u/PrincipleAny765

Hi guys,

I need your help to understand something.

I’d love to hear from people who do creative work and are taking Lacosamide for epilepsy.

I’m a videographer and content creator. At the moment, I’m taking Lamotrigine for epilepsy because I chose it due to its lower risk of side effects. I’m currently on 25 mg for the first two weeks, with the plan to gradually increase to 200 mg a day.

My main question is: Has anyone lost their creativity while taking Lacosamide?

I’m usually very active and passionate about video editing. Creating videos genuinely lifts my mood no matter how I’m feeling. My imagination and creativity are a huge part of who I am, and after spending years developing those parts of myself, I’m afraid of losing them.

On Lamotrigine, I already feel like the “spark” isn’t as strong as it was before I started treatment. I have to push myself much harder to start new projects, and editing just doesn’t feel the same anymore.

When I first started taking Lamotrigine, these feelings were much worse. After two weeks they’ve improved a little, but I still don’t feel like myself.

If I increase to 200 mg, I could lose that part of myself permanently. I know Lamotrigine is meant to level out your emotions, but I honestly don’t mind having occasional lows. My highs are incredibly important to me because they’re what make me feel inspired, motivated, and creative.

That’s why I’m looking for experiences from people taking Lacosamide. It was actually the first medication my neurologist offered me, but I chose Lamotrigine because I was worried about side effects affecting my work. My job is physically demanding, so I need energy, but I also can’t do things I love if I lose my emotions, motivation, or creativity.

If you’re taking Lacosamide, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience. I’m considering switching before increasing my Lamotrigine dose, and I’d love to know how Lacosamide has affected your emotions, motivation, creativity, and energy levels.

Thank you to anyone willing to share their experience.

Hi guys,

I need your help to understand something.

I’d love to hear from people who do creative work and have been taking 100–200 mg of this medication for a while.

I’m a videographer and content creator. I’m taking it for epilepsy, and I chose this medication because it seemed to have a lower risk of side effects. At the moment, I’m on 25 mg for the first two weeks, and the plan is to gradually increase to 200 mg a day.

My main question is: Did you lose your creativity?

I’m usually very active and passionate about video editing. It’s something that genuinely lifts my mood, no matter how I’m feeling. My imagination and creativity are a huge part of who I am, and after putting so much work into developing those parts of myself, I’m scared of losing them.

I’ve also experienced several other side effects. It’s harder for me to fall asleep, I don’t enjoy food as much, and I’ve felt a bit emotionally numb from day one. That “spark” just isn’t as strong as it was before starting treatment. Now I really have to push myself to start new projects, and editing just doesn’t feel the same.

When I first started taking it, these feelings were much worse. After two weeks they’ve improved a little, but I’m still not back to feeling like myself.

If I increase to 200 mg, will I lose that part of myself permanently? I understand that this medication is meant to level out your emotions, but I honestly don’t mind the occasional lows. My highs are incredibly important to me because they’re what fuel my creativity, motivation, and enjoyment of life.

I do like how calm I feel, and I like the extra energy it seems to give me. Although, to be honest, I already had plenty of energy before starting it. For those of you on a stable dose of 100–200 mg, does that energy eventually go away?

More than anything, though, I care about my motivation and creativity. I can still be productive even when I’m tired, as long as I have the motivation to create.

I’m really looking for experiences from people in a similar situation. I honestly can’t imagine being happy if I lose the part of myself that loves creating. It’s one of the most important things in my life.

I hope there’s someone here with a creative career who has been on a stable dose of 100–200 mg and can share their experience.

So, my story:

I was diagnosed by a neurologist based on videos I showed them. My seizures look like complex focal seizures that last around 5- 40 seconds. During them, I experience memory loss and used to have swallowing movements, although now it is mainly drooling. Otherwise, I continue doing tasks normally, respond normally, and do not lose consciousness. It looks like I have something sour in my mouth based on my facial expression. However, I do not remember these episodes at all.

My seizure pattern is unusual. I believe my main trigger was overworking in a highly stressful environment where I was constantly rushing around trying to get things done. That was when I first started experiencing a strange wave-like feeling, as if some horrible drug had suddenly hit me. It happened around three times a day.

When I stopped working in that environment, the episodes disappeared for 3 years. They returned when I started working in a similar environment again, occurring three times a day and sometimes up to six times a day.

When I went on holiday and removed myself from that environment, they almost completely stopped, dropping to about one per week. As soon as I returned to work, they became a daily occurrence again.

Later, I stopped working for a few months and the episodes reduced to around one every four days. They were usually triggered by rushing myself, although sometimes there was no obvious trigger. During that time, I was still under financial stress and worrying every day, so that may also have contributed.

It was during this period that the visible seizures started following the wave sensation. They still occurred only about once every four days.

I then returned to work in the same environment, but initially I was happy and not stressed at all. I had no seizures for a week. However, once I started rushing again and becoming stressed when things did not go as planned, the seizures returned at roughly the same frequency.

Interestingly, they almost always happened when I finally calmed down afterward. At times, when I worked even harder, they would occur daily for a week and then disappear entirely the following week. On two occasions during the last 6 months, I went 25 days without any seizures at all.

However, after even a small amount of stress, they would come back and occur daily for over a week. The pattern constantly changes, which is why I started noticing a relationship between stress, rushing, and seizure activity. It almost feels like a battery charging up and then releasing, with the severity depending on how much “charge” has built up.

Because of this, I sometimes wonder whether it is truly epilepsy or whether my nervous system is somehow involved. I have never previously taken epilepsy medication, and I have not yet completed full epilepsy testing. However, the episodes last between 5 and 40 seconds, and I genuinely do not remember them afterward. In fact, I often do not even realise they have happened.

If anyone has had a similar experience with PNES I would really appreciate hearing your story.

So, my story:

I started taking Lamotrigine only 4 days ago and have taken just 3 doses so far (25mg). It was prescribed for epilepsy, which was diagnosed by a neurologist based on videos I showed them. My seizures are complex focal seizures that last around 40 seconds. During them, I experience memory loss and used to have swallowing movements, although now it is mainly drooling. Otherwise, I continue doing tasks normally, respond normally, and do not lose consciousness. It looks like I have something sour in my mouth based on my facial expression. However, I do not remember these episodes at all.

At first, I took Lamotrigine at 8am. About 3 hours later, I became extremely tired and was unable to do my job properly. I am usually very active during the day and need energy for physically demanding work. Because of this, I decided to take my next dose at 7pm instead of the following morning.

However, that first morning dose already affected my sleep. I use a very accurate sleep-tracking device. I slept for a total of 7 hours, with 1 hour of deep sleep, 1 hour 44 minutes of REM sleep, and 4 hours 50 minutes of light sleep. Normally, I sleep 8–9 hours, with around 3–4 hours of deep sleep, 1–3 hours of REM sleep, and about 3 hours of light sleep. My HRV is usually between 50–70ms, but that night it dropped to 35ms. I woke up feeling exhausted, as if I had been partying all night. The tiredness did not go away during the day, and I felt completely unlike myself.

I then took 25mg at 7pm. It was difficult to fall asleep. I did not feel sleepy at all, although I eventually fell asleep about an hour later than usual after lying in bed trying. Normally, I start feeling sleepy between 9:30pm and 10:30pm.

The next morning, I woke up feeling as though I had been partying all night again, but even worse than the previous day. I slept 7 hours in total. My deep sleep was only 5 minutes, REM sleep was 4 hours, light sleep was 3 hours, and my HRV dropped to 28ms. My HRV only goes that low when I have been very drunk, but my deep sleep has never been this low before.

That day, I only went for a 1-hour walk around town and did some shopping, but I was exhausted all day. After the walk, I felt significantly more tired. Since it was Saturday, I did not have to work. Despite how I felt, I took another 25mg dose at 7pm.

Again, I did not feel sleepy at all. At 10pm, I tried to fall asleep but couldn’t. Around midnight, I gave up and took 4mg of Mirtazapine because it usually knocks me out. I slept for 9.5 hours in total, but my deep sleep was once again only 5 minutes (0%), REM sleep was 5 hours 30 minutes, light sleep was 4 hours, and my HRV dropped to 16ms.

I woke up feeling like I had been partying all night, and it was difficult to even move around until late morning. The feeling reminded me of when I used to smoke around 2 grams of weed a day a long time ago. I haven’t smoked weed in over a year.

The problem is that I cannot function like this if I need to be active at work. This medication is affecting both my sleep quality and my ability to fall asleep.

One thing I noticed immediately is that it made me feel much calmer from the very first dose. Normally, I am very active and constantly feel as though I am running late. I become impatient when anything slows me down or gets in the way of getting things done. I am always in “rush mode.” Since starting Lamotrigine, that feeling has disappeared.

I have also noticed since the second dose that I do not experience the world around me the same way I used to. It feels as though my emotions have been muted. Even my sex drive has decreased significantly.

Another major side effect is that I cannot eat properly. I normally have a healthy appetite and enjoy food, but now I struggle to eat anything, even when I feel hungry. I am forcing myself to eat, but I still eat very little. This has been happening ever since I started Lamotrigine 4 days ago.

These side effects are so strong that I genuinely do not know whether I can continue taking this medication or whether there is any point in trying to push through. I am only on 25mg, and I am already worried. My biggest concerns right now are my energy levels, sleep, and appetite.

I cannot even imagine what might happen when I reach higher doses such as 100mg twice a day, which is currently the treatment plan.

Has anyone else gone through this? Is there any chance these side effects improve over time? Has anyone experienced similarly severe side effects from Lamotrigine and then switched to another medication that was easier to tolerate?

I know everyone is different, but many people have similar experiences. If someone has been through this and found a better alternative, I would be interested to hear about it.

I understand that starting a new medication can be difficult. If these side effects are likely to improve, I may try to push through the first couple of weeks before increasing to 25mg twice a day.

What worries me is that I have read many experiences from people whose side effects never improved. I am also concerned about additional side effects that may appear at higher doses. To be honest, these side effects already feel harder to deal with than the seizures themselves. My seizures were mostly annoying, with the worst periods being 14-day clusters, but even those do not come close to how difficult these side effects feel right now.

My seizure pattern is unusual. I believe my main trigger was overworking in a highly stressful environment where I was constantly rushing around trying to get things done. That was when I first started experiencing a strange wave-like feeling, as if some horrible drug had suddenly hit me. It happened around three times a day.

When I stopped working in that environment, the episodes disappeared for 3 years. They returned when I started working in a similar environment again, occurring three times a day and sometimes up to six times a day.

When I went on holiday and removed myself from that environment, they almost completely stopped, dropping to about one per week. As soon as I returned to work, they became a daily occurrence again.

Later, I stopped working for a few months and the episodes reduced to around one every four days. They were usually triggered by rushing myself, although sometimes there was no obvious trigger. During that time, I was still under financial stress and worrying every day, so that may also have contributed.

It was during this period that the visible seizures started following the wave sensation. They still occurred only about once every four days.

I then returned to work in the same environment, but initially I was happy and not stressed at all. I had no seizures for a week. However, once I started rushing again and becoming stressed when things did not go as planned, the seizures returned at roughly the same frequency.

Interestingly, they almost always happened when I finally calmed down afterward. At times, when I worked even harder, they would occur daily for a week and then disappear entirely the following week. On two occasions during the last 6 months, I went 25 days without any seizures at all.

However, after even a small amount of stress, they would come back and occur daily for over a week. The pattern constantly changes, which is why I started noticing a relationship between stress, rushing, and seizure activity. It almost feels like a battery charging up and then releasing, with the severity depending on how much “charge” has built up.

Because of this, I sometimes wonder whether it is truly epilepsy or whether my nervous system is somehow involved. I have never previously taken epilepsy medication, and I have not yet completed full epilepsy testing. However, the episodes last between 5 and 40 seconds, and I genuinely do not remember them afterward. In fact, I often do not even realise they have happened.

If anyone has had a similar experience with epilepsy, I would really appreciate hearing your story.

So, my story:

I started taking Lamotrigine only 4 days ago and have taken just 3 doses so far (25mg). It was prescribed for epilepsy, which was diagnosed by a neurologist based on videos I showed them. My seizures are complex focal seizures that last around 40 seconds. During them, I experience memory loss and used to have swallowing movements, although now it is mainly drooling. Otherwise, I continue doing tasks normally, respond normally, and do not lose consciousness. It looks like I have something sour in my mouth based on my facial expression. However, I do not remember these episodes at all.

At first, I took Lamotrigine at 8am. About 3 hours later, I became extremely tired and was unable to do my job properly. I am usually very active during the day and need energy for physically demanding work. Because of this, I decided to take my next dose at 7pm instead of the following morning.

However, that first morning dose already affected my sleep. I use a very accurate sleep-tracking device. I slept for a total of 7 hours, with 1 hour of deep sleep, 1 hour 44 minutes of REM sleep, and 4 hours 50 minutes of light sleep. Normally, I sleep 8–9 hours, with around 3–4 hours of deep sleep, 1–3 hours of REM sleep, and about 3 hours of light sleep. My HRV is usually between 50–70ms, but that night it dropped to 35ms. I woke up feeling exhausted, as if I had been partying all night. The tiredness did not go away during the day, and I felt completely unlike myself.

I then took 25mg at 7pm. It was difficult to fall asleep. I did not feel sleepy at all, although I eventually fell asleep about an hour later than usual after lying in bed trying. Normally, I start feeling sleepy between 9:30pm and 10:30pm.

The next morning, I woke up feeling as though I had been partying all night again, but even worse than the previous day. I slept 7 hours in total. My deep sleep was only 5 minutes, REM sleep was 4 hours, light sleep was 3 hours, and my HRV dropped to 28ms. My HRV only goes that low when I have been very drunk, but my deep sleep has never been this low before.

That day, I only went for a 1-hour walk around town and did some shopping, but I was exhausted all day. After the walk, I felt significantly more tired. Since it was Saturday, I did not have to work. Despite how I felt, I took another 25mg dose at 7pm.

Again, I did not feel sleepy at all. At 10pm, I tried to fall asleep but couldn’t. Around midnight, I gave up and took 4mg of Mirtazapine because it usually knocks me out. I slept for 9.5 hours in total, but my deep sleep was once again only 5 minutes (0%), REM sleep was 5 hours 30 minutes, light sleep was 4 hours, and my HRV dropped to 16ms.

I woke up feeling like I had been partying all night, and it was difficult to even move around until late morning. The feeling reminded me of when I used to smoke around 2 grams of weed a day a long time ago. I haven’t smoked weed in over a year.

The problem is that I cannot function like this if I need to be active at work. This medication is affecting both my sleep quality and my ability to fall asleep.

One thing I noticed immediately is that it made me feel much calmer from the very first dose. Normally, I am very active and constantly feel as though I am running late. I become impatient when anything slows me down or gets in the way of getting things done. I am always in “rush mode.” Since starting Lamotrigine, that feeling has disappeared.

I have also noticed since the second dose that I do not experience the world around me the same way I used to. It feels as though my emotions have been muted. Even my sex drive has decreased significantly.

Another major side effect is that I cannot eat properly. I normally have a healthy appetite and enjoy food, but now I struggle to eat anything, even when I feel hungry. I am forcing myself to eat, but I still eat very little. This has been happening ever since I started Lamotrigine 4 days ago.

These side effects are so strong that I genuinely do not know whether I can continue taking this medication or whether there is any point in trying to push through. I am only on 25mg, and I am already worried. My biggest concerns right now are my energy levels, sleep, and appetite.

I cannot even imagine what might happen when I reach higher doses such as 100mg twice a day, which is currently the treatment plan.

Has anyone else gone through this? Is there any chance these side effects improve over time? Has anyone experienced similarly severe side effects from Lamotrigine and then switched to another medication that was easier to tolerate?

I know everyone is different, but many people have similar experiences. If someone has been through this and found a better alternative, I would be interested to hear about it.

I understand that starting a new medication can be difficult. If these side effects are likely to improve, I may try to push through the first couple of weeks before increasing to 25mg twice a day.

What worries me is that I have read many experiences from people whose side effects never improved. I am also concerned about additional side effects that may appear at higher doses. To be honest, these side effects already feel harder to deal with than the seizures themselves. My seizures were mostly annoying, with the worst periods being 14-day clusters, but even those do not come close to how difficult these side effects feel right now.

My seizure pattern is unusual. I believe my main trigger was overworking in a highly stressful environment where I was constantly rushing around trying to get things done. That was when I first started experiencing a strange wave-like feeling, as if some horrible drug had suddenly hit me. It happened around three times a day.

When I stopped working in that environment, the episodes disappeared for 3 years. They returned when I started working in a similar environment again, occurring three times a day and sometimes up to six times a day.

When I went on holiday and removed myself from that environment, they almost completely stopped, dropping to about one per week. As soon as I returned to work, they became a daily occurrence again.

Later, I stopped working for a few months and the episodes reduced to around one every four days. They were usually triggered by rushing myself, although sometimes there was no obvious trigger. During that time, I was still under financial stress and worrying every day, so that may also have contributed.

It was during this period that the visible seizures started following the wave sensation. They still occurred only about once every four days.

I then returned to work in the same environment, but initially I was happy and not stressed at all. I had no seizures for a week. However, once I started rushing again and becoming stressed when things did not go as planned, the seizures returned at roughly the same frequency.

Interestingly, they almost always happened when I finally calmed down afterward. At times, when I worked even harder, they would occur daily for a week and then disappear entirely the following week. On two occasions during the last 6 months, I went 25 days without any seizures at all.

However, after even a small amount of stress, they would come back and occur daily for over a week. The pattern constantly changes, which is why I started noticing a relationship between stress, rushing, and seizure activity. It almost feels like a battery charging up and then releasing, with the severity depending on how much “charge” has built up.

Because of this, I sometimes wonder whether it is truly epilepsy or whether my nervous system is somehow involved. I have never previously taken epilepsy medication, and I have not yet completed full epilepsy testing. However, the episodes last between 5 and 40 seconds, and I genuinely do not remember them afterward. In fact, I often do not even realise they have happened.

If anyone has had a similar experience with epilepsy, I would really appreciate hearing your story.