Headmeds fills the medicines information gaps for young people - things you might want to know about meds like will it affect my sex life? Can I still study?  Can I drink?
Headmeds does not give medical advice so this is just general information.
Each medicine has a balance of good and bad effects, and each person gets their own individual effects.
You might want to know just one thing about your medicine, but on each page we have given you the ‘safety headlines’. Please read them as they are important.
We have included lots of information about each medicine - but if you want all the details, please look at the patient information leaflet - which is inside every pack. These leaflets are also at www.medicines.org.uk - where there will be the most up-to-date information.

Safety headlines

• If you have taken more carbamazepine than it said on the label, you must see a doctor quickly – even if you do not feel any different.
• Carbamazepine can make some people think about hurting or killing themselves. You must go straight to hospital with your tablets if you have any of these thoughts.
• If you get a rash just after starting to take carbamazepine, especially if you are from a Han Chinese or Thai family, you must stop the tablets and see a doctor straight away. You may get a fever, headache and body ache, like having flu, and then ulcers in your mouth and all over your body.
• Carbamazepine can also cause other serious side-effects: allergic reactions (difficulty breathing, swelling of your face or throat, itching skin lumps), and other serious symptoms that you can find here. Go to a hospital if you get any of these symptoms, with your medicine.
• Do not take carbamazepine if you have taken a monoamine oxidase inhibitor antidepressant (MAOI) like moclobemide, phenelzine, isocarboxazid or tranylcypromine or St John's Wort in the last 14 days.
• Carbamazepine can make the contraceptive pill or implant less effective – use a barrier method to stop you getting pregnant.
• Stopping carbamazepine suddenly can cause serious side-effects – go to your doctor if you want to stop, or if you are having these effects.
• You might feel sleepy or dizzy in the first few days after taking carbamazepine – do not drive a car, ride a bike or operate machines until you see how this affects you.
• If you take carbamazepine while you are pregnant, it may affect the developing baby. Use good contraception while you are taking carbamazepine. It can also cause symptoms in newborn babies if you take it at the end of pregnancy. Talk to your doctor or midwife about this and get their help.

Basic details

Carbamazepine is a mood stabiliser

• Carbamazepine is a medicine called a ‘mood stabiliser’ as it controls feelings of excitability and over-activity.
• If you are aged 5 or over, the doctor can prescribe carbamazepine for you as a licensed medicine to prevent mood swings from bipolar disorder.
• It has also been used to treat low mood (depression), some anxiety and panic disorders, aggressive behaviour in people with schizophrenia, and alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
• Cabamazepine is usually only prescribed after you have already tried other mood stabilisers lithium, olanzapine and valproate.
• You will also see that carbamazepine can be used to treat epilepsy and trigeminal neuralgia.

You can take carbamazepine as tablets or liquid

• Carbamazepine is available as tablets (100mg, 200mg and 400mg strengths)
• There are 3 different types of tablets for carbamazepine.
• One type are meant to be chewed (it should say ‘chewable’ on the box or label)
• Another type are slow release and must be not be chewed or they will not give you the long-lasting effect. It will say prolonged release, SR, or slow release on the box or label. You should swallow each tablet whole, or break it in half along the line in the middle
• The third type of tablet are ordinary tablets and you should swallow it whole, or you can cut the tablet in half if it has a line in the middle of it

You can also get carbamazepine as a liquid medicine (100mg in each 5ml spoonful).

Reference sources

• Tegretolâ tabs SPC (Date of Revision – 10^th February 2014)http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/1328/SPC/Tegretol+Tablets+100mg%2c+200mg%2c+400mg/ (Accessed 28^th February 2014)
• Tegretolâ tabs PIL (Date of Revision – 15^th November 2013)http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/4095/PIL/Tegretol+Tablets+100mg%2c+200mg%2c+400mg/ (Accessed 28^th February 2014)
• Taro carbamazepine liquid 100mg/5ml SPC (Date of Revision – 14^th May 2013) http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/27629/SPC/Carbamazepine+100+mg+5+ml+Oral+Suspension/(Accessed 28^th February 2014)
• Taylor D, Paton C, Kapur S. Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines in Psychiatry, 11^th edition, 2012. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
• British National Formulary (BNF) 66^th edition, 2013. London: BMJ Group / Pharmaceutical Press.
• British National Formulary for Children (BNFc) 2013-2014. London: BMJ Group / Pharmaceutical Press.
• NICE – Clinical Guideline CG38. Bipolar disorder: The management of bipolar disorder in adults, children and adolescents, in primary and secondary care. July 2006. Available at http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG38(Accessed 28^th February 2014)
• WADA Prohibited List 2014. Available at http://www.wada-ama.org/Documents/World_Anti-Doping_Program/WADP-Prohibited-list/2014/WADA-prohibited-list-2014-EN.pdf (Accessed 31st January 2014)
• MHRA. Antiepileptics: Changing Products 25/11/13, www.mhra.gov.uk (Accessed 28^th February 2014)
• Poisons Index –Carbamazepine www.toxbase.org
• Neal MC. Medical Pharmacology at a Glance (7^th Edition). Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, 2012.