Posted by med_empowered on March 15, 2005, at 21:56:22
In reply to Re: Please tell me more about Trileptal! » med_empowered, posted by smith562 on March 15, 2005, at 18:33:45
hey! I personally prefer Trileptal to other mood-stabilizers because: a) no blood-tests b)better side-effect profile c) it seems to play well with other drugs and d) it works well (for me, at least). Anyway, Trileptal is basically Tegretol, the old-school anti-convulsant, with an added oxygen molecule. The added oxygen apparently makes all the difference; unlike Tegretol, Trileptal doesn't require blood work and seems to do well with other meds. But...it is a new drug, so there are problems with cost and lack of data. For some reason the Trileptal people are marketing it ONLY as an anti-convulsant, and they're not doing mood-stabilizer research (same thing the Tegretol people did). So, since so much of the funding for drug research flows from the drug manufacturers (sad, isn't it?), the evidence for Trileptal's efficacy is mostly based on clinical practice. That said...for me, anyway, the Trileptal first helped calm the "raw edge" of hypomania (anxiety, insomnia, etc.). Then, after a while, I had less hostility and mood-swings, and I eventually found myself with less anxiety and depression. Be careful, though; like Lithium, Trileptal can "flatten out" your emotions if the dose is too high. Anyway, I can't predict how you personally will respond to Trileptal vs Lithium, but I found it helpful. There is MUCH more data for Lithium than for Trileptal, but Trileptal still seems to be gaining popularity, and I personally prefer it over, say, Depakote.
poster:med_empowered
thread:471211
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050312/msgs/471515.html