So I apologize for asking you all a million and one questions...again very new to all this and the medication and I feel like I am losing my mind. I am taking 800mg of Tegertol daily....and at first it made me completely wasted like I was drunk or something. As days passed that stuff got better but the extreme drowsiness and the fact that I cannot remember didly squat and cannot even always finish my own sentences, and cannot concentrate at all seems to be steady and is some days worse. Is this normal for this medication? Will it improve as I adjust to it???
We did try and back off the dose and the attacks resumed and felt like they came back with a vengeance. I do not take the ER ones. My meds come thru the VA so copay is $3/month. Thank you for your input about this med. I feel like Im going crazy :(
Hi Maudie, I’ve been on tegretol CR ( slow release) for 4 years now since my TN returned.
At 800mg a day I never noticed the word retrieval problems or memory loss issues. Between1200mg and 1600 mg I deal with this, I’m currently on 1200mg. It’s super frustrating.
Now I just use a kind if charades type question to my family and friends to find the words…
Me:"What do you call it when you drink a slurpee too fast?"
Daughter:"Brain freeze mom."
Me “Oh ya.”
I hate it but I have no choice. I’m a big reader, I do brain teasers all too exercise my mind but its just something I’ve learned to somewhat accept…I say somewhat, because I do feel stupid sometimes and frustrated.
The drowsiness only affects me the first few days of an increase in dosage then it gradually disappears.
I hope it does for you too, if the side effects aren’t do-able for you,You can always ask your doctor to try a different med? If you’re getting good pain relief though its a hard decision.
(( hugs )) Mimi
LOL I am on a low dose and have noticed this...have started to ask a question and forgotten it mid-sentence...yikes! I will prob. be catatonic at 1200 mg.... better than pain....
I was a zombie at 600 mg of the cousin med… I got lidocaine cream from doc…put on face…could / can take less meds.
Yep...i take 1200mg per day and yeah, my mental functions are a mess. I often can't finish sentences or lose words mid sentence or am completely unable to remember what things are called. I've had to use those memory mind tricks to remember stuff. Like how you associate one thing with another thing and associate that thing with the thing you're trying to remember...lol i also have a very short attention span now...i can't stay focused or engaged as long as i used to.
Even so, it's much better now that when i first started on it. At first, it was the best drunk i'd ever had! lol Now, i'm just retarded.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, eh?
~Mistee
I FELT THE SAME WAY
I was the same on Tegretol. I was on 800 mg for 6 months and the fog/memory loss never went away so I switched to Trileptal. I was on 1800 mg of that. I wasn't quite as foggy with that but still suffered memory loss. It was embarassing at work! I had an MVD on 7/11 and am now on 900 mg of Trileptal. I'm hoping to go down to a lower dose or completely off of it yet but still have a few TN 2 symptoms so I can't yet. This has defnitely helped with my memory loss but now I have to wait to have experiences that I can remember so I can see if I remember them - HA!
I noticed I took a very long time to get used to changes in my meds too so be patient. It took me several months to get used to Trileptal when I switched. Everyone is different so keep working with your doctor to find something that works for you and be patient!