Carbamazepine Or Tegretol

[NicoleAJ]

I was just diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia--a painful disorder involving the largest nerve in your face. The treatment the doctor prescribed is Tegretol, which is one of the various forms of carbamazepine, an anti-seizure medication. Have any of you taken this? Have you had problems with it. It looked like the ingredients were ok as far as celiac is concerned though I do need to call, but it seems like this is a serious med, and I wanted to know if you have had any problems with it in the past. Apparently, I need to get a medic alert bracelet with my dose since there are serious interaction risks with other drugs commonly administered in emergency situations.

[tarnalberry]

Here's a link to the Open Original Shared Link. (You'll actually have to scroll down and click 'more' next to the drug name.) I find it useful to google these (with the syntax "prescribing information <drug name>" when I take something new.

While the inactive ingredient listing in the PI does mention starch, it is often NOT wheat starch. As you noted, however, it is absolutely best to call, as it could be.

Make sure to read the Contraindications and Warnings section, as well as the two sections Agents That May Affect Tegretol Plasma Levels and Effect of Tegretol on Plasma Levels of Concomitant Agents so that you know what other medications will change the effective dosage of this one (like Claritin, Advil, and grapefruit juice, among other prescription drugs) and what other medications this one will change the dosage of (tylenol, corticosteroids, some antibiotics, and birth control, among other prescription drugs).

If you're not used to reading PI's *PLEASE remember to take the information in context*. It reports *a lot* of information. And it can sound scarier than the true picture. It's useful for reference, but don't let it make you paranoid about the drug either. The FDA requires a lot of warning and cautionary information - and with good cause - but if you're not used to reading them, they can easily scare you. There's information there to work with, but not to panic over. It's good to be informed, but still work with your doctor on the application of that knowledge. (I don't know if you're familiar with reading these things or not, so this bit may be totally unnecessary for you.)

[NicoleAJ]

Here's a link to the Open Original Shared Link. (You'll actually have to scroll down and click 'more' next to the drug name.) I find it useful to google these (with the syntax "prescribing information <drug name>" when I take something new.

While the inactive ingredient listing in the PI does mention starch, it is often NOT wheat starch. As you noted, however, it is absolutely best to call, as it could be.

Make sure to read the Contraindications and Warnings section, as well as the two sections Agents That May Affect Tegretol Plasma Levels and Effect of Tegretol on Plasma Levels of Concomitant Agents so that you know what other medications will change the effective dosage of this one (like Claritin, Advil, and grapefruit juice, among other prescription drugs) and what other medications this one will change the dosage of (tylenol, corticosteroids, some antibiotics, and birth control, among other prescription drugs).

If you're not used to reading PI's *PLEASE remember to take the information in context*. It reports *a lot* of information. And it can sound scarier than the true picture. It's useful for reference, but don't let it make you paranoid about the drug either. The FDA requires a lot of warning and cautionary information - and with good cause - but if you're not used to reading them, they can easily scare you. There's information there to work with, but not to panic over. It's good to be informed, but still work with your doctor on the application of that knowledge. (I don't know if you're familiar with reading these things or not, so this bit may be totally unnecessary for you.)

Thanks for the info, tarnalberry. I actually did read this yesterday, for the most part--I skimmed some parts of it (yes, definitely some scary worst-case scenarios even though those don't apply to everyone), but it is always good to let people know that this is out there. I googled it as well. I'm definitely going to have to double check on the birth control since I believe that mine is estrogen-based rather than progestin-based.