Posted by Jackster on April 14, 2002, at 0:59:05
In reply to Re: TEGRETOL questions! » Jackster, posted by Ritch on April 13, 2002, at 10:25:52
> Hi Jackie,
>
> So, you are taking 100mg twice daily of Tegretol? That's nice that it is blocking panic attacks for you. I knew you were tinkering with that as an alternative antipanic med. Are you taking any other meds with it? Just curious.
> Glad you are doing better. I ran out of Depakote so now I am not on Depakote (there WAS a withdrawal however!). Do you notice any cognitive problems with the Tegretol? I *might* wind up retrying that one as a mood stabilizer again. I tried it about 15 years ago during a bad depression and it didn't seem to be helping after a couple of weeks and I switched back to lithium at the time.
>
> Thanks for responding to any of my questions
> in advance,
>
> Mitch
Hi MitchI'm glad to finally have a chance to help you! You've answered heaps of my questions in the past.
I take the 200mg of Tegretol once at night. (I think it has a slight sedative effect). I am taking it with 40mg of Paxil (which still has an effect, but nothing like when I first started taking it. So have gone into 'augmentation mode') and 1mg of Xanax which I take half at night and half in the morning. (I have been very slowly reducing the Xanax over the last few months and am now at 1/3 of the original dose. Started taking it after a really bad roller coaster ride after stopping the Paxil one time).
As for cognitive effects from Tegretol - it's hard to tell since I have them from the Xanax. (Poor name recall, inability to think of words sometimes). I notice that as I am winding down the use of Xanax - those side effects are definitely reducing too.
One thing I never realised with Tegretol - is that is does have an anti-depressant effect. When we discussed with my PDoc starting it (my suggestion!) I thought it would just block my panic attacks - like it blocks epilepsy fits. A couple of weeks later I remember saying to someone at work that I felt really happy but I didn't know why! Wasn't til later that I made the connection! Boyfriend reckons I'm a lot more mellower too.
Have been doing exposure therapy - and is going really well - I might get nervous but it doesn't escalate into a panic attack.
PDoc seems to think that the dose is effective at a rather low level for me - don't know if you need higher levels for BP. I've read on here about another drug that is like a 'cleaner' version of tegretol - have you tried that one?
Hope this helps - feel free to ask any more questions.
Jackie
poster:Jackster
thread:102523
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020408/msgs/103010.html