Q. Until recently I was on pretty hefty doses of medication: 450mg Wellbutrin, 1000mg tegretol, 20 mg Prozac, & 25mcg Cytomel. I have been in therapy for many years & have made great progress. Due to some recent major life changes I have been able to cut down my medications considerably. I am now taking only 150mg Wellbutrin, 800mg tegretol, 20mg Prozac, & no Cytomel. If all goes well my doctor will allow me to cut out the Wellbutrin altogether in the near future. He says if I need more antidepressant medication in the future we will increase my Prozac.
So here’s my question. I started having strange sensations in my head last summer which, after some tests, my doctor decided are some sort of seizure. He started me on tegretol & gradually increased my dosage to 1000mg before the sensations stopped. After 9-10 months I was able to cut down to 800mg tegretol without any adverse effects. However, when I tried to cut to 600mg, I began to have the strange sensations again.
My question is: In your experience is it likely that I will ever be able to stop taking tegretol altogether? My doctor says he thinks I will always be on Prozac or some other antidepressant but he doesn’t know about the tegretol.
A. First of all, if you have the BPD, you need to know you’re incredibly fortunate to have such an excellent doctor. His plan sounds outstanding.
Your descriptions of the seizures are very accurate. You may or may not get off the tegretol in the future, only time will tell.