Hi new here so hello Has anyone any advise for taking tegretol for pain, need to get upto 1200mg per day but am struggling at current 400mg daily. How long did it take to get used to it if ever. Thanks Noms
Hi Noms,
I take tegretol for bipolar disorder. I started taking 400 and now I’m on 800 which is a good dose for me. 1200 seems very high, that’s only usually used for people with epilepsy, so take it step by step and see what dose is good for you.
At first it made me feel sleepy and sick, but I think after about 1 or 2 months the side effects eased. I know it’s a long time, but I have to say for controlling the bipolar it has been a god send. I’ve been on it for over 3 years now…I don’t feel like I’m on medication if that makes sense. I would however recommend the controlled release version (sometimes called controlled or extended release), I felt less of a sudden drowsy impact from it when I changed to that version, and my moods stay balanced throughout the day.
I was hoping it would help with the nerve pain I am experiencing and the trigeminal neuralgia, but no luck so far, perhaps I need to be on a higher dose like the one you’re aiming for. My pain symptoms developed after I was stable with the bipolar so who knows how bad they’d be without the stuff.
Best of luck with it Noms.
Hello hlear Thanks for reply, only started in September so I suppose still early days yet but I really don’t think it agrees with me, was thinking of packing it in but as you say will stick at it for 3 months when I go back to neuro and see how I feel then Glad it has helped you, your right neuro said need to get upto between 800 and 1200mg to stop nerve pain, I will ask about extended release hopefully might tolerate that better as feel drunk and twitchy for a few hours after taking only 200mg! Feel for you with the trigeminal neuralgia nightmare pain, hope you can get it under control. Good luck Noms