Krista2882
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Hi, all!
I haven't been here in a while, but I wanted to share this with people who will understand how exciting this is.
As of today I am no longer taking Tegretol!
Tegretol was the second med I was put on (I was on Dilantin for about a month at the beginning, but it didn't work and had really bad side effects, so they put me on Tegretol). This was 12 years ago. They kept increasing the dosage until I was up to 1200 mg per day. My seizures still weren't completely controlled, so my doctor added Keppra. I went up to 3,000 mg of that, and it still wasn't completely controlling my seizures. So about 5 years ago I had a 24-hour EEG for 4 days, and my new epileptologist at Yale put me on Lamictal, in addition to to the Tegretol and Keppra. I was up to 400 mg/day of that, and I have been doing really well with those 3 meds since then. I only get the occasional aura once or twice a month (they're hormone-triggered).
Anyway, at my last neuro visit, my doctor said he wanted me to try coming off the Tegretol, since I might not even need it anymore with the other two meds. Plus there's the potential of having liver problems, bone density problems, and pregnancy problems while on Tegretol. So I started weaning off, and now I'm completely off!! Through the whole weaning process my seizure frequency never changed, so it's been successful. It's so nice to only have to take 7 pills a day instead of 12!
Also, it's so great that I can have kids without worrying too much about birth defects or a dangerous pregnancy (I know there's still a risk with Lamictal and Keppra, though).
My parents both said that I'm different now that I'm not taking the tegretol. My mom didn't quite know how to explain it but she said I seem happier and more free. I don't feel any different, but I guess a side effect that I wasn't aware of is gone now.
D
Also, I'm not having a trouble with double vision anymore, which was caused by an interaction between the tegretol and lamictal.
Anyway, yayyy! I'm very excited.
I haven't been here in a while, but I wanted to share this with people who will understand how exciting this is.
As of today I am no longer taking Tegretol!
Tegretol was the second med I was put on (I was on Dilantin for about a month at the beginning, but it didn't work and had really bad side effects, so they put me on Tegretol). This was 12 years ago. They kept increasing the dosage until I was up to 1200 mg per day. My seizures still weren't completely controlled, so my doctor added Keppra. I went up to 3,000 mg of that, and it still wasn't completely controlling my seizures. So about 5 years ago I had a 24-hour EEG for 4 days, and my new epileptologist at Yale put me on Lamictal, in addition to to the Tegretol and Keppra. I was up to 400 mg/day of that, and I have been doing really well with those 3 meds since then. I only get the occasional aura once or twice a month (they're hormone-triggered).
Anyway, at my last neuro visit, my doctor said he wanted me to try coming off the Tegretol, since I might not even need it anymore with the other two meds. Plus there's the potential of having liver problems, bone density problems, and pregnancy problems while on Tegretol. So I started weaning off, and now I'm completely off!! Through the whole weaning process my seizure frequency never changed, so it's been successful. It's so nice to only have to take 7 pills a day instead of 12!
Also, it's so great that I can have kids without worrying too much about birth defects or a dangerous pregnancy (I know there's still a risk with Lamictal and Keppra, though).
My parents both said that I'm different now that I'm not taking the tegretol. My mom didn't quite know how to explain it but she said I seem happier and more free. I don't feel any different, but I guess a side effect that I wasn't aware of is gone now.
DAlso, I'm not having a trouble with double vision anymore, which was caused by an interaction between the tegretol and lamictal.
Anyway, yayyy! I'm very excited.
