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Lamictal and bad joint pain? Taking lamictal then Arthritis diagnosis?

#Epilepsy #Arthritis #ChronicPain #BipolarDisorder #Lamictal

Hi all, I’m sorry and I hope it is okay that I am using this to try to find if anyone else is having or has had a similar experience as me regarding potential drug side effects and chronic pain or inflammation or arthritis(?) caused by lamictal/lamotrigine.

I’m very confused and freaking out—I was diagnosed w psoriatic arthritis in June after years of increasingly bad joint and ligament pain (I didn’t have good insurance, so 4-5 years I dealt with it and other then telling my PCP never spoke w a specialist, of any kind, about it.) Around the same time I started experiencing severe knee pain (I was only 25) I also started Lamictal for bipolar, but I never wondered if they were related and after 6mo I was no longer seeing any specialist bc I had no insurance, just taking the meds on my own and getting thru what I could day by day pain wise (basically becoming a low key alcoholic for years).

Because of the recent arthritis diagnosis and worsening pain, through random research about arthritis this week I just started finding accounts from 2018 (epilepsy forum discussions) of other early 20’s and 30’s people who were on lamictal, started having disruptive joint pain and ended up going to Rheumatologists; some were then being diagnosed with arthritis and some say they were told lamictal played a role in the pain and inflammation and were taken off and after several months things got better. I have seen 8 doctors since June but none of them have said anything about a potential connection, and this week my Dr says I should start Humira at home for my arthritis pain (a pretty serious drug so I’d like to be pretty darn certain before taking it…)

Please reply if you know or think you know anything about what I’m talking about. I am waiting on doctors (second opinions and neurologists, and I can’t get in for weeks) and my pain has become some severe it is hard for me to work/use my hands/type; any anecdotal help will help me w research. Thank you!!

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Sarah Schuster @sarah_schuster

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