CARBAMAZEPINE (ORAL)

(kar ba MAZ e peen) Brand: Carbatrol, Epitol, Equetro, TEGretol, TEGretol XR

What is the most significant information I must know about carbamazepine?

• You must not take carbamazepine if you have a history of bone marrow suppression, if you are also taking nefazodone, or if you are allergic to an antidepressant such as amitriptyline, desipramine, imipramine, or nortriptyline.

• This medicine may reason severe or life-threatening skin rash. Your doctor may recommend a blood test till you start the medicine to determine your risk.

• Do not start or stop taking carbamazepine during pregnancy without your doctor's advice. Carbamazepine may reason harm to an unborn child, but having a seizure during pregnancy could harm both the mother and the child. Speak your doctor right away if you become pregnant while taking carbamazepine for seizures.

• TELL YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT ALL Another MEDICINES YOU USE. Some drugs can raise or lower your blood levels of carbamazepine, which may reason side effects or create carbamazepine smaller effective. Carbamazepine can also affect blood levels of determined another drugs, making them smaller effective or increasing side effects.

What is carbamazepine?

• Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant. It works by decreasing nerve impulses that reason seizures and pain.

• Carbamazepine is used to treat seizures and nerve pain such as trigeminal neuralgia and diabetic neuropathy. Carbamazepine is also used to treat bipolar disorder.

• Carbamazepine may also be used for purposes not listed in this medicine guide.

What must I discuss with my healthcare provider till taking carbamazepine?

• You must not take carbamazepine if you have a history of bone marrow suppression, or if you are allergic to carbamazepine or to an antidepressant such as amitriptyline, desipramine, doxepin, imipramine, or nortriptyline.

• Do not use carbamazepine if you have taken an MAO inhibitor in the past 14 days. A dangerous drug interaction could occur. MAO inhibitors include furazolidone, isocarboxazid, linezolid, phenelzine, rasagiline, selegiline, and tranylcypromine.

• Carbamazepine may reason severe or life-threatening skin rash, and especially in people of Asian ancestry. Your doctor may recommend a blood test till you start the medicine to determine your risk.

• To create certain carbamazepine is safety for you, speak your doctor if you have any of these conditions:

· heart malady, tall blood pressure, tall cholesterol or triglycerides;

· liver or kidney disease;

· glaucoma;

· a thyroid disorder;

· lupus;

· porphyria; or

· a history of mental diseases, psychosis, or suicidal thoughts or actions.

• You may have thoughts about suicide while taking carbamazepine. Speak your doctor if you have symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts. Your family or another caregivers must also be alert to changes in your mood or symptoms.

• FDA pregnancy category D. Do not start or stop taking carbamazepine during pregnancy without your doctor's advice. Carbamazepine may reason harm to an unborn child, but having a seizure during pregnancy could harm both mother and child. Tell your doctor right away if you become pregnant while taking carbamazepine for seizures.

• Carbamazepine can create birth control pills or implants smaller effective. Use a barrier form of birth control (such as a condom or diaphragm with spermicide) to prevent pregnancy while taking carbamazepine.

• Carbamazepine can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing child. You must not breast-feed while you are using carbamazepine.

How must I take carbamazepine?

• Follow all directions on your prescription label. Your doctor may occasionally change your doze to create certain you get the excellent results. Do not take this medication in larger or less amounts or for longer than recommended.

• Do not crush, chew, interrupt, or open an extended-release tablet or capsule. Swallow the pill intact.

• You may open the extended-release capsule and sprinkle the medication into a spoonful of pudding or applesauce to create swallowing easier. Swallow right away without chewing. Do not save the mixture for later use. Discard the empty capsule.

• Shake the oral suspension (liquid) well just till you measure a doze. Measure the liquid with a particular dose-measuring spoon or medication cup, not with a regular table spoon. If you do not have a dose-measuring device, ask your pharmacist for one.

• The chewable tablet should be chewed till you swallow it.

• It may take up to 4 weeks till your symptoms improve. Hold using the medicine as directed and call your doctor promptly if this medication seems to stop working as well in preventing your seizures.

• While using carbamazepine, you may need frequent blood trials at your doctor's office.

• Do not stop using carbamazepine without first talking to your doctor, even if you feel beautiful. You may have heighten seizures or unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if you stop using carbamazepine suddenly.

• Store at room temperature away from moisture, heat, and light.

What happens if I miss a dose?

• Take the missed doze as soon as you remember. Skip the missed doze if it is nearly time for your following scheduled doze. Do not take extra medication to create up the missed dose.

What happens if I overdose?

• Search abnormal medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222.

What must I avoid while taking carbamazepine?

• This medicine may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert.

• Drinking alcohol can magnify some of the side effects of carbamazepine, and can also magnify your risk of seizures.

• Avoid exposure to sunlight or tanning beds. Carbamazepine can create you sunburn more easily. Wear protective clothing and use sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher) when you are outdoors.

• Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may interact with carbamazepine and lead to unwanted side effects. Discuss the use of grapefruit commodity with your doctor.

What are the possible side effects of carbamazepine?

• Get abnormal medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your person, lips, tongue, or throat.

• Message any new or worsening symptoms to your doctor, such as: sudden mood or behavior changes, depression, anxiety, insomnia, or if you feel agitated, hostile, restless, irritable, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.

• Call your doctor at once if you have:

· fever, weary feeling, pale skin, feeling light-headed or short of breath;

· light bruising, unusual bleeding (nose, mouth, vagina, or rectum), purple or red pinpoint spots under your skin;

· slow, quick, or pounding heartbeats;

· confusion, vision problems, hallucinations;

· nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);

· few or no urinating;

· swelling, rapid weight gain;

· headache, slurred speech, vomiting, severe weakness, muscle cramps, loss of coordination, feeling unsteady, fainting, shallow breathing (breathing may stop);

· problems with your fingernails or toenails; or

· severe skin reaction -- fever, sore throat, swelling in your person or tongue, burning in your eyes, skin pain, followed by a red or purple skin rash that spreads (especially in the person or upper body) and causes blistering and peeling.

• General side effects may include:

· dizziness;

· drowsiness; or

· dry mouth, swollen tongue.

• This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may message side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

What another drugs will affect carbamazepine?

• Sometimes it is not safety to use determined medications at the same time. Some drugs can raise or lower your blood levels of carbamazepine, which may reason side effects or create carbamazepine smaller effective. Carbamazepine can also affect blood levels of determined another drugs, making them smaller effective or increasing side effects.

• Taking carbamazepine with another drugs that create you sleepy or slow your breathing can magnify these effects. Ask your doctor till taking carbamazepine with a sleeping pill, narcotic pain medication, muscle relaxer, or medication for anxiety, depression, or seizures.

• Much drugs can interact with carbamazepine. Not all possible interactions are listed here. TELL YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT ALL Another MEDICINES YOU USE, and any you start or stop using during treatment with carbamazepine, especially:

· theophylline;

· birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy;

· an antibiotic, or drugs to treat tuberculosis;

· antifungal medicine such as fluconazole or ketoconazole;

· a blood thinner such as warfarin, Coumadin;

· cancer medicines;

· a diuretic or "water pill";

· heart or blood pressure medication;

· HIV or AIDS medications;

· medicine to treat depression or mental diseases, such as aripiprazole or lithium;

· medicines to prevent organ transplant rejection;

· another seizure medications, such as valproic acid;

· steroid medicine; or

· thyroid replacement medication.

• This list is not complete and much another drugs can interact with carbamazepine. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal commodity. Give a list of all your medicines to any healthcare provider who treats you.

Where can I get more information?

• Your pharmacist can provide more information about carbamazepine.

Remember, hold this and all another medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medicine only for the indication prescribed.

Disclaim: Each effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses external of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way must be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safety, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the help of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.