After my insane migraines and ER visit last week - both my neuro and internal
Medicine doctor agreed to try tegretol.
This is HORRIBLE. I started with 100mgs 2x a day and increased to 200mgs 2x a day 5 days later. So it’s been a week and a half? I’m not sure I can’t think straight. I can’t even remember yesterday.
I am nauseas - confused. The best way to describe it is - like I drank 4 bottles of wine. I can’t drive. I’m very uncomfortable and my ATN still hurts. I felt better on lyrica. I’m waiting for my doctor to call me back with how to get me off of this and another answer.
Hi Amy - So sorry you are struggling with this med and the pain. I had that very drunk feeling while taking Trileptal when my dose increased. It was actually worse than that, more like on some kind of strong psychedellic drugs. I had episodes like that that came and went and made it difficult to plan to drive anywhere, pick up the kids, etc. I then got a new neurologist who switched me to Tegretol but the extended release version (Tegretol XR or actually the generic version of that). I still have the exhausted, bad memory, lose my words symptoms but no longer have the drugged out feeling. He explained that the XR version didn't dump the drug in my system so it eases some of the side effects like that. I've actually had pretty good pain control with this drug but about every 3 weeks or so I have to increase the dose. I'm now on 1200mg/day and it's been 4 weeks and so far so good. I still can't stand the exhausted, word loss side effects though and feel like I'm living half my life so I've opted to have an MVD which I will have done in 5 weeks.
Do give all the meds some time to build up in your system and work. Ask your doctor about the extended release version before you give up on this drug. Please know that it WILL get better. Hugs to you!
If Lamictal was better I guess you have your answer. If it was not reducing the pain why not ask for an alternative. One thought, Te made me very sick, then I stuck it out and it managed the pain very well. But it was a swine to acclimate to.
It takes times to adjust to the side effects of Tegratol and for me, it took three weeks to get the right dosage and for it to actually WORK. Please hang in there. In the meantime, get an ice pack and a compound cream of capsaicin and lidocaine or a lidoderm patch for breakthrough pain/