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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Epilepsy / February 2004Trileptal rash
I raised my dosage of Trileptal yesterday, as instructed, and now I have a rash. I am pretty sure it is a side effect of the Trileptal. I left a message with my doctor, but who knows when he will get back to me. Does anyone know if this side effect will go away as my body gets used to the new dosage? I had no problems with a week on 300 mg, but the rash started when I went up to 450 mg, and I may be supposed to go up to 600 mg next week. I know there is some kind of dangerous rash associated with Lamictal, so is the Trileptal rash dangerous too? Sasha > I raised my dosage of Trileptal yesterday, as instructed, and now I have a > rash. I am pretty sure it is a side effect of the Trileptal. I left a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Sasha Lamictal seems to be the only one that causes the dangerous rash. I did some checking & a rash could be a side effect of Trileptal, but is very rare. Why don't you check with your druggist/pharmacist where you filled the prescription? They are trained to know about such things also. I'd certainly advise you to go back to 300mg and stay there if & until the rash goes away. I'm also wondering why your neuro isn't just having you use 300mg to see if it controls your condition before upping the doseage. Then again, he may decide to switch you to something else because of the rash problem assuming there isn't something else that caused the rash. Bob > > I raised my dosage of Trileptal yesterday, as instructed, and now I have a > > rash. I am pretty sure it is a side effect of the Trileptal. I left a [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Bob Well, the neurologist told me to try the 300 mg and see if it worked, and if it wasn't enough to go up to 600 mg. But then my psychiatrist found out about it and wanted me to try 450 mg after the first week on 300 mg. So I don't know who to listen to. I am still not clear on whether or not the problem is neurological or psychiatric so I don't know which is best to listen to. I do think I will stay at 300 mg for today at least. Also, I think it is too soon to be able to tell if the 300 mg is working. Maybe it is best to just go slow. I see my neurologist tommorrow anyway. Oh, and I didn't think about calling the pharmacist, but I haven't gotten a prescription filled yet, just samples. Thanks, Sasha You could ask him too if there's anything *else that might conflict with what you're using. The efa.org has a medications glossary, but it's better to hear it from the Doctor or Pharmacist directly since they handle your 'file'. I only mention above, since I found out after I'd used Tegretol for a year (1994) that Grapefruit Juice had an acid that conflicts with parts of the working of the Tegretol. Other citrus juiced didn't have it, just the G.fruit juice. There was no advisory (at that time, there is now) from my Pharmacy. I found that on the efa.org medications glossary. G.R. > > > I raised my dosage of Trileptal yesterday, as instructed, and now I have > a [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > Thanks, > Sasha > I raised my dosage of Trileptal yesterday, as instructed, and now I have a > rash. I am pretty sure it is a side effect of the Trileptal. I left a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Sasha There's an article here <http://www.aafp.org/afp/980401ap/marks.html> showing some of the epilepsy meds that can cause rashes. Unless they can figure out what else could be causing the rash, I have a feeling they will take you off that med. There is a difference between a contact rash (external contact) and a systemic one (from internal contact with offending foods, meds, etc). I don't think any systemic rash is particularly "safe." Barb > > I raised my dosage of Trileptal yesterday, as instructed, and now I have a > > rash. I am pretty sure it is a side effect of the Trileptal. I left a [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Barb Thanks for the artical. The doctor said I had an allergic reaction to the Trileptal and took me off it. He had trouble thinking about a new med to put me on because I had tried three other anticonvulsants in the past when a doctor had thought I was Bipolar, but I could not tolerate the side effects of any, and the ones I haven't tried, the doctor said were too closely related to the Trileptal. There were a couple on the list in that actical that the doc did not mention. Also I only tried neurontin for about a week, but I quit taking it because it made me too sleepy. Maybe I could try that again. Does anyone know if the sleepiness wears off? Also My therapist said that after a week on Trileptal that I was a comepletly changed person. My voice was calm and steady and my body was calm and my temper was even, and I did not get upset when talking of things that usually upset me. I seemed like a confident person who wasn't about to flip out at any second and living in fear of having an episode. And my food and alcohol cravings were reduced, probably because my emotions weren't all over the place needing "medication". It is really a shame that I am allergic to it. Sasha > > > I raised my dosage of Trileptal yesterday, as instructed, and now I have a > > > rash. I am pretty sure it is a side effect of the Trileptal. I left a > > > message with my doctor, but who knows when he will get back to me. Does > > > anyone know if this side effect will go away as my body gets used to the new > > > dosage? I had no problems with a week on 300 mg, but the rash started when > > > I went up to 450 mg, and I may be supposed to go up to 600 mg next week. I > > > know there is some kind of dangerous rash associated with Lamictal, so is > > > the Trileptal rash dangerous too? > > > Sasha > > > > There's an article here <http://www.aafp.org/afp/980401ap/marks.html> showing > > some of the epilepsy meds that can cause rashes. > > > > Unless they can figure out what else could be causing the rash, I have a feeling > > they will take you off that med. There is a difference between a contact rash > > (external contact) and a systemic one (from internal contact with offending > > foods, meds, etc). I don't think any systemic rash is particularly "safe." > > Barb > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > allergic to it. > Sasha I don't have any experience with the Trileptal family of AEDs, but hope they can find a New one for you. The Tegretol I use, some people are unable to because they either get a reaction to it OR, like you, they get rash or other conditions. I hope the Dr. can find another that will work for you. Note in your last paragraph -- does your Doctor know that you use Alcohol, even occasionally? Several of these AEDs usually come with a warning that they can be compromised or made Stronger by mixing them with Alcohol for one, but also some other over the counter products we might take for granted. Our Drugstores in Canada usually give a printout with New Prescriptions advising if a med. should not be stopped abruptly, Mixed with Alcohol (like my Tegretol), or even in year 2000 -> some of the Acids in Grapefruit Juice conflict with Tegretol. After *I* saw that posted (I think here), I took a printout to the pharmacy and they gave me an 'updated one'... The Grapefruit thing had been added but the Prescription program wasn't set to auto-print Updates when any of their 'Healthwatch' :-< Pages were updated... Also if you take more than one type of medication, they may be having trouble finding some that will work but not conflict with each other. You may find some stuff under the efa.org medications website glossary, but I'd bet $$$ that Barb's Article is more up to date than the General EFA site. Please keep us posted on how you make out. We have many Many lurkers who read this group but are too shy (sometimes, so far) to Post here. Any New information you find can be of help to Others here but some of them may find new information for you, or have some other ideas. This is not my Bailiwick (or however it's spelled), but is your Doctor, at top, a Neurologist? I'm not trying to do him out of a job, but sometimes a General Practitioner can't be expected to keep as up-to-date on newest medications as a Neurologist who specializes in our type of stuff. If he were a G.P. perhaps he could refer you to a Neuro. If he's already a Neuro, he's likely up to date... G.R. > I don't have any experience with the Trileptal family of AEDs, but hope > they can find a New one for you. The Tegretol I use, some people are unable [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > were a G.P. perhaps he could refer you to a Neuro. If he's already a Neuro, > he's likely up to date... G.R. I did tell him that I drink about every day and he didn't say anything about it. They always say don't drink but I do anyway. I rarely ever get drunk, just like to catch a little buzz, but it seems I can't do without it. I cut way down and went several days without alcohol while on the Trileptal, but I did have a couple drinks the night before the rash. I guess it could be the problem. I didn't have any other weird foods. The thing is I have had very little luck giong without alcohol. It seems that if I could find a med that worked I could just quit, but this med did work, but I missed the buzz. I guess if I get a serious rash when I drink that would be enough incentive to not drink, but that may be underestimating a powerful bad habit. And yes I am seeing a neurologist Thanks for the info. Sasha > "gaross" <> wrote in message > > Note in your last paragraph -- does your Doctor know that you use Alcohol, > > even occasionally? Several of these AEDs usually come with a warning that > > they can be compromised or made Stronger by mixing them with Alcohol for > > one, but also some other over the counter products we might take for granted. > > Our Drugstores in Canada usually give a printout with New Prescriptions > > advising if a med. should not be stopped abruptly, Mixed with Alcohol (like > > my Tegretol). > > Also if you take more than one type of medication, they may be having > > trouble finding some that will work but not conflict with each other. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > And yes I am seeing a neurologist Thanks for the info. > Sasha Aside from the alcohol having a 'non-linear footprint' wrt. Tegretol (for one), where 2 drinks behave like 3+, 3 like 5 etc. either my Dr. or the Pharmacist told me that the alcohol tended to wash out the Medication from the Kidneys where it was absorbed? (at least for my type), so that I wouldn't have a **therapeutic level of Tegretol Controlled Release in my Bloodstream. Since I had full szr. control, I didn't want to experiment. When I was first on Dilantin, I had an occasional glass of wine, but never had beer or stronger alcohol (I preferred Chivas in my youth). But I didn't have any Alcohol at 2 events a year I go to, or at either of my Kid's Weddings in the last 3 years. I have full control and haven't had a C.P. since June 1998. (That only matters since my Neuro told me in 1993 that I might expect 1-2 Seizures per *Month with my type of Temporal Lobe Damage.) G.R. > Also I only tried neurontin for about a week, > but I quit taking it because it made me too sleepy. Maybe I could try that > again. Does anyone know if the sleepiness wears off? It's never caused me any sleepiness, but maybe that's because I start out the day drinking coffee. I'm not sure that's the reason or not. My phenobarbital would be more likely to cause any drowsiness. It has a rather short half-life, so the doses need to be spread out to at least 3 per day. I think the avaiable sizes are now limited to 100mg, 400mg, & 600mg and it's horribly expensive (not that that's an overriding factor if it's doing the job). A 90 capsule bottle of 600mg costs me a base price of $195 at a discount pharmacy before the insurance kicks in and pays part. > Also My therapist said that after a week on Trileptal that I was a > comepletly changed person. My voice was calm and steady and my body was [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > over the place needing "medication". It is really a shame that I am > allergic to it. It sounds like things are on the right track though if the right drug can be found. Bob > > Also I only tried neurontin for about a week, > > but I quit taking it because it made me too sleepy. Maybe I could try that [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > day drinking coffee. I'm not sure that's the reason or not. My phenobarbital > would be more likely to cause any drowsiness. I was on other meds that can cause drowsiness at the time I tried neurontin, so maybe that had something to do with it. I am on meds now that can cause drowsiness but I am not experiencing any, so maybe I could give the neurontin a try again. It has a rather short half-life, > so the doses need to be spread out to at least 3 per day. I think the avaiable > sizes are now limited to 100mg, 400mg, & 600mg and it's horribly expensive (not > that that's an overriding factor if it's doing the job). A 90 capsule bottle of > 600mg costs me a base price of $195 at a discount pharmacy before the insurance > kicks in and pays part. I have good insurance so it should just cost me $20 a month. > > Also My therapist said that after a week on Trileptal that I was a > > comepletly changed person. My voice was calm and steady and my body was [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Bob Thanks, Sasha |
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