I am weaning myself off Tegratol right now. I have chronic headaches, for the last two weeks I have had a headache every single day that lasts almost all day. Nothing relieves the pain, and the headaches are pretty severe and debilitating. Thing is I never got headaches untill I started med treatment for bipolar. I've had cat scans, cerebral angiogram, and no answers for the headaches. My opthamologist suggested lithium might be the culprit a few years ago. And really I am sick of the headaches, and they effect my mood a lot.

I'm stopping the Tegratol as I don't think it really does much of anything for me. I've been on anticonvulsants lots in the past and the have never really helped. I'm still on lithium, which I suspect is the real source of the headaches. That is the first drug I started with and have always been on. So it might seem backwards off be going of the Tegratol first. I do want to get to a med free place and clear my system and see what happens physically, because physically I am a mess. But I'm scared to go off lithium first.

I do not have my pdocs approval, so I'm going to be clear about that. And I don't plan on going off lithium quickly either. I do understand that if I start to slide I will go back on my meds. I have talked to my bf and sister about watching my behavior and letting me know if I seem off.

I'm just new at weaning, I've gone off meds many many times but have never weaned off without guidance from a pdoc. My pdoc is happy with me on a LOT of meds, we don't exactly see eye to eye, but I am upfront with him. In the past I have just abruptly stopped taking them. Obviously that never ended well. But I feel stronger and mentally in a good place. I think Im ready to give it a go. I'm still trying to figure out how slow to go off Tegratol, I'm taking 200 mg a day right now. Would 2 weeks sound to fast? I'm really not sure, when it comes to anticonvulsants.