Thank you Cathy, no I am not taking other meds. In fact I’m done, is this the way TN doctors treat you. And yes he said if I don’t follow the proctol go somewhere else. He believes once I get to 800 then I’ll be pain free. Sure lets kill me first. He’s not even a neuro but a oral surgeon who removed my bad tooth. My DH finally after seeing me the other night finally agrees.
Please see a different doctor. The titration schedule he has you on is way too fast. Also, he should have tested your baseline blood work and then monitored for complete blood counts, liver function, and drug levels.
Oral surgeons are poorly equipped to manage something like this. They are trained to do surgery and manage acute pain, but most don’t know heads or tails about chronic neuropathic pain. Find a neurologist, or alternatively, an orofacial pain specialist, such as an oral medicine specialist.
"The reactions which have been most commonly reported with carbamazepine are CNS disturbances (e.g., drowsiness, headache, unsteadiness on the feet, diplopia, dizziness), gastrointestinal disturbances (nausea, vomiting), and allergic skin reactions. These reactions usually occur only during the initial phase of therapy, if the initial dose is too high, or when treating elderly patients. They have rarely necessitated discontinuing carbamazepine therapy and can be minimized by initiating treatment at a low dosage.
The occurrence of CNS adverse reactions may be a manifestation of relative overdosage or significant fluctuation in plasma levels. In such cases it is advisable to monitor the plasma levels.
The more serious adverse reactions observed are the hematologic, hepatic, cardiovascular and dermatologic reactions, which require discontinuation of therapy."
This is from the Tegretol monograph
I have been on that but it made my mind feel crazy and couldn't think and focus it helped with the pain but I couldn't handle the side effects and the higher the dose they gaVE ME THE WORSE IT GOT one day I was in the middle of driving and forgot how to drive but the doctors said that they didn't understand that it doesn't have that side effect how do they know the different effects they don't have to take it sometimes I wish they could just go through this pain for a week and see how we feel so maybe they would take it serious and find something that works for it
That is some jump from 300 mg, did you report a lot of pain to your Dr?
One thing is certain, take the meds with food… Try to take 200 mg 3x a day… I take 200 mg but feel I need more, I am trying to stay at 200mg so I deal with a little facial vibrations in the morning. There are no two cases alike… Best of luck to you and stay positive… john R
Tegretol was the only medication that helped me... later, you will be able to adjust the dose as the need arises and know when the pain has gone... but in the beginning, 'go with the flow' and deal with the side effects, which can be many. Your body will deal with some of them in time and they will not worry you.. Do not be hard on yourself, take things very easy, until you have control of the pain... sending big hugs... Gail Patricia
You definately need to see a Neurologist ..... who has experience dealing with TN... checkout recommended doctors on this site, that is how found mine and she is wonderful...
Maybe you can cut back to 200 mg , ease the side effects a bit and be able to cope with the TN about the same… Here is what I tried, I tried 100 in the am, and 100 in the pm, but the TN pain was bad… I then tried 200 mg in the AM, felt much better and had no need for more in the evening. You need to fine tune the drugs and experiment. john r…
I found less side effects if I took part of my dose with breakfast and part with lunch, then again before bed
a few years back i was put on lyrica and i could not take it ... it made me soooo dizzy that i was not able to walk ... i tried the gamma knife and that did not work so i went back to the gabapentin along with a cocktail of drugs ... it was working until last fall ... i started having break through pain ... i asked my neuro if i could start back on the lyrica but at a very low dose and build up the *strength ... that is what we are trying and i am not having the bad side effects ... maybe you can try that ??? start really low and build up
My neurologist just gave me tegretol chewable to start taking every other day at 50 mg and work up …what ate the dide of effects of tegretol and does it help