Hi Isabelle,

Whenever I hear the Tegretol/Frisium combination, my ears perk up. I was
on 1600 Tegretol a day, plus 40 Frisium, which gave me control over the
epilepsy but no control over my memory or random sleeping habits (at
times I wondered whether I had narcolepsy, not epilepsy).

I reduced the Tegretol first to 1200, then to 1000, then to 800 and have
had no problems. This was done gradually and on the 1000 to 800 step I
took 1000/800 on alternate days ( let's call it 1:1) for three weeks,
then 1:2 for three weeks, then 1:3 for three weeks. After that I went to
a steady dose of 800, which still has side effects, but not as bad as
before.

This dosage plan was successful and my own design, so that if I
discovered the dose became too low, I could hike it back to the previous
level without putting my doc in a difficult position regarding my
licence. Having waited 19 years before they granted me it, I didn't want
to lose it again merely because of one day's missing pill.

After 2 years at the lower dose (now 46) 800 I have had no seizures, and
my doc is aware of the changes I have made. He suggested that I stay at
800 FTTB, although I occasionally miss a dose (due to forgetfulness!)
with no ill effects.

I hope you are successful, and wish you the best - please let us know
how things go.

Hi.  I was on 400mg Tegretol Controlled Release twice a day when we replaced
the night dose with Frisium (which you use too).  The types of tablets I
have can be snapped in half to make part doses.  As we added the replacement
tablet (in my case Frisium), they set the frequency at One week alternate
days of 2 tablets one day, 1.5 tablets next, 2 tablets, 1.5etc.  Then one
week at 1.5 tablets each night, then week 3 alternate down another half
tablet, week 4 one tablet then Bloodwork.  We then did the last of the
removal over the next 4 weeks.  Somewhere in there the Frisium (which
replaced my Night Tegretol) was started and phased up so the doses passed
each other on way to their targets.

  We took my Night doses down quicker than your Doctor is doing with you.
My 2 tablets (400mg) night dose above were totally removed in 8 weeks, and
final 'blood check' at week 10.  While there is an advisory about Promptly
stopping the Tegretol that means 'don't stop taking it tonight Cold Turkey'
, it doesn't mean that with Doctor supervision that you need to worry about
the rate he's set.   Especially if you have told them you were interested in
becoming Pregnant, the rate they had set didn't look (to a Non-Doctor) to be
too fast.  They likely want to see if the replacement tablets will keep you
stable as you get closer to the Last e.g. 30% of the Total Tegretol you were
on, since any reactions you might have would show up there??  I wouldn't be
surprised if they want you OFF the tegretol, for 4-8 weeks before you move
on to 'Phase 2'  (becoming pregnant),  but That's an area that I'm not
experienced to pass comment on.  I just know that some of the anti ep drugs
(AEDs) stay in the blood for a number of weeks, so the last of the Tegretol
would likely still be around for 2-3 weeks? after the last of it is taken.
  IF you're concerned they might be going too quick for you, don't be
afraid to ask them or tell them about your concerns.   Most of the Doctors
I've ever had were More than willing to discuss what they were doing in more
detail and make the patient comfortable with why they had set the Increase
or Decrease rate at what they had.

 There IS an advisory on my Tegretol Prescription scripts, that if I
planned to become pregnant to consult with my Doctor.  I *think there is
risk of it robbing Calcium and possibly also producing complications for the
child during the First? Trimester -- but being the wrong Gender I didn't pay
enough attention.
  I have *2 sites for you that you should bookmark so you can look through
them at your leisure.   Julie Walton posts from time to time and runs the
Idaho U.S. Website.  It has good general information on First Aid, Living
with Ep. Issues and MAY have stuff you'd find useful.    It's at
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org  .
  Above has a link to the main U.S. Ep. Foundation of America site which
has a Medications Glossary that will include most of the pills you might use
in the UK or Europe.  Although it might not list Tegretol Retard, it will
list Tegretol OR Carbamazepine (likely on the pill bottle), and Tegretol XR
or CR --> ONE of them is equivalent to the UK version. Someone here might
know which it is.
 **MY Tegretol CR 200mg are Orange Solid tablets with a horizontal slot in
the centre so it can be snapped in 2 to make 2 100mg doses.   One of the
time-released versions is a plastic tube with a powder inside so they can't
be broken to produce part doses.  I don't know which the Retard version is
like.

 The DIRECT LINK to Ep. Foundation of America is http://www.efa.org  .
WHEN you click to it (you can bookmark it there so it's available without
needing the www stuff each time) -- to the Right is a list of Hotlinks --
Click on Medications, then I think there's an item called Pregnancy Issues.
If not it'll ask for the name of the Medication you are looking for, type in
Tegretol or Carbamazepine and 'go' or whatever is there to take you to a
page with more detail.    I like the efa site since Most of the pages, if
it's something you'd like a hardcopy of, there's an option either at top
right or bottom of page to 'print this page' and if you click on that, it'll
give you a Printable Version for a hardcopy to save.

  I don't recall any advisory on the Canada Healthwatch printout my
Pharmacist gives me on Frisium (Clobazam) wrt. Pregnancy, and I haven't used
Lamotrigine (others 'around here' have and will give you an answer over next
2-3 days hopefully).
 Both my pills (above) have advisories about care with use of Alcohol and
the pills, and the Tegretol had an advisory about not using Grapefruit Juice
either with it.

   One of the Ladies around here will likely give you some answers over
next day or two. They might have some other websites of use also.    G.R.