TRILEPTAL Reviews (OXCARBAZEPINE)Average Rating: 3.1 (368 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare TRILEPTAL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on TRILEPTAL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR TRILEPTAL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | complex partial seizures/ epilepsy | Stumbling, dizziness, somnolence, double vision, blurred vision, very foggy to brain dead, could not be left alone, markedly impaired decision making, irritable, inability to process what others were saying, blanking out. | My partner is normally a high-functioning oncology nurse and has been out of work now for over six months due to increasing frequency of seizures. I think it's too early to determine if the med helps with her seizures but unless it stops them completely, we are not going to be able to tolerate this drug. It has made her a blubbering idiot and she is simply not the same person I have known and loved for the past 8 years. She is not safe to be left at home alone due to the disabling side effects. Doctors say to keep taking it and have even increased the dosage, telling us the side effects would diminish over time. I know there are many more options but the Docs seem resistant to change. | F | 38 | 2 weeks 600 2X day | 3/22/2010 | 1 | Anxiety, Bipolar II | This drug has been a horror for my wife. She has had her face swell up, trouble breathing, trouble walking, and trouble with her memory. We were advised to reduce her medication by 150mg every three days, but once we reached below 300mg, she started to have tremors. We increased the doses until they stopped, but now she's waking up in the middle of the night with convulsions. I've had to up the dose back to 600mg so she doesn't suffer any permanent damage, and we will talk to her doctor this morning. ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE HOPE THE TREMORS AND CONVULSIONS ARE NOT PERMANENT. | Think twice before taking this, my wife's convulsions and tremors are really frightening. She's taking this for Bipolar Disorder not for epilepsy. We hope to god these effects aren't lasting or permanent. No one seems to have an answer as to whether they are or not. I've even called Novartis, but they weren't much help. | M | 40 | 4 months 300 3X day | 2/6/2010 | 4 | Seizures | Waking through the night (often screaming/crying), irritability, emotionally unstable, cough, ear infections, stomach aches, confusion | This has been an excellent seizure prevention as my daughter has not had any seizures in 10 months (and counting) although starting up the medicine was creating all these horrible side effects. Also we have recently been put on the generic version, oxcarbazepine, she has been having these side effects again. I hope they stop soon. | F | 2 | 10 months | 1/27/2010 | 1 | facial pain | irritability, anxiousness | Has not helped one bit. | F | 55 | 5 weeks | 1/6/2010 | 4 | Bipolar | memory is getting worse and worse - i've been on 300mg 2x day for 4 1/2 years now. Looking for alternative as my memory loss is really starting to concern me. | no real side effects to complain about. when i first started the drug i was inpatient and therefore the dose was monitored and delivered properly. it did make be sleepy but not it's just a part of my daily routine. i am worried about stopping the medication. | F | 44 | 4.5 years | 1/5/2010 | 1 | Possible bipolar | This drug was a living nightmare for me. Just a few days into it at 150 mg, I sank into a state of constant agony, despair, being unable to eat (did not eat for 7 days), just lying on the couch moaning, crying, calling my Mom, and wanting to kill myself. I started smoking a pack a day just so I could feel like I was breathing. I slept off and on during the day and woke up weeping in terror at night. I was deteriorating so fast I thought I would have to enter a hospital. The doc thought it was just my depression and upped the dose to 200mg. Then I started being unable to speak, find words, or talk on the phone. I was asking my Mom to move here to live with me and take care of me because I thought I was going to lose my house and car by not being able to work. That's when I decided to stop the Trileptal. Within 24 hours I was functioning again. I woke up, took a shower, made food, and felt like myself. I called the friends who were taking care of me and told them I was better. We cannot | F | 33 | 28 days | 12/29/2009 | 3 | seizures | hair loss, extreme fatigue, memory loss | Trileptal helped decrease the frequency of the seizures, but they did not go away completely. | F | 33 | 14 months | 12/18/2009 | 1 | Severe depression | Slight loss of feeling in hands, felt like my hands were huge when there was no change at all... it was like I lost track of the boundaries of my hands. My vision became worse and somewhat doubled at distances up to 20 feet. My emotions were limited to a zombie-like state of despair. I couldn't laugh, couldn't feel joy... The worst was that I couldn't sleep. I would wake up three hours after falling asleep, usually at 1:30AM every night. | This is by far the worst medication I have ever taken. This actually caused me to become more depressed, and the time that I have taken it has left some emotional scarring. I still get chills at the thought of what life was like during the few weeks I took this medication. I was put on this medicine to stabilize my mood spectrum, but instead it seemed to get me stuck in a zombie-like state, barely alive. It was torture not being able to feel. The feeling of your hands being bigger than they are scared me to death, it was weird and almost supernatural. Don't take this drug for depression, it's not worth the trouble... | F | 19 | 3 weeks | 12/4/2009 | 1 | bipolar 2 | Suicidal depression. I cried all day every day for days at a time. Hell on earth, and that's no joke. | My doctor didn't believe me when I told him the drug was making me worse...far worse off than I had ever been before. If you think this drug is making you worse, insist that your doctor take you off of it immediately. I'm thankful I survived without needing to be hospitalized. | F | 32 | 3 months | 11/19/2009 | 3 | Epilepsy | Acne, I feel like being drunk one hour after I take it, my lips are dry all the time, auras, memory loss. | It stopped my epilepsy episodes. I started taking it 450mg per day 4 years ago and I haven't had any seizures since then. But its side effects are countless. Personally, the most disturbing one is memory loss. I used to remember all the people I met, now I don't. But when I take it I relax inmediatly. | F | 21 | 4 years | 11/15/2009 | 1 | Chronic daily migraines | Extreme nausea and vomiting, bad dreams, worsening of headaches, depression. | This was the worst drug I have ever taken. I was in the ER 3 times in one week due to excessive vomiting and horrible migraines. I started to have vivid nightmares, when I was actually able to sleep. I am a grad student and I couldn't function for the entire time I took it. | F | 29 | 2 weeks | 11/3/2009 | 1 | Bipolar Manic Insomnia | Vomited for the two days I was on it. | Would not recommend this drug to anyone. If they are lucky enough not to get the severe nausea, that's a different story. | F | 55 | 2 days | 10/30/2009 | 4 | Partial Complex Seizures | Drowsiness, headache, fatigue, trouble concentrating, mental slowness (trouble remembering what I just read or heard, losing my train of thought), depression, anxiety. All of these are most likely dose related. | I switched to Trileptal in High School from Tegretol. All I remember was having awful concentration and I would have to nap for 1 1/2 hours after school each day so I could function in the evening. I was still social but probably somewhat depressed due to the drug and the epilepsy. I was seizure free for 4 years (that includes 2 years on Tegretol and 2 years on Trileptal). My dose was increased and although I was still living a happy life, the same side effects were bothersome. I was seizure free for 7 1/2 years and recently had a breakthrough seizure. I remember that each time my doctor increase the dose, the depression, concentration issues, mental fog, irritability increased. I was still living a functional and productive life. I graduated college top of my class and am about to finish grad school in several weeks. After my most recent seizure my doctor increased my dose and now I am taking 1950mg/day. Since this last seizure several months ago I have not felt like myself. I feel like a zombie, have even worse concentration, have no motivation, am depressed, have constant headaches, anxiety, etc. My doctor put me on lexapro but that hasn't helped at all. Although Trileptal has been extremely successful in controlling my seizures, I do not think I am tolerating this dose and plan to switch to Lamictal. This was my own personal experience with the drug and do not let this affect your decision to take the drug. Everyone tolerates to the same drug differently. | M | 25 | 9 years | 10/29/2009 | 1 | Bi-Polar II | Extreme dizziness, extreme confusion, swelling and pain in feet, rapid heart-beat, tiredness, irritability | I was so dizzy that I fell in the bathroom, and would have to hold on to sides of shower so that I wouldn't fall again. Very confused while driving, so had to limit driving. Slept 10-12 hours a day. This medication can be VERY dangerous. Brain swelling, stroke, even death. My dr disregarded my symptoms and insisted that I keep taking it until I was "adjusted". Almost ended up going to ER from the side-effects. | F | 54 | 3 weeks | 10/22/2009 | 3 | bipolar | extreme eczema, went away after stopped drug, started again when started retaking med | might help my son's mood stability a little other mood stabilizers did not help at all. It taken with fish oil eczema is tolerable for him | M | 11 | 2 years | 10/17/2009 | 3 | Tonic Clonic Partial Seizures | Brain fog, memory loss, inability to find the "right" word, slight weight gain, ianability to walk after taking caffeine | I switched from Zarontin due to the weight gain. At first this medication released weight and it has controlled seizures. I have been seizure free for 4 years, but when I find that I am low on sleep the side effects increase. I have brought up to my neurologist for the past two years my memory loss and constant brain fog. I will be discussing a medication change next month | F | 51 | 9 years | 10/1/2009 | 4 | seizures | My son has been on this drug for 8 years,worked great until recently, but did cause weight gain. Recently he had to have the dosage increased due to seizure activity which had been nil for a long time. Now. he is having mood problems, quick to anger, depressed and recently some nightmares. The weight gain is terrible, he says he is always hungry and is unhappy about his size. His seizures are due to a schizencephaly. | M | 10 | 8 years | 9/5/2009 | 2 | BIPOLAR I | First day I took 600 mg. at 8 p.m. I got sleepy at 10 p.m. By 2:00 a.m., I was up with a splitting headache, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound--awful. I also had horrifying dreams and a major head rush. The nausea and spins, along with cold sweats lasted until the next day (today). I'm also on 20 mg of celexa. My doc says I should stay on it, but try 150 tonight. So far, I am NOT impressed. But I'll stick with it and repost in 3 days when the side effects are supposed to be gone. | It's not fair for me to rate it based upon less than 24 hours of use. | F | 48 | 1 days | 9/1/2009 | 5 | Bipolar 1 very very rapid cycler | None | I take 2400mg a day..600 when I wake up, 600 at 4pm and 1200mg at bedtime. I am in the mist of weaning off of 600mgs of seroquel, it is taking me over 2 1/2 months to do so after being on it for 6years. Fingers crossed that I don't go manic. I hope that Trilepal continues to work by itself. | F | 52 | 6 years | 8/22/2009 | 1 | Bipolar I | Itching, hives, swelling of the throat | WARNING - Trileptal, Lamictal, and Tegretol are all in the same category of anti-seizure medications. If you get a rash while taking one, you are very likely to get it on the other two as well. Trileptal caused my throat to swell and close. I almost died! Do not "tolerate" the itching as other people have said on here unless you are under a doctor's supervision. | F | 28 | 20 days | 7/31/2009 |