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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by muzzie on June 23, 2002, at 9:10:47
I've been on a long list of mood stablizers in the past 4-5 years (lithium brought on panic, depakote brought on memory loss and slurred speech, lamictal brought on rash, something else along the way made me drunk,...). So now I'm trying trileptal for the bipolarII. I've been on wellbutrinSR all the while for the depression (that's where I settle when my moods are stablized) and adderall for ADD. The wellbutrin and adderall worked well when on the Depakote and lamictal (I took both together - depakote for the overall stablizer; lamictal because I'm a rapid cycler with mixed states. I'm a real mess!)
Well, I've been on the trileptal for about 5 weeks now and I've been carrying a headache and dizziness/nausea since passing 600 mg. on my way to 1200mg - supposedly the "theraputic dosage" The dizziness, etc. does not come on when I take the trileptal, but when I take the adderall. (I've been experimenting.) But when I cut back on the adderall, I'm back to total disorganization and distraction. Any advice?
Posted by MomO3 on July 17, 2002, at 23:44:28
In reply to trileptal: headache/dizzy vs. memory/slurrd speech, posted by muzzie on June 23, 2002, at 9:10:47
Are you still taking this one? If so, has it gotten better or have you switched to something else?
Posted by muzzie on July 18, 2002, at 21:43:28
In reply to Re: trileptal: headache/dizzy vs. memory/slurrd speech » muzzie, posted by MomO3 on July 17, 2002, at 23:44:28
Thanks for asking. I ended up very sick with hyponatremia (critically low blood sodium levels), cut my dose in half - myself - and found a new med doc. (The prescribing 'P.A.' never believed I was having problems with sodium levels. Needless to say I never went back to him.)I'm backing off of trileptal completely - under doctor's orders - and will try the only mood stabalizer I have yet to try: tiny-gabi-something. My body has never been able to handle adequate doses of anything. I may end up on disability yet.
Posted by Elizabeth on July 20, 2002, at 1:38:50
In reply to trileptal: headache/dizzy vs. memory/slurrd speech, posted by muzzie on June 23, 2002, at 9:10:47
Hi. I'm a bit surprised to read of these difficult side effects that people have been experiencing with Trileptal. I take it (1200 mg/day) for seizure prophylaxis, and I haven't noticed any side effects at all. Hearing of other people's reactions to this drug is of particular interest since it was hyped as a safer, better-tolerated cousin of the closely-related carbamazepine. It's also supposed to be safer, lacking serious (but rare) potential adverse reactions that Tegretol has been known to cause, such as blood dyscrasias and...hyponatremia!
Trileptal was also touted as being less prone to pharmacokinetic interactions with other drugs than the older anticonvulsants are. If your reaction turns out to be an interaction with the Adderall, it could be that this was an exaggeration (or that Trileptal simply interacts *differently* than Tegretol et al.).
Good luck with the gabapentin (or is it Gabitril?). Well, anyway, let us know how you do on it. There's hope yet, eh?
-elizabeth
Posted by muzzie on July 27, 2002, at 19:25:15
In reply to Re: trileptal: headache/dizzy vs. memory/slurrd speech » muzzie, posted by Elizabeth on July 20, 2002, at 1:38:50
I think it's Gabatril. What I've read about Gabatril does not give me a warm fuzzy - although right now I'm sweating and my head is fuzzy. I'm not sure if I'm sick, going through withdrawal, or just scared. I've been weaned off of the Trileptal and I'm on no mood stabalizers until Thursday. I'm jumpy, weepy, angry, and have a major headache. The kids are testing my endurance but this has them scared too. I'm a single mom of two teenagers who have their own sets of acronyms (ADHD, Panic Disorder, GAD, CP, HD,...) If this Gabatril doesn't work, I hope we can start over. I'm only 47. If I don't respond to meds at all ...well, now is not a good time for me to even think about it. I'm scared and feeling really bad.
I know this is a forum for med discussions. Anyone know where I can go to get some moral support during this scary time?
Posted by tabitha on July 28, 2002, at 1:45:40
In reply to Running out of options and scared, posted by muzzie on July 27, 2002, at 19:25:15
>
> I know this is a forum for med discussions. Anyone know where I can go to get some moral support during this scary time?Hi muzzie,
There's another message board for general support and just being social. Find the link to "Psycho-Babble-Social" and that will take you there.
Best wishes,
Tabitha
Posted by tabitha on July 28, 2002, at 1:48:27
In reply to Re: Running out of options and scared » muzzie, posted by tabitha on July 28, 2002, at 1:45:40
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/
The link is also at the top of the meds page.
This is the end of the thread.
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