a rare but dangerous skin reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
Any new rash while taking lamotrigine is urgent. Tell your prescriber the same day. Blistering, peeling, fever, or sores in the mouth or around the eyes mean urgent medical care, not the next appointment.
Because it prevents depression better than it treats mania, it is often combined with something else. Every dose change — including restarting after a gap — has to be agreed with your prescriber first, and so does anything that shifts the level: valproate raises it, and starting or stopping hormonal contraception changes it too.
See also
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