Trileptal and Drowsiness: What Users Say

• Mir...
• October 31, 2011

For Bipolar Disorder "I've been taking Trileptal for bipolar disorder for years. I switched from Depakote as it made my hair fall out, and I hated the monthly blood tests. I take a large dose of Trileptal, 2100mg/day, and shortly after taking it, I may have some short-lived side effects (tingling in my face, mild double vision, and sleepiness) for about a half hour. My doctor says I might avoid these if I'd split it into morning and evening doses, but I have no doubt I'd forget the morning dose regularly. Trileptal has been very good to me! I still take a low dose birth control (Norethindrone 0.35mg/day) to help with 'monthly' ups and downs, and we've added Lamictal for its antidepressant effects (I found out antidepressants may increase cycling). I've never felt this 'Normal' before!"

• itl...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 19, 2014

"I take 150 mg at night. It makes me drowsy, along with a 0.5 mg alprazolam. I can finally get at least 5-6 hours of sleep at night. I did not know how ill my disorder was making me until I was on this medication, and the prescriber that I was seeing let me lapse because I missed my appointment for a refill. Within a couple of weeks, I wanted to put my jacket on and run away, thought about running into traffic, real manic, racing thoughts while feeling depressed. I never knew how sick I was for all of those years until I was on the Trileptal and felt what 'healthy' was like. Thankfully, I found a new doctor and I’m back on it and do not plan on stopping, ever!"

• Elv...
• January 5, 2010

For Seizures "I have been taking Trileptal for almost 1 month now, and it's such a lifesaver. I have been suffering from partial epilepsy for more than a year. I have been going to the hospital for almost 5/6 months, and they could not discover what the problem was, so I had to see a private doctor who diagnosed me with partial epilepsy and put me on Trileptal. As soon as I took these tablets, it reduced the attacks to 1 every two days, and after a month, it completely got rid of it, so I am really happy with these. However, I do feel slightly drowsy after taking them, but that does not matter since it's taken all the seizures away, which was my main concern since life just felt like hell prior to these. So I would definitely recommend it."

• Slu...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 16, 2024

"This medication was an absolute GODSEND for me. I was terrified of trying another mood stabilizer after lamotrigine made me cry like a hormonal pregnant woman and messed my period up horribly on only 50mg (an extremely low dose for lamotrigine). My psych prescribed this next, but I was so scared I refused to even take it. Almost a year later, a lot of things changed, and I felt like I needed a mood stabilizer to keep my head straight. I researched, and this medication seemed to be my best bet. I'm only on 300mg currently, but I started at 150mg and only had to change dosage once so far. The only side effect I experienced was extreme sleepiness during the first few days, then it was completely gone. This medication has stabilized my mood, improved my anger issues, improved my sleep quality, helped my depression (this paired with Wellbutrin 300mg and Celexa 20mg have completely diminished my depression symptoms), and I never thought I could be this stable without having almost daily counseling."