Lamotrigine for Teens: Uses, Dosage, and Side Effects
Some teens don’t just feel down. Their moods swing hard and fast or stay stuck in a place that doesn’t feel right. When that happens, it’s easy for parents to wonder – is this typical teenage stuff, or something deeper?
This is often where mood stabilizers like lamotrigine come in. Lamotrigine, also known as Lamictal, is one of the options a provider might suggest when a teen’s world feels too difficult to manage, and their emotions feel out of control. Lamictal can provide temporary support to help a teen feel back on track, so they can take a breath while putting other support strategies in place.
If you’re trying to understand whether this kind of support might help, Mission Prep can walk you through it. This guide will cover:
- The uses of lamotrigine in adolescent mental health care
- Side effects of lamotrigine
- Lamictal dosages for teenagers
- How to stop taking lamotrigine safely as a teen
- How lamotrigine stacks up against other mood stabilizers
- How Mission Prep supports families through teen mental health treatment
Teen Mental Health Treatment With Lamotrigine
Some teens have big emotions that come with ups and downs. This is normal. But sometimes, those waves don’t pass. The ups and downs stick around and start to make school, relationships, and daily life feel harder than they should.
This is usually when a provider starts looking a little closer. And in some cases, they might suggest something like lamotrigine.¹ But here’s something it’s important to know about Lamotrigine: It doesn’t numb emotions or change a person’s personality. Instead, it softens the extremes so that a teen feels more balanced instead of swinging from one big feeling to the next.
It won’t solve everything. But it can create enough steadiness to make therapy more effective, and life a little easier to manage.
Lamictal for Bipolar Disorder in Teens
Bipolar symptoms in teens can be jarring. The mood shifts that can come with bipolar disorder often derail your routines, strain your relationships, and interrupt your school or social life. The depressive side, in particular, can leave teens feeling numb, stuck, or invisible.
Lamictal for bipolar disorder in teens is often used to soften those lows. It’s not typically prescribed to manage manic episodes, but it can help prevent the deeper crashes that tend to follow these.² Over time, many teens describe feeling more stable, less like they’re constantly bracing for another drop in their mood.
This kind of steadying effect can help teens tackle the other difficulties all teens have to face and give them the space to feel a little more like themselves again.
Lamictal for Treating Teen Depression
Not every teen with depression shows up with the same symptoms. Some struggle with a heavy kind of sadness that doesn’t lift. Others seem more irritable than down. Then there are those who feel fine one day and crash the next, emotionally speaking. Doctors sometimes prescribe Lamictal for treating teen depression when those patterns start to suggest something more complex like bipolar depression.
In fact, lamotrigine is one of the few medications shown to help with the depressive side of bipolar disorder without pushing a teen into mania. This makes it a careful choice for adolescents who don’t respond well to traditional antidepressants or who’ve had bad reactions in the past.
It’s less commonly used for unipolar depression (meaning depression that doesn’t include manic episodes), but some clinicians do consider it in special cases.³ Teens who are especially sensitive to side effects, or who have cycles of emotional shutdown and agitation, might benefit from its stabilizing effect.
But if you want to take a pill and feel instantly better, Lamotrigine may not be the one for you. Lamictal doesn’t act fast and it isn’t designed to boost mood overnight. But it can help you feel more at baseline, with the normal emotion fluctuations all teens feel.
Lamotrigine for ADHD in Teens
With several effective ADHD stimulants on the market, doctors don’t usually prescribe lamotrigine for ADHD in teens. It doesn’t boost focus or settle hyperactivity the way stimulants often do. But when ADHD shows up alongside big mood swings or sudden emotional crashes, lamotrigine can sometimes help in a different way. One study shows that lamotrigine improved ADHD symptoms in children with epilepsy.⁴
Some teens struggle with more than just distraction or impulsivity. There’s the irritability that seems to come out of nowhere and the emotional roller coasters that don’t quite fit the standard picture of ADHD. In those cases, a provider might suggest lamotrigine to ease the mood instability underneath.
So, lamotrigine doesn’t try to “fix” ADHD – after all, there’s nothing to “fix” – only symptoms to ease. If emotional highs and lows are getting in the way for you, lamotrigine might take the edge off just enough for other parts of treatment to work more smoothly.
Lamotrigine for Preventing Mood Swings in Teens
Mood swings can make daily life hard for a teen and everyone around them. Some doctors prescribe lamotrigine to prevent mood swings in teens with mood disorders.⁵ It doesn’t erase feelings or force kids to be calm. What it can do is help take the edge off. Instead of crashing from one extreme to another, some teens feel more steady. Their reactions don’t spike as sharply, and the lows don’t hit quite as hard.
Using Lamotrigine for Teen Anxiety
Using lamotrigine for teen anxiety isn’t the norm because it’s not a typical anti-anxiety medication, but not every teen’s anxiety looks the same. Some young people feel it as waves of irritability, sudden overwhelm, or intense emotional swings that seem to come out of nowhere. When those patterns show up, especially alongside signs of a mood disorder or PTSD, lamotrigine might enter the conversation.⁶
This medication doesn’t target anxiety in the usual way. It won’t quiet a racing mind like some other medications might. But if a teen’s anxious episodes are tangled up with unstable moods or emotional crashes, stabilizing those deeper shifts can help everything else feel more manageable.
In some cases, calming the storm underneath gives teens the space to actually use the tools they’re learning in therapy, or even notice when they’re beginning to spiral. In this way, lamotrigine isn’t a one-size-fits-all fix, but it could be ideal for teens whose anxiety is fueled by mood instability. It may also benefit teens as an element of a broader, more personalized plan.
Lamotrigine for Treating Aggressive Behavior in Teens
Some doctors prescribe lamotrigine for treating aggressive behavior in teens.⁷ Some teens don’t show their emotional struggles through sadness or anxiety. It comes out as anger, outbursts, yelling, or slamming doors. And underneath all of it, they’re often overwhelmed, dysregulated, or struggling with something. With so much bubbling under the surface, their nervous system runs hot, and it doesn’t take much to set it off.
This is where lamotrigine sometimes comes in. It’s not a “calm down” pill, but it can help regulate the mood shifts that often feed into aggressive behavior. If a teen’s anger seems to spike out of nowhere, or if their frustration turns into rage more often than not, a provider might look at what’s driving those swings.
Lamotrigine works by supporting more stable electrical activity in the brain – the kind that calms the body down, almost like letting some steam out of a pressure cooker. This can be enough to give the teen, and their family, a way of communicating that doesn’t involve aggression.
Lamotrigine Side Effects in Teenagers
Most teens tolerate lamotrigine well, but like any medication, it can come with side effects. Some lamotrigine side effects in teenagers show up early and fade with time. Others may need a closer look. Here are the ones parents and teens notice most often:⁸
Rash
Headaches
- Dizziness
- Tiredness.
- Nausea (temporary)
- Mood shifts
- Appetite changes
Most of these symptoms are short-lived and manageable. If anything feels intense or persistent, it’s worth talking with your doctor.
Lamotrigine and Sleep Disturbances in Teens
For some, lamotrigine and sleep disturbances in teens go hand in hand, but it’s not the same for everyone. Some teens feel wired at night, others just want to curl up and nap more than usual. These changes tend to settle once the body finds its rhythm with the medication.
Simple sleep strategies can help, like dimming lights in the evening, cutting back on screen time before bed, and sticking to a regular sleep-wake schedule. If sleep trouble doesn’t ease up after a few weeks, it might be time to adjust the dose or timing, or the doctor may prescribe a sleep aid.
Lamotrigine and Weight Gain in Teenagers
Lamotrigine and weight gain in teenagers isn’t a major concern. It’s actually one of the more weight-neutral mood medications.⁹ Still, some teens notice shifts in their appetite when they first start; either eating a bit more or feeling less hungry.
Usually, these patterns smooth out on their own. But if weight changes become a concern, a quick conversation with the provider can help clarify what’s normal and what’s not.
Lamotrigine Dosage for Adolescents
Lamotrigine isn’t the kind of medication you rush. Doctors usually start with a very small lamotrigine dosage for adolescents – sometimes just 25 mg every other day ¹⁰ It’s usually prescribed in this way as the body needs time to get used to it. Going too fast can raise the risk of certain side effects, including a rare but serious rash. So, they go slow on purpose.
The dose is gradually increased week by week. For some teens, 100 mg a day is the ideal dose, but this isn’t the case for everyone. Others may need more, often closer to 200 mg. It all comes down to what the medication is treating and how each teen’s body reacts.
One thing that matters is consistency. Skipping doses or stopping suddenly can cause withdrawals. If a dose is missed for more than a few days, it’s not just a matter of picking up where you left off. Most doctors will have to restart the process from the beginning, easing back up slowly to avoid you suffering from side effects.
Stopping Lamotrigine Safely for Teens
Lamotrigine isn’t a medication you just stop cold. Even if a teen is feeling better, or wants to come off it, the process needs to be gradual. This is because the brain gets used to the steady support lamotrigine provides and pulling it away too quickly can lead to a sharp return of mood symptoms, or worse.
Stopping lamotrigine safely for teens is important, so doctors usually recommend tapering down over several weeks. The exact schedule depends on how high the dose is, how long the teen has been on it, and why they’re coming off. Sometimes it’s because another medication is being added. Other times, it’s part of a bigger change in treatment.
No matter the reason, the goal is the same: Make the shift as smooth and stable as possible.
Lamictal Withdrawal Symptoms in Adolescents
Most teens don’t experience anything dramatic when lamotrigine is slowly tapered. But if it’s stopped too suddenly, Lamictal withdrawal symptoms in adolescents could include:
Mood Swings: Emotions may feel harder to manage for a while.
- Irritability or Agitation: Small things might feel more overwhelming than usual.
- Sleep Trouble: Some teens may have a harder time falling or staying asleep.
- Return of Original Symptoms: If lamotrigine was helping with mood regulation, those challenges might start to resurface.
The best way to avoid withdrawal effects is to stay in close contact with the prescribing doctor during the taper. Any changes (emotional or physical) should be tracked and discussed. This way, the plan can be adjusted if needed.
Lamictal vs Other Mood Stabilizers for Teens
Some mood stabilizers like Valproate or Lithium need regular blood tests. Others can make you really tired or change your weight. Lamictal usually doesn’t have these effects, which is one reason doctors might choose it for teens.
It’s often used when bipolar symptoms show up more as low moods than manic ones. If a teen does have manic episodes too, Lamictal might be part of a bigger plan with other meds.
It’s important to remember that no medication is perfect. But when comparing Lamictal vs other mood stabilizers for teens, most find that this one helps smooth out the emotional rollercoaster without adding a lot of extra stress to their day-to-day life.
Reach Out to Mission Prep for Teen Mental Health Guidance
It’s hard watching your teen go through something you can’t fix with reassurance alone. And when it comes to mental health, the path forward isn’t always clear.
This is where the team at Mission Prep comes in. We work with teens and families to make sense of what’s happening and figure out what forms of support work for each individual teen. Whether this includes therapy, medication, or peer support, we can offer some guidance and chat with you about what we offer.
If it’s time to take the next step, we’re here to help you take it. Contact us via phone call for support today.
References
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