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Lamotrigine-induced obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients with bipolar disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2018

Verinder Sharma  and
Minakshi Doobay
Verinder Sharma*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada Parkwood Mental Health Building, St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, Ontario, Canada
Minakshi Doobay
Affiliation:
Parkwood Mental Health Building, St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, Ontario, Canada
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr. Verinder Sharma, Parkwood Institute, Mental Health Care Building, 550 Wellington Road, London, ON N6C 0A7, Canada. (Email: vsharma@uwo.ca)
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Abstract

Introduction

Lamotrigine is a commonly used drug in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Although there are reports of its effectiveness in the management of bipolar disorder and comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), lamotrigine has also been associated with obsessionality in patients with bipolar disorder.

Methods

Charts of 8 patients with bipolar disorder who had de novo onset of obsessions and compulsions after the use of lamotrigine were reviewed. The Naranjo scale was used to assess the likelihood of patients developing OCD due to lamotrigine use.

Results

Two to 8 months after the initiation of lamotrigine, patients with no such prior history developed obsessions and compulsions meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for medication-induced OCD. In all except 1 patient, the symptoms resolved within a month of lamotrigine discontinuation.

Conclusions

Some patients with bipolar disorder may develop OCD after initiation of lamotrigine. Due to the inherent limitations of a case series, the findings should be interpreted with caution.

Keywords

Antipsychoticbipolar disordercomorbiditylamotrigineobsessive compulsive disorder
Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 390 - 394
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

The authors would like to thank Christine Baczynski at Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario, Canada for her assistance in manuscript preparation.

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