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tegretol vs.keppra

Sun, 08/31/2008 - 18:07

   The doctor wanted me on keppra but i told him i can not afford it without insurance i cant even afford a reguluar doctore right now so, he put me on tegretol 200mg x2 a day is there a diffrence in the medicine?is the tegretol responsible for the muscle spasms in my arms and my lack of sexual desire? 

Comments

Re: tegretol vs.keppra

Submitted by tonialpha on Sun, 2008-08-31 - 20:54

I had 2 kids while on Tegretol.  I was on 1000 mg. a day w/ the first baby and very active and working.  The second child I was on Klonopin and Lamictal.  Both children are healthy and do not have any medical concerns.  I pray you find out what the medical spasms are from.

Take care!

I had 2 kids while on Tegretol.  I was on 1000 mg. a day w/ the first baby and very active and working.  The second child I was on Klonopin and Lamictal.  Both children are healthy and do not have any medical concerns.  I pray you find out what the medical spasms are from.

Take care!

Re: tegretol vs.keppra

Submitted by MichaelK on Mon, 2008-09-01 - 01:07

Thanks, SuSu, for bringing this up because I am considering whether to come to the US for treatment right now. I live in Japan but there are several medications, such as Keppra, Topamax, and Lamactil, which are not available here that are available in the US.

So this brings up one interesting side point, which is that tegretol is more widely available so if you do a lot of international travel you may want to keep that in mind.

If anybody else can add more to this I would be very grateful!

Thanks, SuSu, for bringing this up because I am considering whether to come to the US for treatment right now. I live in Japan but there are several medications, such as Keppra, Topamax, and Lamactil, which are not available here that are available in the US.

So this brings up one interesting side point, which is that tegretol is more widely available so if you do a lot of international travel you may want to keep that in mind.

If anybody else can add more to this I would be very grateful!

Re: tegretol vs.keppra

Submitted by Texas_med on Mon, 2008-09-01 - 22:52

My name is Shawn. I am a Professional RN in the neurology sector of the hospital for a living and also an epilepsy patient myself. I know it's very strange but I was actually on both Tegretol and Keppra at the same time. One thing I would really watch, since I was started out on the same dosage of tegretol, is to watch and see if you start having more seizures. I found out that I had been put on the tegretol in the wrong way since with my metabolism, I was supposed to be taking it four times a day. You may be able to get put on something called Carbatrol if that comes to mind. It is just an extended-release form of Carbamazepine. Ever since I have been on it, I have not gone through the depressed stages or the sudden burst of seizures. The one thing that may be contributing to the muscle spasms is the tegretol since your level probably does a roller coaster action and goes up right after you take it and falls pretty fast after you take the tegretol. This can be a very keen cause of the muscle spasms and depression-like symptoms. If you need to, see about a blood test performed at your local hospital (they can't make you pay for it there) next time you see your doctor/neurologist. You may even reccommend it to be a fasting-blood-test (where you don't take your medicine for 12 hours before getting the blood drawn).  Just in case you are wondering how much the carbatrol costs, (since I already know my Keppra would be nearly $1300 w/o insurance), my local pharmacy would cost around $160. If you get it at some of the corporate places like Wal-mart or Walgreens, it may get as low as $120 a month. This is with me taking 400 mg twice daily. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me at Shawn@tcvfd.org. 

My name is Shawn. I am a Professional RN in the neurology sector of the hospital for a living and also an epilepsy patient myself. I know it's very strange but I was actually on both Tegretol and Keppra at the same time. One thing I would really watch, since I was started out on the same dosage of tegretol, is to watch and see if you start having more seizures. I found out that I had been put on the tegretol in the wrong way since with my metabolism, I was supposed to be taking it four times a day. You may be able to get put on something called Carbatrol if that comes to mind. It is just an extended-release form of Carbamazepine. Ever since I have been on it, I have not gone through the depressed stages or the sudden burst of seizures. The one thing that may be contributing to the muscle spasms is the tegretol since your level probably does a roller coaster action and goes up right after you take it and falls pretty fast after you take the tegretol. This can be a very keen cause of the muscle spasms and depression-like symptoms. If you need to, see about a blood test performed at your local hospital (they can't make you pay for it there) next time you see your doctor/neurologist. You may even reccommend it to be a fasting-blood-test (where you don't take your medicine for 12 hours before getting the blood drawn).  Just in case you are wondering how much the carbatrol costs, (since I already know my Keppra would be nearly $1300 w/o insurance), my local pharmacy would cost around $160. If you get it at some of the corporate places like Wal-mart or Walgreens, it may get as low as $120 a month. This is with me taking 400 mg twice daily. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me at Shawn@tcvfd.org. 

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