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.) |
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR TEGRETOL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 4 | Bi-Polar | numbness in left hand, tightness in chest, tired after taking in morning, body feels strange all over after taking in morning, skin is sensitive. | Around April or May I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar and Anxiety Disorder. I have always had a problem with depression but it wasn't until I moved away from my home at 18, 4 years ago, that I started having real problems with the mood swings and these past 2 years with memory and focusing problems. My memory was so bad that I have many notebooks filled with lists and notes just to keep track of simple things. My anxiety was bad enough that after a few days on a new job I had to quit. With Tegretol I have noticed a huge improvement in my mood, motivation, and overall well-being. I can focus on projects again and remember things easier. The only problem I have with it is that my left hand is numb a lot and my chest is tight. I'll mention those to my doctor soon. | F | 22 | 4 days 100 MG 3X day | 10/8/2011 | 4 | TN | 1stone weight gain so far, water retention mouth ulcers, bruises all over woke with black eye last night, urge for apples, flushed face in the evenings breasts gone up two cup sizes and constant bv felt like iv had a cold since been on them. | my whole head would go in to spasm and last for few mins about 15 times a day where i would drool and not able to talk i would look like i was avin a stroke these tabs have controlled it so much better only have a mild couple now and the feeling where i feel like im about to av one then it goes away also noticed that my back pains av considerably decreased but skin still numb to touch ps my whole back was in spasm. i dont feel as afraid to go out on my own now xx | F | 29 | 4 months 200MG 2X day | 9/22/2011 | 3 | PHN after shingles | felt absolutlely drugged up to the eyeballs on this!! lost all capacity to function! slept all day..couldnt go to work,couldnt speak properly, couldnt find the words i needed, loss of memory..loss of balance,no way could i even atempt to drive, i was so confused, i put my glasses in the fridge, kept repeating myself..it was horrible!! | it did take away the pain instantly mind...but im going back to the doctor to see if i can change to another drug as this one is way to trippy for me!! | F | 37 | 1 weeks 200 3X day | 9/14/2011 | 4 | trigeminal neuralgia | Dizziness, NAUSEA, weight gain, memory loss, lose train of though easily, tired | I was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia back in 2004 .This was the first drug I was placed on & it was like a miracle. I guess I didn't pay as much attention to the side effects b/c I was so grateful this got rid of the pain. My dose kept increasing until it just didn't work for me anymore. Tried on another 5 medications and finally in 10/2009 I had microvascular decompression at Univ of Pittsburgh as they are supposed to be one of the best. Surgery was not a success. Left me deaf in one ear, with a constant sour taste on the side of the surgery, & weakened swallowing. Resorted to Botox injections from my neurologist, which decreased amount of attacks but not intensity. I take dilaudid for bad attacks which I just hate everything about. My neurologist (he is also head of the pain clinic) suggested I try tegretol again. He said stranger things have happened & sometimes it can work again. It has been 7 years so I figured why not. Even 6 months of reprieve would be worth it. I cannot believe how sick I am the 2nd time around. Still nauseous after 6 wks & only on 200mg bid. I did have 2 bad attacks in this time, but that is way less than usual. I want to eat everything in sight. I think it is b/c the type of nausea it causes is like the nausea that comes from being hungry. You think if you eat something the nausea will go away. I started taking 6.25mg-12.5mg of phenergan bid for nausea & it helps somewhat. | F | 40 | 6 weeks 200 2X day | 8/13/2011 | 1 | Epillepsy | Extreme exhaustion. I have to pump myself full of dangerous levels of caffiene just to barely make it through an 8 hour work day. I've been on it so long that it is hard to tell what is a side effect and what it just the way I am (been on it since I was 5 or so), but I've noticed on here that I'm not the only tegretol user suffering from memory, concentration and depression issues. Also, no pain meds work on me- not even prescription ones. | F | 26 | 21 years 2X day | 8/11/2011 | 5 | epilepsy | Loss of libido. | When I was changed from Lamictal to Tegretol I felt deeply depressed in different moments of the day without any cause. This mood disorder lasted some days. I felt so bad that I thought I couldn't stand it and should go to my doctor again to change the drug. I kept taking it and I must say that, in my case, I got better results, with one exception: I have almost no libido now. | F | 30 | 2 years 200 2X day | 7/31/2011 | 2 | Nocturnal Epilepsy | For the first week or two; itchiness and problems balancing. Since largely increasing the dose; difficulty concentrating, fogginess of the mind, every now and again the sensation of my skin crawling on the back and shoulders. Sometimes I still get the difficultly with balance. | I hate that I can't concentrate. It got more and more difficult as my dose increased and just as school assignments and exams were getting more and more complex. The time it would take me to make decisions got longer. Some days I get bad speech days through which I have difficulty ordering and pronouncing the syllables of each word i say. This could very well be attributed to the difficulty concentrating as I have not previously had a speech disorder or defect. | F | 19 | 7 years 1600 3X day | 7/29/2011 | 5 | Trigeminal Neuralgia | F | 60 | 200 mg 4X day | 6/23/2011 Patient History | 3 | Grandmal seizures | Foggy mind, feel stoned, can't concentrate, unsteady gait, clumsy, imbalanced, muscle twitching, confusion, sleepy | I was only diagnosed with epilepsy 2 weeks ago. I have never taken epilepsy medication before. I have suffered migraines and depression and have taken medication for both of those (sandomigran and prozac) and did not have reactions. As it is only day 4 for me it has not decreased the seizures, the initial effects are very similar to being stoned, I just feel so out of it, on another planet. The other problem I've noticed so far is when I lean to get something I'll almost fall over, or difficult to walk in a straight line. I also feel a bit down in my mood, so maybe all this is my body saying "what the hell are you putting in me!!!" and hopefully it settles in time. I will come back in a few months and update how I react to tegretol | F | 21 | 4 days 200mg 2X day | 6/18/2011 | 5 | Bipolar Type I | "fuzzy" memory, but otherwise none | LOVE it!!! Best mood stabilizer I have ever been on (and trust me, I've been on a lot). This is making my life so much easier. I don't think I'd be able to be in college or have a job or focus/concentrate/relax enough to just be myself. This helps me out of my depression and gives me back my personality without making me manic. It's a great medicine. If nothing else works, talk to your doctor about Tegretol (Equetro). | F | 22 | 10 months 500 mg 2X day | 6/14/2011 | 1 | TBI | Decrease in brain abilities and lump on lymph node on neck | Wow. looking to increase my brain abilities and decrease the threat of seizures. Now I feel stupid and have a lump on my neck. | M | 43 | 3 months 200 2X day | 6/1/2011 | 4 | Seizure disorder | Some weight gain depression lack of motivation occasional mood swings between anger and depression loss of sexual deisre | M | 21 | 8 months 100 2X day | 5/4/2011 | 5 | Epilepsy | None - maybe memory issues but I've had those so long it could just be me:) | I was on Tegretol for 12 years and it controlled my simple partial seizures completely with no side effects that I could tell. I eventually had to be taken off of it though because I started having low white blood cell counts and this is definitely a side effect of LONG TERM use. I have since been on Keppra, Vimpat, Lamictal, and Zonegran ALL to the detriment of awful side effects. I am now on Depakote 500 mg x 1/day. They wanted to start me at 1000 per day but I told the doc that I wanted to start low and dose up if needed. So far 500 mg. is working (maybe with a little weight gain). The point I want to make is that if you go look at ratings of all of the other drugs I have taken, everyone reacts differently! What may work for one doesn't work for another. My goal was seizure control without side effects. This is a great resource because I was having some side effects that my doctor said were not "listed" in his journals but that I saw on websites like these that other people were experiencing. | F | 48 | 12 years 200 1X day | 4/23/2011 | 1 | Bipolar Disorder - Rapid Cycling | extreme difficulty putting thoughts together or finding the correct words for things. My 5 year old son has to finish my sentences for me! Weight gain 10 pounds/3 months. Itchy/twitchy skin. A number of large swollen lymph nodes in my neck and severe join pain | I have been on meds for 20 years and I have tried a lot of them. Tegretol and Lithium are the worst meds I have tried. I can't wait to get off this drug! | F | 40 | 3 months 200MG 1X day | 4/4/2011 | 4 | Epilepsy | Foggy headedness, inability to think straight, inability to think on the spot, lots of difficulty remembering things, feeling confused easily. | I started taking Tegretol for seizures in December 2006, after being on Dilantin and Valpro. I found that Tegretol made me feel very foggy headed and dazed. I found it difficult to think straight, I had trouble remembering things and always had to keep lists and write things down, and I felt more confusedand less able to concentrate and focus on tasks. I was weaned off it slowly between January 1 and January 22 this year, and in the last fortnight or so I have really noticed a difference. I can think I lot more clearly, I have less trouble remembering things, and I am not so confused. | F | 22 | 4 years 200mg 2X day | 3/23/2011 | 1 | Bipolar, anxiety, BPD, ASPD | nearly killed me in just 2 months i nearly died from it | F | 21 | 2 months ? 1X day | 3/13/2011 | 1 | enhance phenobarbitol for epilepsy | Only during "blood level theraputic dose", I experienced double vision so severe I couldn't see to dial 911, severe mental confusion as if I was fighting to not pass out, I had no motor control of my legs, often the theraputic dose caused me to pass out suddenly for hours at a time. I guess it kept me in a near coma. | During my last 4 years taking this drug, I moved and saw a new neurologist. He did not understand about taking a low dose, as I had successfully for 12 years to enhance the performance of phenobarbitol, and insisted I take a "blood level" theraputic dose, which sent me into severe overdose every time. Double vision, complete loss of gross motor control - I couldn't get off the floor to call 911, even if I could wake up, even if I could see the phone, I couldn't wake up until the dose had mostly worn off, and my husband would say that often he would come home from work to find me collapsed on the floor. I don't have much memory of that four years. I would take the next lower dose, as recommended by the ER and be fine, and Dr. Quack would require a blood test, and the results would be below theraputic, and he would tell me to take the higher dose. Repeat as above. Being newly on my own and 19 years old, I didn't know better. I trusted the doc. He almost killed me. 24 years later, I wonder at the long term damage of four years of overdose. | F | 43 | 14 years 150mg? 2X day | 3/8/2011 | 4 | Trigeminal Neuralgia | Drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, headache on 200mg a day - by 600mg a day blepharospasm, other mild muscle twitching, short term memory loss, exhaustion, mild itchy rash. Can't work due to exhaustion currently. | By the time I had worked my way up to 600mg, pain was mostly stopped. I get dull ache in my face but never the strong burning pain that characterised my neuralgia - side effects are worth avoiding the pain. Tegretol works well on TN but the memory side effects are questionable. Am not sure if muscle twitching is related to Tegretol but the doctor tells me the blepharospasm definitely is. Try this drug for TN nonetheless. | F | 23 | 5 months 200mg 3X day | 2/14/2011 | 1 | Mood Stabilization | After little effect I developed a severe pyrexia & swelled up to the extent that I could barely open my eyes, wear shoes & on two occasions began to have difficulty in breathing. Once immediately discontinued the pyrexia broke and I began to shed my skin from head to toe. At one stage de-gloving my fingers & toes & also shedding the entire soles of my feet to a depth of 5-8mm. | After further research I discovered that my reaction was either TEN (Toxic epithelial necrosis) or SJS (Stevens-Johnson's Syndrome) though my GP still insists that it was a viral infection despite my blood markers being within "Normal" range | M | 36 | 3 weeks 200 1X day | 1/14/2011 | 3 | RSD/CRPS - severe chronic pain | None I can think of. | Helps to reduce my nerve pain. | F | 39 | 10 years 200mg 2X day | 1/4/2011 |