TEGRETOL Reviews (CARBAMAZEPINE)Average Rating: 3.3 (287 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare TEGRETOL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on TEGRETOL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR TEGRETOL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | Bipolar II Disorder | It is nearly impossible to focus on reading, and I have difficulty calling to mind the words I want. I am a law student, so this is detrimental. Basically, my brain just feels slower and foggy. I am also tired ALL the time, but I was fatigued before so it may not be from the medicine. | The medicine helps significantly with my depression! This is the first medicine that has controlled my debilitating depression. I went from constant suicidal bouts to almost no sadness ever. However, there is a huge tradeoff. I feel like I lost a huge chunk of my IQ. I was actually more productive and successful when battling mood swings than I am walking around with a foggy and unfocused mind. | F | 23 | 8 weeks 200mg 4X day | 1/29/2013 | 3 | Seizure | Have very bad tension headache and anxiety initially while on 400mg. Bad back paresthesia after 2 months. Headaches got better after adjusting dosage. Taking benzo to help reduce anxiety. Seizure is well controlled. | F | 37 | 10 months 200mg | 11/26/2012 | 5 | Trigeminal Neuralgia | Metallic taste in mouth, diarrhea | This drug has completely stopped the TN attacks and did so practically immediately upon starting on it. Initially I was on a combination of Neurontin and Tegretol, but that caused a lot of dizziness, so I was taken off the Neurontin. The side effects did not start until I was on Tegretol for a month and a half. The dizziness is gone. Sidenote: I also have MS, which was diagnosed 8 years ago. TN did not start until last year, at age 53. I currently have no other functional problems with MS. I don't know if the TN is associated with my MS. | F | 54 | 2 months 200mg 3X day | 10/13/2012 | 1 | trigeminal neuralgia | Extremely tired, drowsy, severe headaches, confusion, blurred vision, red blotches on face, chest, back, (these went and then came back), flu-like symptoms - fever, aches, shivers and loss of taste. Could not work or function normally. Blood tests revealed lowered white cell count and raised liver functions! | Pain from TN which was not continuous stopped completely after 12 days on medication - 1 week on 100 mg once a day, next week 200mg once a day, then to 200 mg two times a day. However after 3 weeks the headaches were constant, flu symptoms began. GP immediately sent me for blood tests and stopped meds on receipt of results. Been off med for 9 days now, TN pain not returned so far. Further blood test shows white cell count normal, liver function improving but still severe lack of taste which is extremely unpleasant and depressing. | F | 54 | 25 days 200 mg 2X day | 10/10/2012 | 4 | trigeminal neuralgia | Like many others I have the feeling that I am a space cadet. So far, I have not been too aggravating to my family, friends and co-workers with it. I try to make a joke of it. I am seriously bothered by any lighting. I feel like living in a cave is the answer, but not very practical. When I first began in January, 2012, the pain from the cold was unbearable. I could quickly understand why it is called the suicide disease. I have studied about the different procedures to relax the pressure of the blood vessel on the nerve and decided that taking the medication and being a space cadet was the better option. The condition is disabling and you just have the accept the lifetime condition. I still work, drive my car and have a social life, but none of them are the same. I have had to cut back on work (took my social security to cut back my hours), don't drive too much after dark because of the lights, and tire out a bit earlier (still can sing karaoke but not in extreme heat or cold) | I find that if I do not take my afternoon dosage I experience a more difficult time in the evening (more numbness and pain). Not much issue with the burning at all now. I hope to not have to increase my dosage. And I pray that my friends, family and coworkers will continue to understand the trigeminal neuralgia and not keep saying I am developing dementia or Alzheimers because the effect of not being able to think of words and repeating myself give them plenty to cause them to think I am at age 64. | F | 64 | 6 months 200 mg 3X day | 8/5/2012 | 1 | possible trigeminal neuralga | day after didn't feel as if I was awake all day and kept falling asleep,no energy, very slow,had no strength in lower arms and legs felt almost tingly, had to really think about what I was wanting to say, had strange type of headache over forhead, temples and upper face-pressures and strange sensations which moved about, felt like I wanted to vomit-the feeling you get in your mouth just before you are sick,not nausea though. After 5 days ended up at on-call drs in evening with bad head pains, violent shaking-not shivering-sweating and really hot and sweaty but with a normal temperature and vomited several times. Have not been able to go to work. A week later am feeling a bit better-still have all the same symptoms but to a lesser degree. All this from only 2 tablets. Had blood tests 2 days ago and awaiting MRI. GP and on-call dr don't think its due to the Tegretol as it should be out of my system by now, but having read your posts am not so sure, am seeing GP again tomorrow for blood | F | 43 | 1 days 100mg 2X day | 7/1/2012 | 3 | Severe migraines 3-4 days a week | I've only been taken them twice a day for past 4 days but thinking about stopping them against my doctors advice to help stop severe migraines,in this time I've become a zombie,foggy,memory loss,extremely tired can't answer people straight away,feel stoned all day n wonky on my feet,I'm constantly apologizing and explaining to people to just have some understanding n bare with me until I'm over side effects. Doctor told me it gets easier but I feel do you get over the effects or do you get that use to them that you think it's normal? | F | 26 | 4 days 200mg | 6/28/2012 | 1 | Trigeminal Neuralgia | Rash, Breathing Problems, Disoriented | This drug almost killed me. Thank god I went into my doctor as soon as the rash started. I had an allergic reaction and developed Steven-Johnson Syndrome and am now being treated for that. Please be careful with the med. | F | 58 | 14 days 200 mg 2X day | 6/22/2012 | 1 | Bipolar disorder, BPD | MAJOR issues getting used to this medicine. almost got put in the hospital | on the 4-5 day of this med, I started feeling like I had overdosed on speed and also having the worst manic episode of my life, racing heart, blood pressure through the roof, I felt like I was going to die, but honestly I couldn't sit still or lie down. Also either took another week or so for the side effects to wear off or it pushed me into a manic stage. Also gave me an uncontrollable twitch in either of my hands that took a week or so to wear off. | F | 21 | 6 days 200 2X day | 6/17/2012 | 4 | Borderline Personality Disorder | It makes me feel like a zombie (not sleepy though, just out of it completely), and causes my Depersonalization symptoms to get a lot worse. | So far, its the best medication I've had for mood swings! Works great for that. | F | 21 | 7 months 100MG 1X day | 5/13/2012 | 2 | seizure disorder | psoriasis from rash; photo sensitivity; weight gain of 5 to 8 pounds; very mellow; reduced sexual responsiveness; finally, low white and red blood count, increased liver enzymes | prescribed after one seizure, feel it was over-kill. It works though. | F | 54 | 16 months 300 MG 2X day | 4/2/2012 | 2 | Single seizure | - Weight gain (originally 66kg, now 80kg) - Tiredness - Increased appetite (constantly hungry), having more snacks | M | 23 | 16 months 100mg 2X day | 3/26/2012 | 4 | Epilepsy | After reading so many negative reviews of this drug I was very hesitant to use it..I have been on it a month and only really experienced some short term memory problems (forgetting words) and some mild tiredness. So far On the good side of things i sleep like a log now, seem happier and contray to many other people my sex drive has sky rocketed lol i think the drug has a bad rep but is very tolerable :) | M | 26 | 1 months 200mg BD | 2/8/2012 | 4 | Bipolar II | Nausea, drowsiness (both only lasted around 7-10 days) | I started with 2x200mg and noticed a noticeable effect after a week but shortly after the hypomanic episodes came back. Raised the dosage to 3x200mg for another 2 weeks, and the positive effects wained again. Now, I'm up to 4x200mg and I've just finished the side effect hump (which seems to last 7-10 days after taking the meds), and I'm hoping to have a more consistent positive feeling with the higher dose. I was on Lithium before this (which had no beneficial effect on me), and I have to recommend Tegretol for its less severe side effects. On the negative side, the positive effects seem to be hard to sustain a lower dose. | M | 37 | 6 weeks 200 mg 4X day | 1/25/2012 | 1 | Trigeminal Neuralgia | Immediately noticed a change in my hearing. Everything sounds as if I'm listening to a recording that has been slightly slowed down. Also experiencing excessive tiredness and fatigue. | The change in my hearing was the reason I started to research side effects of the drug. I figured such an extreme side effect after only 2 doses warranted concern. My prescription calls for 200mg 3x a day. I will experiment with 2x a day for the next few days and see how it goes. At this point, I have experienced zero relief from my TN pain. | M | 43 | 2 days 200 2X day | 12/19/2011 | 1 | Nocturnal Epilepsy | Initially short term memory loss, becoming more severe with time, and stomach acid. In year six and over a 6 week period I developed severe symptoms i.e. breathing became very difficult, pains in the calfs and arm muscles, followed some days later by drunkeness feeling, unable to walk in a straight line, and rapid onset of deilirium and feeling like I was losing my mind!. Extreme stomach acid. | Now off tegretol although some symptoms have persisted and are being investigated. SIADH suspected. | M | 51 | 10 years 600mg 1X day | 12/13/2011 Patient History | 2 | CRPS | Decreased libido, headaches, mouth sores, weight gain, decreased appetite, joint and muscle pain, muscle twitches, menstrual cycle gone, constipation, sleepiness, short-term memory loss. Be very careful you don't drink GRAPEFRUIT JUICE - very bad side effect. | The nerve pain did decrease but the side effects are overwhelming. Would not recommend for nerve pain but suggest you look at amytriptaline or topamax, all are bad. Do your homework and trust yourself - doctors are wrong 50% of the time! | F | 36 | 1 months 200mg 2X day | 12/5/2011 | 4 | Hypomania | Pitch change -- my perfect pitch became slightly off, I would hear notes half a step differently(lower) than before. Wouldn't bug some people but I noticed it very quickly. | None | M | 26 | 3 months Unsure 2X day | 11/30/2011 | 5 | myo-facial pain | major hair loss, cold hands | finally, pain in face and neck has gone away. major pain kept me awake at night. tried pain relieving cream (prescription) and narcotics to no avail. tried land therapy also. aqua therapy has helped, but nothing like the tegretol (brand name). | F | 52 | 4 months 300 mg 3X day | 11/10/2011 | 1 | to the person who emailed me...(posting date 3/8/2011) | Please post your question here, so more people may reply. It's a good question, that many others may also have. | F | 44 | 1X day | 10/12/2011 |