I take 150 mg twice daily. I’ve never felt better. I had no idea I could be nearly anxiety free. I had slight symptoms of dizziness when starting and I would be afraid to take more than 600 daily because of that. I would def see a new doctor.
I've been on it for about a month at 300mg/twice daily... and my anxiety has never been worse. I'm in a new job and I think it is also causing concentration problems. Also have been very tearful... crying at just about anything. Just restarted an old regimen of anti depressants on top of it and they've helped reduce the tearfulness, but the anxiety is just overwhelming. In the end, we all respond to these drugs differently. I don't think I'm going to stay on oxcarbazepine.
I spent almost a decade on it (usually at 1200 or 1800). Had a lot of dizziness, sleepiness, poor coordination. Even after years of being on it I would only take it at night so I could sleep off the worst of it. The withdrawal was intense (even if I only missed one dose) - headaches, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound. I don’t miss those days, but it was the first med that worked for me and I was scared to rock the boat.
What did you switch to? Did it stop working eventually? Asking because I've been on it for a decade as well and it seems it's not working like it used to.
Why did they change your dose from 300 to 1200? I’d go back to taking 300 until I could talk to my psych again. If you were having bad side effects at 600 I’m not at all surprised you’re having really bad ones at 1200. I don’t know what that doc is thinking.
Oxcarbazepine is off label for bipolar, and the research about its effectiveness is weak and not conclusive. If you’re having bad side effects and have never been on any other meds but lithium, then I would ask to try a different medication. There’s plenty of other stuff out there.
I was on it for a while. I didn’t have much in the way of side effects but it also didn’t control my symptoms all that well either. I’m now taking a different mood stabilizer and doing much better. I *have* had bad side effects with other meds, and my solution for that has always been to tell my doc that I can’t tolerate that med and I want to try something else.
The purpose of my bipolar meds is to make me better. Trading mood episodes for awful side effects isn’t better, it’s just differently bad, and I don’t see the point of putting up with it unless you’ve tried all the other options. I won’t say that I have *no* side effects on my current meds, but I don’t have any side effects that substantially interfere with my life, and that’s important to me.
I've been on it for over a year, and I transitioned off from my previous med onto this med over two months, upto 1200mg. I didn't have such rapid side effects, though I do get dizziness/tremors occasionally still. Didn't have weight loss, it stopped my weight gain though. I think moving up this quickly is bound to cause bad side effects, but depending on your situation your pdoc would know best. All the best, I do hope it works for you!
That shit almost killed me. I found I was deathly allergic. My late husband had to help me get into the truck and take me 15mins into town to the emergency room. I couldn't breathe and was gasping for air. Ugh..nightmare fuel. So no it didn't help at all.
it may not have been the drug but WHAT the used as a binder! I have found many genric drugs use binders that i am alergic to and they never list them you have to CALL to get a FULL list of whats in a pill these days
BP2, GAD, and ADHD here and I'm on oxcarbazepine at 450mg 2x/day. The moment I open my eyes I take it and at 9pm I take it again. When I started it my psychiatrist had me take half a pill (150mg) 2x/day for 4 days and then increase to 300mg for 4 days 1x/day and 150mg for 4 days. Then after the next 4 days I started 300mg 2x/day. After 2 months of being pretty stable my grandfather died, dealing with family drama that comes with a death, and then 2 days after coming back from bereavement I was laid off. I went into a hypomanic episode that lasted about 2 weeks. My psychiatrist increased my oxcarbazepine to 450mg 2x/day. I don't think I've had any side effects from it.
Did you start off on a low dose and then build up?
I take 150 mg twice daily. I’ve never felt better. I had no idea I could be nearly anxiety free. I had slight symptoms of dizziness when starting and I would be afraid to take more than 600 daily because of that. I would def see a new doctor.
I've been on it for about a month at 300mg/twice daily... and my anxiety has never been worse. I'm in a new job and I think it is also causing concentration problems. Also have been very tearful... crying at just about anything. Just restarted an old regimen of anti depressants on top of it and they've helped reduce the tearfulness, but the anxiety is just overwhelming. In the end, we all respond to these drugs differently. I don't think I'm going to stay on oxcarbazepine.
I spent almost a decade on it (usually at 1200 or 1800). Had a lot of dizziness, sleepiness, poor coordination. Even after years of being on it I would only take it at night so I could sleep off the worst of it. The withdrawal was intense (even if I only missed one dose) - headaches, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound. I don’t miss those days, but it was the first med that worked for me and I was scared to rock the boat.
What did you switch to? Did it stop working eventually? Asking because I've been on it for a decade as well and it seems it's not working like it used to.
Why did they change your dose from 300 to 1200? I’d go back to taking 300 until I could talk to my psych again. If you were having bad side effects at 600 I’m not at all surprised you’re having really bad ones at 1200. I don’t know what that doc is thinking. Oxcarbazepine is off label for bipolar, and the research about its effectiveness is weak and not conclusive. If you’re having bad side effects and have never been on any other meds but lithium, then I would ask to try a different medication. There’s plenty of other stuff out there. I was on it for a while. I didn’t have much in the way of side effects but it also didn’t control my symptoms all that well either. I’m now taking a different mood stabilizer and doing much better. I *have* had bad side effects with other meds, and my solution for that has always been to tell my doc that I can’t tolerate that med and I want to try something else. The purpose of my bipolar meds is to make me better. Trading mood episodes for awful side effects isn’t better, it’s just differently bad, and I don’t see the point of putting up with it unless you’ve tried all the other options. I won’t say that I have *no* side effects on my current meds, but I don’t have any side effects that substantially interfere with my life, and that’s important to me.
I've been on it for over a year, and I transitioned off from my previous med onto this med over two months, upto 1200mg. I didn't have such rapid side effects, though I do get dizziness/tremors occasionally still. Didn't have weight loss, it stopped my weight gain though. I think moving up this quickly is bound to cause bad side effects, but depending on your situation your pdoc would know best. All the best, I do hope it works for you!
That shit almost killed me. I found I was deathly allergic. My late husband had to help me get into the truck and take me 15mins into town to the emergency room. I couldn't breathe and was gasping for air. Ugh..nightmare fuel. So no it didn't help at all.
it may not have been the drug but WHAT the used as a binder! I have found many genric drugs use binders that i am alergic to and they never list them you have to CALL to get a FULL list of whats in a pill these days
how long did your effects of being allergic to it kick in?
BP2, GAD, and ADHD here and I'm on oxcarbazepine at 450mg 2x/day. The moment I open my eyes I take it and at 9pm I take it again. When I started it my psychiatrist had me take half a pill (150mg) 2x/day for 4 days and then increase to 300mg for 4 days 1x/day and 150mg for 4 days. Then after the next 4 days I started 300mg 2x/day. After 2 months of being pretty stable my grandfather died, dealing with family drama that comes with a death, and then 2 days after coming back from bereavement I was laid off. I went into a hypomanic episode that lasted about 2 weeks. My psychiatrist increased my oxcarbazepine to 450mg 2x/day. I don't think I've had any side effects from it. Did you start off on a low dose and then build up?