What are the disadvantages of lamotrigine?
As lamotrigine has only been available for a relatively short time, it was first marketed in 1990, there is no information about long term side-effects. As its use with people with mood disorders started even more recently, it is not known is people who initially do well on lamotrigine continue to do so after many years of treatment. There is a small chance of a serious, and in some cases life-threatening, rash developing in people taking lamotrigine. This side effect is more frequently seen in those under the age of 16 than in older persons. 28. Why should physicians prescribe, and patients take, lamotrigine, when there are mood regulating medications that have been available for many years and which have been shown to be effective in double-blind placebo-controlled studies? There are two major reasons why physicians prescribe and patients take lamotrigine rather than conventional, better established drugs. They are that not everyone benefits from treatment with the older, better know
