Side Effects and Update

It is very rare for a drug to not have side effects.  I mean, drink too much water and you can kill yourself.  I have been taking Lamictal (lamotrigine) for nearly five months, and there are some side effects.  Here are the ones I have noticed so far.

1.  Caffeine used to have an enormous effect on me.  Not so much any more.  I can now drink coffee in the evening and fall asleep without a problem.

2.  I get dizzy spells of a very, very short duration.  Always less than a second, and dizzy isn't quite right as I don't feel like I have lost my balance.  They are more like tiny moments of confusion.  I think these are probably very small seizures as Lamictal was initially an anti-seizure medication.  Don't worry, these happen in over half of those taking the medication without it causing extra problems.  They don't even last long enough to effect my driving.

3.  More dreams.  I either have more dreams or I remember then more when I wake up.  I don't think my dreams are more vivid, or extreme, or frightening, I just have more of them.

4.  I may have made up this last one, but I believe that I have an improved sense of smell.  It is well established that women smell things better than men.  However, recently I have noticed more smells (and even unfamiliar, subtle scents) that Christina has not noticed before I point it out.

Overall I can report that it is working very well.  If I could describe the results is that my happiness level has generally been increased, but there is still some cycling.  Essentially my "normal" is really pretty darn happy.  I'm now one of those borderline-irritatingly cheerful people, always looking on the bright side and smiling a lot.  My wife is somewhat disturbed by this new me.  Now, on a pretty regular basis I have my "down" periods.  These consist of me being where my old normal used to be.  I feel fine.  These periods happen about once a month for a week, but the difference between this and my new normal is pretty small.  My mood can change based on good things (we scored!  yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!) and bad things (something broke in the house again?), so I am not a tranquilized zombie.