More questions about Carbatrol

[tam bam]

Hi all,

I am now taking Carbatrol. I was wondering if anyone else experiences headaches with it? It is kind of annoying. If so does this go away over time. I tried to call my doctor about this but he hasn't called me back and that was Monday.

Also, I was on 200 mg once per day and that was not helping due to me having some pretty bad seizures yesterday at work and at home so I bumped it up this morning to 300 mg. It has been less than a week since I started this new med and I was also wondering if it was too soon for that?

Thanks for any kind of help.

tam bam

P.S. I am getting kind of despirite that is why I went ahead a bumped up the doseage due to the seizures were pretty bad yesterday and I was hallucinating quite a bit. I can't have this happen at work. I am afraid that I will lose my job because of my freakin' crazy seizures.

 

[Nakamova]

In general, it's always good to check with your doc before changing your dosage up or down. And gradual is better. According to the Carbatrol website, increases should be done at weekly intervals. After a week at a dose, you can then add up to 200mg/day when you bump up (not to exceed 1200mg day).

The slower you increase, the easier it is to track seizure control and any side effects. That said, if the 300mg seems to be helping that's great. Definitely let your doc know what you've done, and try and stay at that dosage for at least a week to see how it goes. Transition times are always a little dicey, both for seizure control and for side effects. The headaches are probably a side effect, and should go away as your body adapts -- obviously if they don't go away or become unbearable, then Carbatrol may not be a good fit for you. I got headaches while tapering on to Lamictal, and found that Tylenol did the trick. After a couple of months the headaches went away.

 

[epileric]

I understand the fear of losing your job due to seizures but remember that bumping up your meds to prevent seizures can only cause you to lose your job from unknown side-effects.

That said I do experience occasional headaches that I assume are from my tegretol....... it's rare that I get them but when I do they are extremely painful to the point of disabling.

 

[tam bam]

Thanks Nakamova,

I cannot get my doctor to call me back. My husband tried to call this morning and he wasn't in but they told him he would call. Yesterday when I had multiple seizures I started to have a new hallucinations that a black blob was coming after me. Usually it is a zig zaggy light that comes and goes so the black blob was new. Not sure if it was side effect to the Carbatrol or from my seizures. It was pretty scarry.

I do know that I shouldn't have upped the dose this morning but I was going to on Saturday anyway. I am having to go home just about every week from having wild seizures at work and there are so many that I am afraid that I may lose my job because of my health. No one seems to understand at my job that I have severe seizures, I mean they know but don't understand the way I feel when I have them. My co-workers cannot relate so it was a despirit attempt so that I can keep my job. I hate having up to 20 seizures per day and there is no explanation as to way. All tests come back normal but I did have an idea the other day that maybe I should get my hormones checked. No one has thought about that one as of yet so I made an appointment with another doctor to have this done. My OB-GYN told me a couple of years ago that my estrogen level was low so I thought well that could probably cause some weird things and over time if my body is needing the estrogen then maybe my body's response is seizures. Not sure but it is worth a shot. If there is a problem I would like to address it and not cover it up, if at all possible. onder:

Also the Carbatrol is making my involuntary movements in my jaw and neck worse which I think the doctor should know about as well. I think the involuntary movements are seizure related but I could be wrong. No one as of yet has been able to explain this as well. I just have weird things going on and I am not going to give up on finding the cause.

If my doctor doesn't call back today then I will write him a letter tonight.

Thanks again for your response, it sure is helpful.

tam bam

P.S. - Epileric - thanks for your response as well. I thought about that after I had already took the medication. I have headaches anyway even without the meds so it could possibly just be me as well. Don't really know anymore.

 

[Nakamova]

Hey tam bam --

If you have way too much Carbatrol in your system it can cause "seizures, restlessness, twitching or shakiness, unusual body movements or postures, coordination problems" (according to the Carbatrol website). It's possible that your fast taper might be causing some of the problems you are experiencing, or you may be extra-sensitive to the med. Carbatrol just might be the wrong drug for you. I hope your doc gets back to you soon to help resolve this.

 

[Meetz1064]

Actually, I'm

on Carbatrol, and have been for a couple of years now. I did have headaches at the beginning, but then again, I also have migraines on a pretty regular basis (and rarely are they the same type). I'm not surprised about the headaches though......

 

[jcroper]

I won't speak as to the dosage increase stuff. But I was on carbatrol for 5 years and didn't have any noticeable increase in headaches. I didn't have debilitating and/or chronic headaches until I started lamictal. Interestingly, I also learned that headaches are particularly triggered by insufficient or poor sleep, which of course is also a side effect (at least for me) of lamictal. Oh, the nightmare...

 

[tam bam]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I had to stop the Carbatrol due to it caused my seizures to increase. I spoke to my doctor and he told me to stop the drug. I am now taking Topamax and Lyrica together and so far I am dealing with it better and this time I promise I will not increase the Topamax too soon.

tam bam