[Leia78]

Hey y'all.

I just started carbamazepine, otherwise known as Equetro. I'm trying to soak up all the information about it that I can. Is anyone else taking this? What's your experience with it. Good, Bad.. .ugly... GO!

[Soupe du jour]

Originally Posted by Leia78

Hey y'all.

I just started carbamazepine, otherwise known as Equetro. I'm trying to soak up all the information about it that I can. Is anyone else taking this? What's your experience with it. Good, Bad.. .ugly... GO!

Hi Leia. Yes, I have been taking carbamazepine ER (extended release version) for a little over 9 years now. My doctor gradually titrated me up to 1,400 mg, which was a very high dose. During the titration, I did experience some adjustment side effects, including a little dazed feeling (temporarily) and then bouts of blurred and double vision. However, as I adjusted to the medication, those side effects eased. I do believe carbamazepine did make me a bit clumsy, though. I complained about that for most of the years I have been on it. It didn't seem that big of a deal, though.

Maybe 6 years into taking 1,400 mg, the double vision returned. My psychiatrist then lowered my dose a little to 1,200 mg. That got rid of the double vision. I stayed at 1,200 mg for about three years. Then, this past October, my psychiatrist halved my dose to only 600 mg/per day for a couple reasons. One, my clumsiness seemed to become more significant. I was falling down stairs a lot, and that worried my psychiatrist. The second reason was because my psychiatrist wanted my Seroquel XR (quetiapine ER) to be even more effective. You see, carbamazepine can often have a drug interaction with Seroquel (quetiapine), which might increase the blood levels of carbamazepine, but decrease the blood levels of Seroquel (quetiapine). I was starting to get hypomanic a lot of the time, but my Seroquel XR dose was best not to be raised, but rather made more effective at the same dose.

To comment directly on the efficacy of carbamazepine ER for me, I do think it was somewhat helpful at curbing my mania, but its greatest benefit was stopping musical hallucinations, and other odd neurological "happenings" I experienced. Luckily, I have not had a re-emergence of them since going down to 600 mg. My hypomania/mania has been controlled better with the increased efficacy of Seroquel XR (quetiapine ER).

I do think my clumsiness has eased since the lowering of my carbamazepine. Especially balance-related clumsiness. However, when my mood is elevated, I do tend to still accidentally injure myself, occasionally. For example, my mood has been a bit elevated because of stress. The other day I somehow managed to create an almost 8 inch long deep scratch on my back when violently twisting my bra around my body. When hypomanic/manic, I feel less pain from injuries than I usually might. I have a pretty high pain threshold, as it is, and always have. I am not sure if carbamazepine adds to that. I have read that it might.