Carbatrol Issues? Bruising.... high liver enzymes?

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momof3boys

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Hello Everyone! Its been forever since Ive been here! My life has been keeping me very busy!

Just wanted to say hi and see how things were going for everyone! :)

I also wanted to ask a question if anyone who's been on Carbatrol or Tegretol can relate to what Im experiencing.

I found out a couple of weeks ago that my liver enzymes were elevated. I was seen by a dr who did some blood tests, and I saw him a few days ago. He recommended I get off the Carbatrol. Ive been on the Carbatrol now since March, and had my levels checked in April which came back fine. But since August, Ive been having some issues. I chalked it up to stress, since Ive had a boat load of stress since then. I lost weight, dont sleep that good... been having upper right area pain, between the bottom of my breast bone area down to my belly button area... and then it goes to the right side. I was admited to the hospital August 24 and they ran tests. Did a CT, Xrays, Endoscopy, etc. The only thing they saw was from the blood tests that my liver enzymes were elevated. So I did a follow up with my primary care dr a week later, she did more blood work to recheck the liver enzymes and they had gone up since the hospital stay. So thats when I heard back from the Gastro Dr who I went to see on the 10th of this month. He said the Carbatrol is something he wants me to get off for 3 months, come back after then to get more blood work done, and see where my liver enzymes are at. Also, he said I needed to get the Hepititus A and B vaccines. I wasnt given those a child, so he is wanting to get those done. I got my first vaccine on the 10th, then i go back in a month, and then four months after then for my final vaccine.

Ive been noticing I have alot of bruises on my arms and legs. I did leave a message with my dr (neuro) to ask about this since Ive been noticing more and more over the last week that they are popping up. As of Tuesday, I was told to wean off the Carbatrol, and instead of taking two 200mg tablets a day, to go down to one 200mg tablet a day for two weeks and then I no longer take it.

The weird part is that I was on Carbatrol since the age of 18 up to the age of 29, and was then taken off because the dr didnt see me have large seizures, so put me to only one anti seizure medication. But in that time period of being on it for then, I had no issues like this. Im trying to figure out if its normal to be on it for 11 years prior with no problems, and get taken off, and to be put back on, then problems come about?

I didnt know if anyone here had anything similar like this happen?
 
Hey Kristin, nice to see you back! Sorry to hear about your recent stresses and the Carbatrol issues. I haven't been on the med myself, so no specific history with it to offer.

There may be a few reasons why the Carbatrol is problematic now even though it wasn't in the past:
1. Your metabolism has changed (due to age, stress, etc.), so it's not metabolizing the med as well. Stress can cause elevated liver enzymes.
and/or:
2. The liver and other health issues aren't being directly caused by the Carbatrol, but it may be making them worse.

Do you have any other signs of liver damage, like itchy skin and hair loss? Bruising can be related to liver stuff too, though it might have been exacerbated by your recent Hepatitis vaccine.
 
Ive just been under a huge amount of stress since the start of August. The pain i was having in my middle and right abdominal areas started around the 20th or so of August. It just got so worse that by the 22nd I was taken into the hospital to do tests and those came back ok. Then two days later, I couldnt take it no more... went back and thats when they did another ct but this time in a different area and found out by that and blood work that my liver enzymes were elevated. I dont have any itchy skin. Ive been having some hair loss for years now, since being put back on the birth control pill for hormone issues. But havnt had any pain since the middle of august. I did have the first vaccine for Hepatitis on Tuesday, the 10th. I noticed the bruising on thursday when i could see more come about on my legs. as of now, I have another week til I get completely off the Carbatrol. I did get ahold of my neuro, but havnt heard back on if the bruising is a concern at this point... the nurse just said since I am weaning myself off the Carbatrol, so see how it goes til I get completely off.
 
sounds like they should be checking your liver stats fairly frequently at this point. I hope you can find ways to make the stressful stuff go away.
 
Nice to hear from you Kristen.
Sounds like the meds are messing things up for you...and your body is trying to tell you in certain ways.Like for me it was the Dilanitin levels were much too high and I had thought that it was arthritice but too much Dilantin...Hugz and hope you can find out soon..
 
Thank you everyone. I have til Tuesday, so four more days left on the Carbatrol til Im off of it. The GI dr, wants me off the medication for at least three months, and then I go back in to check my levels on the liver enzymes to see if they got better. Im praying that is is the Carbatrol vs something else! But for now, Im trying to take things one day and a time. :)
 
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