OMG Deja Vu here. I've been on Tegretol since I was 9 and mostly had the same problems the whole time. I had heard about the BC thing, discussed the idea of getting an IUD w/my primary care doc at one point but wasn't too thrilled about the idea of having a piece of metal & plastic shoved up my cooch of which one of the possible side effects was a perforated uterus. I've been in therapy for depression for a couple years now, my therapist talked me into trying an antidepressant a few months ago. The first one they tried me on, BOOM, after the first dose I ended up in the ER with what they called an "altered mental state". The ER doc said to drop the antidepressant, the psych my therapist had sent me to tried me on something else. After a couple months I started feeling a lot better--and then discovered I had forgotten to fill my Rx that month! After that I thought, they're just making things worse, so I never restarted them. Frankly I think if I could just get the Tegretol dose lowered things would be a lot better, one doc I had increased the dose I was on to compensate for the fact that I sometimes missed doses and my next neuro switched me to the XR version w/o dropping the dose back to "help me remember to take my meds". At this point I've been deliberately missing doses a couple times/week, if I take them as prescribed for more than a couple weeks at a time I actually have more seizures. Or it feels like the beginning of a seizure, anyway. I started seeing a Chiropractor a while back, he said after a few treatments I might be able to start reducing my meds, but my neuro won't even consider it and even said I "shouldn't be letting a Natural Health Doctor tell me what to do with my meds"!I never heard of the possibility of having miscarriages on Tegretol, but I have 3 kids in their 20s and they all have developmental disabilities (DS20 ADHD/Aspergers, DD22 and DD24 Intellectual Disability). Never been actually suicidal but occasionally I get this weird scenario in my head of being in the hospital after being hurt in an accident or something.
Beautiful dog AB! My therapist said she might get me an Emotional Support Dog at some point (my seizures aren't frequent enough to warrant an epilepsy dog), unfortunately where I'm living they don't allow pets and an ESD is considered a "Therapy Dog" rather than a "Service Dog" and according to my therapist isn't covered under the ADA. Hopefully when my lease is up in November we can find a place that allows pets and get one.
Ruth