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UPDATED: Fri, 10/14/2005 - 4:41am

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Home › My.epilepsy.com Community › Blogs › All Blogs › Butterflygrl's blog
Butter...
Butter...

Tegretol XR and ANXIETY meds

Hi there, I was wondering what the benefits (if any) of taking anxiety medication mixed with seizure meds (I am on Tegretol XR). I just can't take this anymore. The anxiety I feel WILL NOT go away no matter WHAT relaxation technique I try. Its only a temporary solution. I use it mostly when I go to bed to help me sleep. My anxiety started when I found out I had Epilepsy in July 2005. It started with the trouble swallowing, now it's the obsession with "taking a full deep breath" or "overbreathing" which is similar to hyperventilating, which is NOT good for someone like me who has had seizures. Nowadays after being on 200mgs of Teg XR a day, I am starting to feel very light tingly, numbing, "achy" feelings in my lips. The same place I would feel that "buzzy electrical shock" feeling right before a seizure. That now stresses me even more, because now i am wondering, "Is the medication blocking a possible seizure and I am feeling the "facial" symptoms?" as a result of my OBERBREATHING - every single day!?!? I hate anxiety. Part of me WANTS to take something for it, the other part doesn't. I was never one to take pills, but I will have to for awhile. Any thoughts on the benefits?

By Butter... at Fri, 10/14/2005 - 4:41am | 2811 views | 19 comments
anxiety
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gma1
I wanted to let you know that my son has epilepsy and was so obsessive compulsive that it really worried me. He would pace back and forth from one area to another, always going the same way. He would get an idea on his mind and not be able to get off the subject for days. The same thing over and over again. I took him to a psychiatrist that handles patients with epilepsy and he put him on Paxil. This has worked miracles. He now gets and idea and can drop it. Not only has it helped him but I now get a little break from the obsessiveness.
gma1
By gma1 on Thu, 10/27/2005 - 12:40pm
Re: gma1

Thank you so much everyone! Jill - as for my anxiety, I ALMOST made it to the doctor the other day. I could not bare to wait in the office for more than the hour and a half that I had already waited. But my second attempt shall be sometime this week! I had experienced "overbreathing" obsessions even before I found out I was dx'd with E. I have had this breathing obsession now for about a month. The shortest I ever had it in the past was maybe a week. I have tried so many techniques.

fazer
By fazer on Sat, 05/30/2009 - 1:58am
anxiety issues
Hey, I am so glad I found your post. I started having anxiety issues after taking Lamictal. I dont even think that is listed as one of the side effects but my neuro informed me today that every AED can potentially effect patients that way. I was especially suprised to see your description of obsession with "taking a full breath" as I have recently started to feel that way a lot of the time. I have found that deep concentrated breathing totally helps me when I start feeling this way. Also, have you ever made any correlation with your anxiety and monthly cycle. Keep an eye on that, it is pretty much the only time when I have an uncomfortable amount of anxiety. Also, what type of epilepsy do you have (if you dont mind me asking?) I am 27 years old, I have JME- first seizure when I was 15 yrs old. Went off meds at 16 years old and stayed off for 11 years. I started having problems with my seizures this year after a crazy night of drinking. 8 seizures in last 5 months. Prior to that only like 8 in my entire life. Thanks again for your post. Jill W
Jill
By Jill on Tue, 10/18/2005 - 3:20pm
Hi Jill!
Wow. I am so glad that this post got such a great response. Thank you so much everyone! Jill - as for my anxiety, I ALMOST made it to the doctor the other day. I could not bare to wait in the office for more than the hour and a half that I had already waited. But my second attempt shall be sometime this week! I had experienced "overbreathing" obsessions even before I found out I was dx'd with E. I have had this breathing obsession now for about a month. The shortest I ever had it in the past was maybe a week. I have tried so many techniques. The 7/11, the slow deep breathing, the relaxation techniques, and nothing seems to do the trick for me, however, I am so desperate for a "quick fix" to get rid of this annoyance, that I'm almost willing to try ANYTHING!!! I keep hearing too, that many different medications can exacerbate anxiety. I read that in select cases "latent psychosis" has also been reported while using Tegretol (and CR!). I don't even know what that is!!!!!! It sounds like it has SOMETHING to do with your mental state, but I don't know HOW!! Just know, you are not alone. It DOES go away, we ARE breathing fine, it's just trying to figure out how to NOT obsess about it! Cheers! BFG
Butter...
By Butter... on Tue, 10/18/2005 - 6:05pm
I almost forgot...
Jill - I have Partial Epilepsy that consists of GM's and CP's. I've only had 2 since I was dx'd in June 2005. I went on medication right after my 2nd one, I was originally on Dilantin which was horrible but now I am on Tegretol CR which has like NO side effects! Alot of the anxiety is caused by "when will I have another seizure". But now that I don't think about it as OFTEN, I still feel the anxiety is there, yet, I don't want to take other medications to alleviate it. It's like a vicious circle. But I wrote a peice in here that came from my heart one day....and I always say, "If God can bring you TO IT, he can bring you THROUGH IT!"
Butter...
By Butter... on Wed, 10/19/2005 - 3:40am
Hey girl, I loved your last
Hey girl, I loved your last comment. I just wanted to say "hi" and thanks so much for your response. Jill
Jill
By Jill on Wed, 10/19/2005 - 8:01am
Re: anxiety issues

I was taking Teretol and it caused the same issues had a lot of anxiety with it.  I had to to switch to Trileptal and have almost no side effects.  Get with your doc and get something that you can tolerate and works.  Good look I wish the best for you.

jenny454
By jenny454 on Mon, 04/06/2009 - 6:22pm
Butterflygirl
hI. I really feel for you and what you are going through. I could have read what you wrote. After being 16 years of seizure free, all of a sudden different symptoms have come back. I still dont know if these are break through seizures, or just a combo of things. Anyways, I have been filled with so much anxiety with all these things. Every little thing that happens I am wondering - was that a aura, symptom, etc.? So many things have plagued my body within the past 3 weeks, headacheches, blacking out, insomnia, anxiety attacks, that I dont know what is a symptom and what is an anxiety attack. The insomnia got so bad that I was only sleeping every other night, which is not good for seizures. I finally met with a wonderful Family practioner who gave me .5 mg of Atavin to help me sleep. I only take it at night so that I can start sleeping again. It has been wonderful - to sleep again!!! I am not a pill taker either. I despise the fact that I have to take anxiety drugs on top of all this. I told myself I would never be like this. But, I really hope that this is a temporary thing until I can get answers about the seizures. I hope. See your family practioner, and talk to him or her. They can help you. The Atavin is not addicting they told me unless I am taking huge doses, and all the time. I am only trying to take this for 1-2 weeks at bedtime. I hope this helps. Hang in there. You are not alone.
cameo
By cameo on Fri, 10/14/2005 - 6:12am
Hi Cameo, Thank you so much
Hi Cameo, Thank you so much for your reply. When I had my first seizure and I was in the hospital for a few days, they would give me Ativan at night time to help me sleep. They also say that this med can prevent seizures too (but not in the same regard as an AED would I suppose)... I will look into getting them again!
Butter...
By Butter... on Fri, 10/14/2005 - 6:22am
Another thing
I also wanted to add this website that has a listing of anxiety symptoms or panic symptoms. Funny ~ alot of them listed are also on the list for seizure symptoms too. I think that is why I get so confused - is this anxiety or seizure. If anyone can put in two cents on how to tell the differnce, that would be great. http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml
cameo
By cameo on Fri, 10/14/2005 - 7:07am
Re: Another thing

For my husband, anxiety is ALWAYS seizure and I bet it is for you as well. Our neurologist has prescribed anti anxiety meds. He told us that depression and anxiety is always present with seizure disorders. It is a chemical thing, not a reaction to living with seizures. So tell your DR you want meds for it.

pjericson
By pjericson on Fri, 05/19/2006 - 10:28am
Lots of symptoms of seizures
Lots of symptoms of seizures are similar to symptoms of anxiety disorders. This makes it difficult to diagnose and people with seizures may be mistakenly treated for just anxiety disorder or vice versa! Yet more recent research is also showing that anxiety (unassociated with seizure event) is very common in people with seizures! So, to sort this out, real important to talk to epilepsy specialist and sort out what symptoms are seizures - take a look at the epilepsy.com Information section on diagnosis to see what some of the tests are... video monitoring is often needed to help tease it out.. Talking to psychiatrist who works with epilepsy or neurological problems is also key.. They can help diagnose anxiety or other mood problems, and make recommendations on treatment.. for example some seizure treatments can help mood, some may worsen it. There are also meds specific for mood that could help. Take a look at the information section on behavior and mood on main epilepsy.com page. Glad you raised this and hope you go back to the doctors with your concerns! Epilepsy.com Resource Specialist
epi_help
By epi_help on Mon, 10/17/2005 - 6:45am
Re: Hi Cameo, Thank you so much

Interesting article.

acotas...
By acotas... on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 1:31am
Re: Tegretol XR and ANXIETY meds

Excuse my ignorance but, have you visited a psychiatrist???

 

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plasto...
By plasto... on Sat, 05/02/2009 - 6:58am
Re: Tegretol XR and ANXIETY meds

Reading this makes me really feel for you. It's been a while since this post. Would you mind sharing how you are at coping now? Did you find anything that really helped with your anxiety?

James

Hueyloo
By Hueyloo on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 6:45am
Re: Tegretol XR and ANXIETY meds

A few people have serious reactions to Tegretol-XR. These serious problems are very rare but everyone who takes this medicine should at least be aware of them because a very small number of people have died because of them.

On December 12, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration informed healthcare professionals that dangerous or even fatal skin reactions (called Stevens Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis), that can be caused by carbamazepine, the active ingredient of Tegretol XR, are significantly more common in patients who have a particular type of gene, called “HLA-B*1502”. This gene occurs almost exclusively in patients with ancestry across broad areas of Asia, including South Asian Indians. Patients with ancestry from these areas in which HLA-B*1502 is present should have a blood test by their physicians to see if they have the “HLA-B*1502” gene before starting treatment with carbamazepine. If these individuals test positive, carbamazepine should not be started unless the expected benefit clearly outweighs the increased risk of serious skin reactions.

jasons...
By jasons... on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 9:24am
Re: Tegretol XR and ANXIETY meds

Seizures needs to be managed. Once you are able to control it, the symptoms will phaseout eventually.

infinique
By infinique on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 8:59am
Re: Tegretol XR and ANXIETY meds

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zombo09
By zombo09 on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 10:38pm
Re: coping with anxiety

Hueyloo asked what others are doing to cope with our anxiety.  I can tell you what I do, not always in this order.  I do use Ativan on bad days, but I try not to use it everyday.  I listen to a meditation podcast on itunes.  I  watch a "you tube" video "Amazon Rainforest Relaxation Video" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43yvlrNl3Xc .  I listen to a CD called "Anxiety Relief" by Martin Rossman.  I do Chi Gong which is light exercise with a lot of breathing.  I crochet which is AWESOME!  And I write in a journal. 

I hope you find out what works for you.  I would LOVE to hear what other people do to cope with anxiety.  It helps to learn to learn from other people!

 

catinpas
By catinpas on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 4:27pm