Hi

[TheresaA]

Hi TheresaA and Welcome. I"ve been on Tegretol since I was about 15 or 16 years old (I'm now 50). I've been on all the drugs used for partial seizures & tegretol has not only worked the best (though still not very good) but has the least side-effects for me.

The whole problem is that all anti-epileptic medications effect people differently in how well they work & their side-effects so you really won't know how one effects you until you try it, no matter how it effects someone else you know.

What kinds of side effects have you noticed from Tegretol? I had one doctor who wanted me to switch to that, but there was a girl at work who was using it & who had NO life in her, the girl who was like a zombie & I was afraid that Tegretol made ALL people like that! Either she really was like that or her doctor needed to lower her dosage!

[epileric]

What kinds of side effects have you noticed from Tegretol? I had one doctor who wanted me to switch to that, but there was a girl at work who was using it & who had NO life in her, the girl who was like a zombie & I was afraid that Tegretol made ALL people like that! Either she really was like that or her doctor needed to lower her dosage!

It's kind of hard to say because when I started it I was also on 2 other anti-epileptic drugs at the same time that had much worse side-effects. Also, I've been on it so long that most things (like my bad memory) I have just accepted as being a part of who I am.

Having said that, the things I think are likely to be side-effects are my bad memory, me getting over-emotional over very small things. I think this is a side-effect because it's not a constant issue with me and other times I'm very cool. I do find it hard to concentrate sometimes. I know if I"m tired and trying to read a book I'll realise that my mind had been wandering for the last paragraph or 2 so I'll need to re-read that bit. It can be a bit frustrating & I've wondered how it's effected my self-perception but at this point I don't really see a choice.

Despite all these issues I've found that tegretol has had the mildest side-effects than any other anti-epileptic drug I've tried.