*** Hi, the history file for this thread has dropped off my server.  Did
they give you a 'name' for the 'Seizure Type' when they first prescribed the
Tegretol (usually XR, CR, or Retard) ?   Usually that's prescribed for
Complex Partial (formerly Temporal Lobe) based seizures. Some symptoms (like
the 'fog')  can be part of the seizure *type, *or can come during periods
where dose level is temporarily higher in the blood?  That's why the CR
versions are often used now, since they can use a lower dose, taken at a
consistent rate, each day.   That keeps blood level stable if they can
manage that.
  (Some things interfere with Tegretol.  The Pharmacy should have included
those, or there's a Med. Glossary under the U.S. Ep. Foundation site
http://efa.org  .  You either type in the Name, or scroll to the med., click
Find or Search, to get a one page printable page. *Grapefruit Juice has an
acid in it that interferes with Tegretol levels that's not in other juices
usually.  And Alcohol can interfere with some people's blood levels, by
flushing the med. faster than expected under normal use.  I found I got the
'fog'  sensations during periods when I was above my Therapeutic level,
until we found one that worked. A 'drunken' sensation can come from the same
cause. )  /

*** Being over-tired or under stress can lower our seizure threshold (for CP
Seizures at least) and allow a szr. to happen more easily.   During some of
those times, it's the fatigue that makes the szrs. easier to happen and not
necessarily *just  whatever the Medication is that we're using.  /

*** Slurred speech used to mean the Blood Level is temporarily too High.
That's why the CR or XR is often used to try balance the levels.
**Forgetting things may be a product of damage or seizures happening in one
of the *Temporal Lobes of the Brain.   (That's the short-term memory buffer
where new learning goes first before it gets stored into longer term memory.
So the *forgetting part can be a part of the original cause of the szrs. and
not always due to the Med.)  /

** See para. above -- *could they be from the *cause, I listed, and not
necessarily the Med.? /

*** Not being a Dr., just someone using Tegretol CR for Complex Partial
seizures,  I'd vote for *2 in your list.   *Neither of your meds. (in my
opinion)  is Causing the symptoms, but may be reducing the number of
seizures you are having?   I've never seen any writeups 'here' since 1998
where Tegretol 'caused'  the problems.    But what if you had the Symptoms
FIRST and *neither Tegretol nor your Orfiril is *yet giving you 100%
control?   Could it be that too?
   Are you getting More control (so *less seizures per month?)  than you
had Before you were using those?  My seizures (especially what I called the
'surprise ones'  that would come on with No Aura or warning like I had when
first Diagnosed 1993-5)  went down from 8-10 per month to 2-3, to one each
2-3 months,  to less frequent.
   With the CR version and a second med.  I was told to 'hope for'  2-3
seizures or *less a month.  Last 2 I had were Dec. 1997,  June 1998.   As I
got near the 'target' dose for my type of szr. and metabolism,  I also had
less and less Auras (I hated Worse! since they often meant a szr. was on the
way),  and haven't had any that I can remember for several years now.
(Auras are a dizzy swirling feeling, sometimes with a Deja Vu or Jamais Vu
feeling, where you can feel strangely out of balance but not collapse during
them.)
   I have periods when no one is around me to witness anything, like an
Absence seizure happened (where I'd stay *awake but not *conscious of what I
was doing = Petit Mal type).   I had a few times where I've found 'strange
writing'  that I knew was mine, though harder to *read than my normal
'doctor's script' --> that I suspect were Simple Partials or Absences during
that last 5 years.  Those have decreased from ~5-6 a year to very few (0-2
per year), in case you get any of those.

   I get the odd 'mood swing'  when the weather is changing (air pressure
dropping as storms move in),  but those are less extreme too.
   (I mostly wanted to repeat the Grapefruit thing, plus Alcohol, using
*Tegretol since those had not been included in my Druggist's Warnings at the
time (they are now since I took them printouts I had found 'here' or on
internet searches I did then.   I *don't know anything about things that
might interfere with Orfiril Retard--  if it's *not listed on the efa.org
site mentioned above, see if there's a 'Pharmacist's name'  printed on the
Prescription Bottle to try.  Tegretol, for example, is Carbamazepine in a
Pharmacy Directory if it's not found using 'Tegretol'.  OR ask your Pharmacy
if they have a Printout or Website they can give you for your particular
pills.   )
  I hope that might be of use.  (*Note spelling of Tegretol if you want to
search that name.) G./