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Newbie with a problem. Any help would be gr8!
Sat, 01/28/2006 - 13:20Topic: Medication Issues
Hello everybody, I'm new here. I see my Neurology Consultant in a couple of week and I may be changing my meds.I have temporal lobe epilepsy but have had the odd grand mal seizure. I've been on Tegretol since I was 11- I'm 30 now. I have to admit that I've been seizure free for several yrs; infact the only times I've had convulsions has been whenever I've vomited or forgotten to take my meds.
The thing is I've been becoming increasingly more photosensitive. I'm having trouble right now just looking at my pc screen. Over the past few yrs my meds have been upped and upped. I'm on 1200 mgs now.
I've also had more and more trouble with depression and when it takes over it makes the epilepsy worse and, well, it juat about brings my whole life to a stand still.
Does anyone know if there are any antidepressants I could take for this depression.
Should I change my meds to an AED that allows me to take them or one that may have antidepressant qualities?
I heard that Lamictal is given to people with depression. Has anyone taken it along with other meds?
I'm reluctant to go fof Tegretol since it's kept me seizure--free for so long but the depression is such a problem...
ANy information anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Yours,
Walker
Comments
Re: Re: Re: Newbie with a problem. Any help would be gr8!
Submitted by missemmy on Thu, 2006-02-02 - 23:19
1. Don't take any herbal medications that alter brain fxn. eg. St. John's Wort, mugwort, ginko without first talking to doctor.
2. Most antidepressants need to be began with caution in people with epilepsy, and do not stop taking them suddenly, they need to be titrated down because it will increase the liklihood of seizure if you stop them suddenly. Many people with epilepsy do take them. Talk to your doctor.
3. It took almost 3 months to fully adjust to the change to Lamictal after beginning it. My epilepsy is much better controlled with Lamictal than the phenobarbital I took for too long. The transition for the first couple months was awful, but things are going good now.
4. There is a contraindication between tegratol and lamictal- causes neurotoxicity. So, you would need to be tapered off of the tegretol to take lamictal. That may have played a part in why you was feeling so bad.
Re: Newbie with a problem. Any help would be gr8!
Submitted by angelran on Fri, 2006-02-03 - 20:29
Do NOT take St John's Wart if you are on Tegritol. I know this from experience. In fact, don't take anything before talking ot your doc. If you read the labels on antidepressants, most of them say not to take if you have a seizure disorder.
I have also been on Tegtitol since I was 11. I am 25 now. About a month ago, my neuro and I decided to change my med. Like you, my meds have been steadily increasing for several years now. I am up to 800mg. I also had/have the same problems with depression and also had/have severe moodswings. My neuro switched me to Lamictal. I have been gradualy increasing it for about 5 weeks now and am up to 300mg. After I got to 200mg, I started weening off the Tegritol. I go down 200mg a week. So far, I have had no side effects. My moods are a little better. Though I think that I will need something else in order to fix them completely.
My main reason for changing meds was the depression. It was BAD!! I was afraid to change because the Tegritol worked so well. But, so far things are going great. I have always had focal seizures even with the Tegritol, but I didn't have any Grand Mals (that is what I have without it.) Since I have been taking Lamictal, they have stopped. I will keep you updated on my progress since it seems like we are in the same boat here.
SMILES!!!!!
Re: Re: Re: Newbie with a problem. Any help would be gr8!
Submitted by mommy2kyra on Wed, 2006-02-01 - 13:39
Hi Walker, Finding the right med is hard. I can only recommend that you be firm with your neuro, firm that he listen to your symptoms and concerns. If he doesn't do that, see another doc. I recently tried lamictal, and it didn't work for me either. They upped the dosage twice, and finally decided to wean me off after being on it for 2 months (something like that). I am now trying trileptal, so we'll see how that one goes. I don't remember seeing anything about it affecting either libido or mood. I've tried keppra..that one didn't work for me..and that does affect mood. I remember a possible side affect being severe mood and personality changes. Thankfully, I didn't have that problem. It just didn't control my sz's. But, what works for you may not work for me. Lots of meds are possibilities: check em out on epilepsy.com Good luck, and top of the mornin' to you! (I'll bet you're tired of hearing that one, LOL!) Heather :)