[yoginiforhelp]

hi.
Just recently begun taking tegretol for BPII and wanted to see if anyone on here has any stories/experiences to share re: this med..

thanks

[yoginiforhelp]

ok...i guess no one is/ever been on tegretol...? no insight or experience recollection..?

[yoginiforhelp]

wow. seriously no one has any stories to relate re: tegretol? come on..

[VickiesPath]

Originally Posted by yoginiforhelp

wow. seriously no one has any stories to relate re: tegretol? come on..

Sorry, have been busy popping in and out, and didn't see your post.

I was put on Tegretol while IP in May. The reason was it is one of the few mood stabilizers that do not generally cause weight gain. It is also one that has been used for a while.

I had been taking it for 12 days and I felt good. (Had gone into hospital on Depakote ER and we changed it.) The day I was to be discharged, they did a lab and it came back with my blood sodium level low. The pdoc who was treating me was really disappointed. She had an excellent reputation and said she's been practicing for around 30 years and I was only the 3rd patient who she'd ever seen have that reaction. Who knows if that was true or she was just trying to express her disappointment. Blood sodium is critical, it can cause heart failure if going too low. Mine wasn't that low yet, but it meant we had to switch. My insurance company was pressuring her to dc me so she had no choice but to put me back on Depakote.

Once out of the hospital, I returned to my maintenance pdoc. He's very weird.....sorry, but he is and I don't like him much. Anyway, he told me that Tegretol is a "dirty" drug. I asked him what he meant and he told me something I really didn't understand but if I recall, it sounded something like "turning back on itself". I came away from the conversation feeling like he said it was generally an unstable and/or unreliable drug and doctors tend to shy away from it.

But I don't like him and I would take what he said with a grain of salt, if you know what I mean. I've had lots of doctors over 24 years and my gut instinct tells me he's weird.

Trust what your pdoc tells you and educate yourself on the internet sites that talk about the drug. Wish I could be of more help.

[yoginiforhelp]

thanks so much for responding vickie! it's a bit of a relief that at least someone else has been on it and tried it - and aside from the unfortunate blood sodium levels you had, it sounds like a drug you may have stayed on yes..?

yea your maintenance pdoc at that time sounds like his reasoning for shunning tegretol is a bit strange on not so authenticated..? hmm. i don't know. yea my pdoc seemed pretty confident about it - i tried out lithium at first and it completely freaked me out because of the weight gain and tremor side affects and i took myself off it before i was even able to get back into my pdoc (very bad i know ) ..so far tegretol has been all right. i'm still waiting to titrate up to the full dosage doc's got me on, and for it to fully take affect. but, today and tonight, anyway - i feel more stable than i have in a days ..i'm hoping it'll work out for me. time will tell.

anyway - thanks again so much for responding!!

be well

[VickiesPath]

My pleasure and I do hope it works for you.