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 |
| 5 | Trigeminal Neuralgia | I'm so surprised w/those of you having so many side-effects. The only one I have is occassional trouble retreiving a word, however the word always comes to me within seconds. My dr. started me on 1/4 tab (200mg) 2x day...I know-pharmacist said he never seen such a low dosage-but i feel great now that I'm at 1/2 tab 3-4x day | Couldn't function last 2 yrs w/pain...anxiety of pain returning. Will be having Gamma Knife procedure next month to hopefully end pain & pills here in Toronto by a wonderful nuerosurgeon at TWH. Sure would love to gulp down something cold or a hot bowl of soup again, or even have a full ngts sleep w/out pain! ps..I,ll never use straws again after my treatment. | F | 49 | 2 months 50 mg 4X day | 12/31/2010 | 1 | Seizure control | Lack of sensory input from things like fingertips. I could hold very hot objects & not even notice. The most disturbing thing is I'm a musician, with perfect pitch & tegretol has ruineed that perfect pitch. when I first started taking Tegretol I noticed that things in my world had gone 1/2 tone flat, but that only lasted a while & had gone back to normal. When I got off Tegretol in 2001, my pitch went up 1/2 step & now I perceive things this way all the time! Concert C is now Dflat. People say I should've gotten used to this by now after 9 years, but it's just not happening! If you are a person with perfect pitch who has a seizure disorder! TEGRETOL ISN'T THE DRUG FOR YOU! I also had a lack of sexual appitite & function while on that drug & that hasn't fully returned either. | M | 52 | 17 years Unsure 2X day | 12/19/2010 | 5 | MS-related muscle spasms & bipolar | Can't be sure what are side-effects and what are MS symptoms. Missing a dose causes immediate return of spasms. | Able to sleep without additional drugs because spasms are so well controlled. together w/ risperdal, frequent bipolar-like mood swings are well controlled also. Good medication for several MS issues when used correctly. Follow your Dr's instructions to a T, though. | F | 43 | 2.5 years 200 mg 3X day | 12/15/2010 | 4 | trigeminal neuralgia | dizziness, sleepiness, slurring of words, forgetting words, forgetting conversations, unable to drive, craving sweets like crazy, weight gain, at a higher dose (800mg day) hallucinations, all light indoor and outdoor searing my eyes, a funny smell, feeling out of it, nausea mostly at the beginning of use but also if I move my head around alot, people seem to talk and walk too fast | it helps a great deal and I don't know what I would do without it. I tried lyrica and it doesn't help much but the side effects are less. Only the tegretol works. I am trying to keep my dose low and deal with a certain amount of pain so I don't have to live in a dark room hiding from the light and the hallucinations | F | 46 | 3 months 200 mg 2X day | 11/16/2010 | 5 | Trigeminal Neuralgia | Exhaustion, confusion, can't think of the word I want to use, slurred speech, joint pain, acne, everything I hear is a lower tone, loss of Vitamin D, short term memory loss, restless legs, canker sores in my mouth, insatiable cravings for food, weight gain, ringing in my ears. | Although the side effects are terrible, this drug saved me from the hell of trigeminal neuralgia. I hope the side effects go away, they are bad now that I recently increased the dose...I literally shut off my alarm in my sleep and don't hear it, I'm like a zombie. But I will take all of these side effects and more than be living with the pain I was in for the past three years. | F | 25 | 8 months 1200mg 1X day | 11/4/2010 | 5 | Seizures | Acne... can never get rid of it. Anyone have suggestions... have seen numerous dermatologist but have not had any success. Currently using a sulfric acid soap but not feeling like its working. | F | 19 | 18 years 800 mg 1X day | 10/18/2010 | 4 | Epilepsy | Just like I can't stretch my big left toe like I used to, I can't stretch my right knee like I used without it hurting. Ouchhh! | M | 45 | 7 years 200 MG 1X day | 10/11/2010 Patient History | 4 | Grand Mal seizures | Memory definitely suffers. It's horrid because I'm a business professional and I constantly find myself making excuses for forgetting names, etc. Weight gain- not much, but it's still an issue. I'm an age group competitive runner/marathoner who runs 40-50 miles a week. I'm not overweight, but not runner slender like you'd expect and I would hope for in order to compete. | I'm planning on discontinuing under Doctor's supervision. Tegretol was initially prescribed for seizures - there was some brain damage noted on the CAT scans from childhood accidents. However, I used to consume a tremendous amount of alcohol and the seizures stopped years ago with the cessation of drinking. | M | 48 | 15 years 200MG 2X day | 10/4/2010 | 2 | Lethargy, vagueness, sun sensitivity. | It took me a month or so to get over the 'poisoned' feeling. Not too bad for several months, then side effects gradually re-asserted themselves over a period of a month or so. As my seizures were seen as the result of 'over doing' things, I have reduced to 1/2 dose (on my own) to see how that goes. I have started to get my life back a bit, and plan to stop taking altogether - and avoid late nights, heavy drinking etc. | M | 60 | 1 years 200 2X day | 9/23/2010 | 1 | trigeminal neuralgia | extreme blurred vision, extreme loss of coordination, extreme dizziness and sleepiness. I could sleep all day everyday. I look like a zombie, feel like im wasted drunk or badly stoned. no nausea (omg). i couldnt walk a straight line or cut my own food. could feel the drug come in and out. and barely remember the last week or conversations ive had with people, UNFUNCTIONAL | F | 27 | 10 days 200mg 2X day | 9/7/2010 | 3 | Temporal Lobe Epilepsy | I have not any issues with the Epilepsy since starting on Tegratol. Memory does seem worse than most people around me. Was diagnosed with osteoporosis a month ago despite being fit, healthy and active my whole life | Trying to get off the drug now so I can get my bones density back in order as a lot of recent research points to this being a side effect of the drug. | M | 40 | 20 years 200mg 2X day | 8/24/2010 | 1 | Bipolar I | Fortunately no weight gain. However, extremely lethargic and problems with memory. | Tegretol did nothing at all to help my depression, and I was put on it for that reason when I went into the hospital. However, my primary care psychiatrist said it is effective at controlling mania. I am currently tapering off of it. Lastly, this is just my own personal experience because I know that other people might react to it differently. | M | 25 | 3 months 600 MG 1X day | 8/14/2010 | 4 | M.S. electric shocks in brain | I experience dry mouth,vaigeness,hard to concerntrate. I would say it feels a little like beig stoned. my clarity of mine is a concern,although it has stopped the fire crackers in my head, the pain has stopped | M | 32 | 2 weeks 50 2X day | 7/8/2010 | 4 | trigeminal neuralgia | now after reading all of the other folk's side effects. i can definitely say, weight gain, sluggish, extreme tiredness, short ter memory loss, dry eyes, blurry vision. | I think I have had tn for about a 1 1/2 yrs. I thought at first that I was having dental issues, so after 2 root canals (I didnt need)and $3000 dollars of dental work and no relief my 3rd dentist referred me back to my pcp, who 1st started me on neurontin which didnt help at all! He then switched me to tegretol 200 mg that immediately took the pain away for about 4 dys, then I increased to 300 mg daily which also lasted about 4 dys, I now take 400 mg daily and that has taken the pain away completely for the last 30 dys. I am now experiencing dull pain but not as horrible as b4. I am hoping I wont have to increase to 500 mg as I am concerned about side effects. I am yet to c a specialist but hv an appt in July. I have now found a small skin rash but not sure if it is associated with the tegretol. I hv also noticed if I take my med every 4 hrs, 10am,2pm,6pm,10pm I hv no pain at all. I have tried diff time variations becuz my life as been consumed by this condition.I have alarms set 4 each dose. I have meds at home and I carry some with me as well. I hv missed a couple of doses and actually feel pain immediately???Odd. so I am really on track now as the pain is ridiculous. this is a terrible condition to have but am glad I am not alone! | F | 40 | 2 months 400 mg 1X day | 7/4/2010 | 5 | seizures | I have had no side effects with tegretol or the generic | good but had to be i ncreased to 200 3 times a day because of several breakthrough seizures | M | 55 | 20 years 200 2X day | 5/19/2010 | 3 | Simple Partial Seiz. left templobe | Extreme fatigue, my sharp memory is no longer so sharp, difficulty concentrating sometimes (can't multitask very well anymore). | My doctor laughs at my complaints of tiredness and says "well, unfortunately that is one of the side effects". Ha Ha...not so funny when after 10 hours sleep I still can pass out during the day for a nap any time or place I'd like. What my seizures are: First I feel a wave come over my body (an aura I guess), then I experience a feeling of deja vu, but it can be absolutely terrifying and afterwords I'm not sure if what I'm remembering during my episode really happened or not. I still can have episodes even though I'm on tegretol, but I no longer have the extreme fear during them. I would be open to other drugs if they worked, and my tiredness went away. | F | 30 | 2.5 years 200mg 4X day | 5/19/2010 | 3 | trigeminal neuralgia/neurapathy | I'm having severe memory loss, lethargic, confusion, and joint pain. As the responder below, I also had mascular decompression 4 yrs ago for TN. Unfortunately, it made the situation worse; I now have neurpathy as well. I have no idea what I would experience without the Tegretol but I know I'm still in a lot of pain and can longer work. I'm taking 400mg a day along with Baclofen and Zanaflex; Oxycodone and Xanax for severe attacks.I am also not the person I used to be. I can no longer entertain coz I cannot carry on a sensable conversation. My memory loss from this med is extreme, especially short term. | If I go off this medication, I would. I don't know what would happen if I did. It could actually be helping more than I know. It has the loss of memory side effect that I believe needs to be addressed with the manufacturer. | F | 49 | 2 years 400MG 2X day | 5/16/2010 | 4 | Epilepsy | drowsiness/lethargy, loss of libido, sun sensitivity, lowered sodium levels | I took this drug from the time I was 23 until I was 28. I was taken off due to my Dr. finding it was lowering my sodium levels. During the 5 years I was on it, I didn't have much trouble with it. I didn't have any grand mals, and I only had auras a few times a month. After a few months, the lethargy and drowsiness got better. I didn't like that I couldn't eat grapefruit for 5 years, and I had to take extra care to use sunscreen, but that was easier. I really didn't like that I pretty much lost my libido and all awareness of my monthly cycle. I felt numb, but I got used to that as well, sadly. After being changed to another drug, I got my libido back and felt more in touch with emotion, which has pros and cons, but as a creative writer, it's been tremendous overall. | F | 32 | 5 years 500MG 2X day | 4/28/2010 | 4 | trigeminal neuralgia | extreme tiredness, memory loss, vision, general feeling of being "stoned" WEIGHT GAIN | I had brain surgery for Arnold Ciari Malformation 4 yrs. ago and then developed TN, tried about 10 medicines including Tegretol until I had a vascular decompression for the TN 4/09. I know have permanent TN and have been put on a combination of carbatrol and carbmez. at the max dosage. I am not the person I used to be, but the pain is going away. I drive and work on this stuff and can't figure out how I do it. Sometimes I can't remember how I get places. | F | 45 | 2 months 400 3X day | 4/17/2010 | 1 | bipolar disorder | hair loss mood changes tremors | hate it | F | 58 | 6 weeks 200mg 3X day | 4/2/2010 |