carbamazepine
Last reviewed 01/2018
Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant and analgesic drug that is used in the treatment of pain associated with trigeminal neuralgia and in epilepsy manifested by some types of seizure.
It is useful in partial seizures, particularly of the temporal lobe type, and in major tonic-clonic epilepsy.
A common problem that can occur with initial administration is drowsiness but can be avoided by starting with a small dose, e.g. 100 to 200 mg/day, and increasing gradually over several weeks.
Other uses include affective disorder in epileptic patients, treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, but growing use as alternative to lithium in the prophylaxis (and to a lesser extent the treatment) of bipolar depressive disorder or schizoaffective disorder.
The summary of product characteristics should be consulted before prescribing this drug.
reference range (carbamazepine)
monitoring whilst on carbamazepine therapy in bipolar disorder
indications for monitoring/checking drug levels of antiepileptics