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Does Venlafaxine And Lamotrigine Cause Dizziness,headache And Increase In BP?

Posted on Mon, 10 Feb 2014

Question: Hi I am taking venlafaxineer 150 mg 1 daily lamotrigine 25 mg 1 day for about 10 months for anxiery I also takeLisinopril/hctz 20-25 for years for bp. last week I was taken to the hosp (oh I am 69 female) hysterical, no memory, hot and cold, bp was 199 over 99. the hosp did spinal tap and CT all fine. sent me home to follow up with my dr which I did 2 days later. Had an MRI all fine so put me on L methyfolate Calcium 15 and Lamotrigine 25 mg both 1 time daily. I feel dopey, fall down (not dizzy just unbalance and fall) don't care if I get out of bed and surely cannot think straight or want to do anything. My head aches and is fuzzy. Want to dump all of this medicine. checked on internet to see interactions and they are enough to scare me. Doctor now looking into inner ear problem and possible seizures help Forgot - also taking LORazepam 2 mg for sleep 1 per nite

Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (2 hours later)

Brief Answer: Clarifications Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for using health care magic for posting your query. I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through. However I would require a couple of more details to help you in answering your query in a better justified way. 1. Was your venlafaxine discontinued or are you still taking it? 2. What is your current BP? 3. Any restlessness, anxiety? Hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience. Regards and wish you good health, Dr. Srikanth Reddy MD Neuro-Psychiatrist and Sexologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Srikanth Reddy (27 hours later)

I stopped taking it 2 days ago because of the information I learned about dizziness and headaches etc that is what I was having, 2. BP 119/86 3. Not at this time

Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (2 days later)

Brief Answer: Difficult to explain your symptoms Detailed Answer: Hello Thanks for the follow-up information. The side-effects that you had of dizziness fizzy head headache and shoot up of BP are not the usual side-effects of the venlafaxine and lamotrigine. Its unfortunate that you landed up with these side-effects. However as you are already feeling better and are off venlafaxine, you need not bother a lot as of now, as the medicines may have such idiosyncratic adverse effects occasionally. In such circumstances if at all you had to use an antidepressant then sertraline would be the best option with least adverse effects. Hope that was fine. If you have any further queries I would be more than happy to help you with them. Regards Dr. Srikanth Reddy

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E