Carbamazepine for Epilepsy

It may take time and careful, controlled adjustments by you and your doctor to find the combination, schedule, and dosing of medicine to best manage your epilepsy. The goal is to prevent seizures while causing as few side effects as possible. Regular blood tests help monitor the amount of medicine in your blood—it is important to maintain a consistent level. After you and your doctor figure out the medicine program that works best for you, make sure to follow your program exactly as prescribed.

• Adverse effects. Some of carbamazepine's long-term effects may not yet be fully known. People tend to tolerate the drug quite well, and it has fewer side effects than phenobarbital, another drug used to treat the same types of seizures.
• Drug interactions. Many medicines for epilepsy can interact with other medicines you may be taking. This means that your epilepsy medicine may not work as well, or it may affect the way another medicine you are taking works. Some of these interactions can be dangerous. It is important to tell your doctor about all the medicines, herbal pills, and dietary supplements you are taking. Carbamazepine may reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills.
• Serious health risks. Carbamazepine can cause serious, but uncommon, side effects such as liver problems, Reference bone marrow Opens New Window problems (low blood counts), and skin rash. Regular blood tests can lower the risk by identifying problems early on.
• Risk of birth defects. All medicines for epilepsy have some risk of birth defects. But the risk of birth defects needs to be carefully compared to other risks to the baby if the mother stops taking her epilepsy medicine. If you are thinking about becoming pregnant, it is important to plan ahead and talk with your doctor about the benefits and risks of taking epilepsy medicine during your pregnancy. It you are already pregnant, it is not too late. The best thing to do is talk to your doctor about your pregnancy before you make any changes to the medicines you are taking.
• Other concerns. For some people, carbamazepine may produce side effects or carry risks that are not yet fully known. Report any unexpected side effects or problems to your doctor.

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