Oct 4, 1996
(Started Apr 16, 1992)
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Effectiveness
Can't tell
(for epilepsy)
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Side effects
Severe
(for Overall)
(difficulty thinking)
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Burden
A little hard to take
Dosage:
1200 mg
Daily
Advice & Tips:
1) If you request a surgical evaluation and the doctor (in my case, Robert Gumnit, M.D.) refuses to let you out of the hospital forcing you to take more medication, get off of it if you can still think. If you cannot think another person will have to get you off of it and file a lawsuit in less than two years for you to have a chance to have a regular life again.
2) Over twenty percent of mothers I have talked with believe that "doctors know everything" and will not help their children survive. (And about 7000 deaths each year in the 1990s were due to a doctor killing a patient.) Make sure the person watching over you when you try a new medication will take action and not leave you a "zombie" (a nurse who told me I was within two days of death and my Dilantin count was up to 36.6 while getting off of Tegretol following the doctor's orders.
3) When I used over 500 mg/day of Tegretol, I could not think at all. When I got under 200 mg/day, then I regained control of my life. It was three years after my right hip shattered that I learned the Tegretol did that.
Side effects:
difficulty thinking