Not good

[kara_leigh]

B/c I had a tonic clonic my dr wanted me to increase my pm dose of Tegretol from one pill to two. I did so last night right before I went to bed. Well, I get up this morning and I can barely walk, have a hard time picking stuff up b/c I can barely see straight, etc. WAY worse than it was when I first started taking this stuff. I can barely walk, let alone DRIVE to work. I work in a daycare center with babies, and the way I am I don't trust myself to safely work around them. I feel like I'm blasted drunk! I had to call into work again this morning, 1/2 an hour before I was supposed to be there. Hopefully I don't get fired. I'm going to take it earlier tonight than I did last night, but here I am 12 hours since I last took it and I still feel this way. I cannot afford to not got to work until my body adjusts to this dosage. What do I do?? This med works so well for my PC seizures that I don't want to request a different med. Any suggestions??

[epileric]

I've been on tegretol for years & I"m used to most of the side-effects but every now & then I get exactly what you described.

Something I've noticed is that it's when I take my medication & not eat soon enough that I'm more likely to get those symptoms.

Tegretol can be hard on your stomach so make sure you have something to eat before taking it anyway. I've gotten in the habit of taking it with milk and/or a cracker or 2 and margarine before bed.

[ddr1166]

Maybe talk to your doc about gradually increasing the dosage? Whatever you do, I would contact him and ask him. I think for some of these meds, it takes the body a bit to adjust (from what I've learned). Like take 1 and 1/3 one week, 1 and 1/2 the next, then two? But always check with the doc first. Good luck!

[Endless]

Hi, Kara,

I'm on Trileptal and Lamictal, and I feel like you do. Except I feel more high than drunk. I keep telling myself that there are millions of twenty-somethings that would pay perfectly good money to feel this way. But that doesn't make it much better for me.

Is it possible for your neurologist to increase your dosage more slowly? Sometimes that helps. I know this sounds crazy, but if coffee isn't a seizure trigger for you, try a cup. It speeds up my brain and makes things a little better. I don't like to do it on a regular basis, but when there's something I HAVE to do I'll use this as a crutch to get me through it. Like shopping for a few hours with my neices today for their first apartment. I had a simple partial, all-afternoon aura, and it felt like a complex partial was on its way. I was also beyond exhausted, and also felt like I should be playing pink floyd music in the background (high from the trileptal). Anyway, a cup of coffee helped some until I crashed and fell asleep a few hours later.

Do try ramping up slower. Split pills if you have to. Also, is it possible to take that extra pill in the evening after you get off work, or in the late afternoon? (Well before bedtime?) That would give it more time to wear off before you go to work the next morning.

[epileric]

You also might want to try the slow release tegretol if you're not already.

That's the Tegretol CR in Canada, Tegretol XR in the US & Tegretol Retard in the UK.

[kara_leigh]

I've been on tegretol for years & I"m used to most of the side-effects but every now & then I get exactly what you described.

Something I've noticed is that it's when I take my medication & not eat soon enough that I'm more likely to get those symptoms.

Tegretol can be hard on your stomach so make sure you have something to eat before taking it anyway. I've gotten in the habit of taking it with milk and/or a cracker or 2 and margarine before bed.

I take my regular dose (1 pill) on an empty stomach every morning, and I don't get any side effects anymore, so I don't think it would be that bothering me...plus I had dinner last night and ate a snack before I took it.

I think I'm going to try ramping up instead of going straight to two pills. I'm also going to try taking it sooner than I did last night. I just can't do that anymore...my boss is more than a little ticked off at me for calling in two days in a row.

[epileric]

Ramping up sounds good. Do be careful taking it on an empty stomach. For decades I took it on an empty stomach hoping more of it would be absorbed until it was suggested by my pharmacist (and later other references) never to take it that way. I now have frequent heartburn but in all honesty I don't know if it was the Tegretol or not though I do wonder.

How should you take Tegretol?

This medication should only be taken with meals, never on an empty stomach.

http://www.healthyplace.com/other-in...n/menu-id-122/

[kara_leigh]

See, my other medications (for Addison's Disease) are supposed to be taken with food also, but I take them right before I leave for work otherwise I forget to take them, and I have absolutely ZERO appetite that early. Plus if I eat anything before about 10am I can never make it to lunch time (my break is around 1:30) without my blood sugar crashing and about passing out. I kind of have to choose the lesser of the two evils, I guess.

[epileric]

Interestingly enough I felt my side-effects this morn-not fun. My first assumption was that it was because I waited too long to have brunch. I still went out & did what I was going to do, being active helped a bit but what I realized was that today & last night were very hot & I was extremely thirsty. I couldn't help but wonder if dehydration would have something to do with how or how much of our medication is absorbed.