Has anyone switched from Tegretol XR to Carbamazepine XR?

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

Messages
444
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I pay $80 in co-pays for Tegretol XR but it would only cost $15 to get the Carbamazepine XR. Is it safe to go from brand to generic?
 
I've gone back and forth and as far as I know, no changes/differences. But everyone is different or reacts differently. Just curious, how much are you on per day? I was on 300 mg twice a day and was just increased to 400 twice a day after a visit to the ER. I'm glad because I've read in a few books that the average dose is 800-1200 mg per day. Hoping this will change everything, we'll see...
 
i havnt been on generic before, I was on the name brand, Carbatrol ER. My dr said he felt more comfortable letting me stay on the brand name, and not chance it with increasing my risk of having seizures with the generic. I was taken off of the Carbatrol ER in March 2011 after having lots of simple partial seizures, and put on Keppra XR. I was taking 1200mgs a day, (600mgs AM, 600mgs PM).
 
I have switched from regular release tegretol to generic carbamazepine with little effects. The carb that I take is from the Taro laboratories and do fairly good. However I have taken different brands of generic and felt different feelings out of them so I do prefer the Taro labs the best. I am now in the process of talking to m y dr about the XR version cause I have a tendency to miss my middle of the day dose. Has anyone had any trouble changing from regular to xr??
 
I pay $80 in co-pays for Tegretol XR but it would only cost $15 to get the Carbamazepine XR. Is it safe to go from brand to generic?

I was on Carbatrol XR for 6 years before making the switch to Carbamezepine XR, and it's worked fine for me until lately. I'm making the switch to generic Keppra XR.
 
I was on Carbatrol XR for 6 years before making the switch to Carbamezepine XR, and it's worked fine for me until lately. I'm making the switch to generic Keppra XR.

I use to take Carbatrol XR. It worked great with Keppra XR for me. I recently just tried the generic Keppra xr, but it didnt work for me. But Im hoping it works for you! :)
 
I've been on both medications. The XR was efective, buy Yes expensive. And I was on 500mg. I was on Tegretol a long while back and it wasn't nearly as effective as I had hoped for.

Like VegasGal said, though. I have never had great success with any med. It's just my seizures. But if I had to vote for either med I'd say the XR.

I'm currently taking Zonegran (500mg pm) and it is working wonders.

Durr. I skipped your question.. Yes it is safe to make the brand generic switch over. There is hardly ever a single ingredient difference. You should check ith your doctor first though. He/she may want you on the brand name only.

I hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
I've been on both medications. The XR was efective, buy Yes expensive. And I was on 500mg. I was on Tegretol a long while back and it wasn't nearly as effective as I had hoped for.

Like VegasGal said, though. I have never had great success with any med. It's just my seizures. But if I had to vote for either med I'd say the XR.

I'm currently taking Zonegran (500mg pm) and it is working wonders.

Durr. I skipped your question.. Yes it is safe to make the brand generic switch over. There is hardly ever a single ingredient difference. You should check ith your doctor first though. He/she may want you on the brand name only.

I hope this helps.

Yeah, me too! It seems to be doing the trick, especially with the Carbamezepine 400mg. But I've only been on the Keppra XR generic since Friday, so I'm trying not to get too excited. I'll stop the Carbemezepine XR on Friday and we'll see how it goes from there, I suppose. I'm a bit worried to find out how my body will react to the lack of Carbamezepine XR and only the generic Keppra, but we'll see. Gonna keep y'all updated in the coming weeks. :ponder:
 
I switched from Tegretol XR to Carbamazepine ER for the same reason you are thinking about it. Instead of being not covered on my insurance, it was $20.

For the first two weeks of the switch, I got migraines. However, I had been on Tegretol XR for 17 years before I made the switch. My body was probably just flipping out about any type of change.

Since then, I have noticed no difference (I'm going to be switching to Lamictal, however, because it is safer during pregnancy).
 
Back
Top Bottom