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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2002 >> Tegretol
        
(Message started by: ist on Oct 12^th, 2002, 8:49am)

Title: Tegretol
Post by ist on Oct 12^th, 2002, 8:49am

I have been prescribed Tegretol. Has anyone used this for cluster headache. I am getting some blister like on my nose and below the tear duct on cheek. Has anyone had this?
I am a new cluster head. It started by me having a very red eye and felt that I had something in my eye. That evening, my head started to hurt and I had sharp pains shooting into my eye. This went on for about 3 days and the pain got worse. My head was throbbing and the headache was like a contractal type and only on one side starting from my temple and took a 45 degree turn to the centre of my forehead. As it passed different areas of my head the pain was different in all areas. It went from throbbing to shooting to feeling like I had something too cold . On the fourth day, my eye started to water. I went to the eye doctor and he suspected a cluster headache. I had a CT scan and there are no signs of tumor. I was than prescribed Tergertol. I live in Africa and there are very few specialists here. One doctor says it may be trigeminal neuralgia and some say it is a cluster headache. Please can someone help me to tell me if they have diagnosed me correctley and if I have a cluster headache?

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by Not4Hire on Oct 12^th, 2002, 9:22am

hey ist!......First: I see that you have posted the same message on General, Meds, and Supporters. This is not necessary...please delete from General and Supporters.

Second: Take a deep breath, and then read the Welcome page and then take the Cluster Quiz. You can better decide if your diagnosis is correct. There is a wealth of information here and it's better if you do your own research. Then ask questions if you are lost.

Third: a good abortive (and indicator) for CH is oxygen therapy. If you get get relief with o2, that's a pretty good sign that your diagnosis is correct. Also, being awakened from a sound sleep with pain.

Good luck......Steve

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by Ueli on Oct 12^th, 2002, 9:38am

Hi ist,

From your description the nature of your headaches is not quite clear. CH is something only a very few doctors are familiar with. So you have to do your own research and best start with the "cluster quiz" (button on the left). One of the main characteristic of a cluster attack is, that it starts very fast, from zero to full blast in 5 to 10 minutes. Then the pain is so intense that there is no room left for throbbing, it stay at a steady extremely high level for a time of 15 minutes to a few hours. The end of an attack is very fast too, in minutes from full pain to almost nothing.

How important a correct diagnosis is can be seen from the medications that help:
As an example: Carbamazepine (Tegretol) has 3 uses:
1) as an anticonvulsant
2) as a specific analgesic for Trigeminal Neuralgia
3) to make Zombies.
So if your diagnosis is TN, then Tegretol is one of the best medications. But if you have clusters it does nothing at all against it (except #3 above). Experts in cluster headaches consider the use of Tegretol for CH as obsolete and not helpful at all.

Good luck,
Ueli

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by radioflyer on Oct 20^th, 2002, 8:35am

Hi there,

I take A LOT of Tegretol daily, for epilepsy/seizure control and I have suffered from CH's for years. Tegretol doesn't seem to have any affect on my headaches. I would hesitate to accept this as a solution and I would look to other possibilities such as oxygen, other drugs such as Imitrex, acupuncture.....whatever.

Good luck. I share your pain as I am in the middle of a long cycle of headaches as I type this.

David

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by JAG on Nov 11^th, 2002, 7:11pm

hello,
i just found this website. the tegretol heading caught my eye sense thats what my doctor first prescribed for my CH. it worked for me but the side affects are nasty.
my mother went to a health food store and found a herbal remedy called clstr-caps, these are great 100% releif. the next bout i went to get more, found out i can't get clstr-cap any more but was told that migr-ease contains almost the exact same herbs. i have had 100% success with this also. no doctors, no prescriptions.
made by crystal star. i swear by this stuff. i am on a 3yr cycle and the bottle i'm using now is at least 3yr old and still seems as potent as ever. no more doctors for me.

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by Ted on Nov 11^th, 2002, 7:18pm

on 11/11/02 at 19:11:20, JAG wrote:

Hi Jag. This is my "Saturday" so I'm off to the bar. I'm quite certain I'll give you a more appropriate greeting concerning this post when I come back. :o

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by garrys on Nov 24^th, 2002, 5:47pm

Just a response from experience. I am a chronic and have seen several Drs. who offer different remedies. I did tegretol for six months. Doc also ran brain test. Results of test from Dr., "Something abnormal happening there, we'll put you on tegretol!" Also stated, "I watched my grandfather suffer years with the same thing and we don't want that happening to you! Two things happened! I never had enough tegretol in my system to suit the Dr. and it never ever decreased or stopped my headaches. What's working now? Oxygen, Verapamil, and Zomig. Good luck with a new Dr.

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by ave on Nov 26^th, 2002, 5:37am

I used Tegretol for appr. 9 months when my replacement doc had diagnosed me with Trigemenal Neuralgia.

I was a zombie for appr. 9 months (Ueli is absolutely right) and then I found out I did not have Trig. Neuralgia, but cluster headaches, for Tegretol did sweet f. nothing. It deadened just about everything about me, feelings, sensory input, joy, you name it. It just didn't deaden the cluster pain when it came again.

Careful with that stuff, if you don't need it.

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by Charlie on Nov 26^th, 2002, 9:52pm

Welcome and stick around if you find you have clusters. One thing about clusters is that they will wake you out of a sound sleep most of the time and you cannot lie down or sit still. They are that painful.

Tegretol is one of the anti-convulsants that doctors normally keep close tabs on. It can be tricky.

Charlie

Title: Re: Tegretol
Post by Svenn on Nov 27^th, 2002, 2:06am

Tegretol did not help me but the neuro could almost instant see what i had for dinner 7 days ago.Was almost instant trowing up and it felt like a war in my stomach

Svenn