My advice would be to ALWAYS check with your doctor and follow instructions! Tegretol is a powerful medicine. It is my understanding that you always need to taper it off, never stop cold turkey. I am not as sure about how to start up again, but I always follow what my neurologist says. And I think I have always built back up after being off it. You can't tell how much you need if you don't. You need enough to stay ahead of the pain. When the pain gets ahead of the level of medicine, it is harder to stop the pain and takes more medicine. Please don't be casual about how you take medicine. And tell your doctor what you have done so he or she can help you the best.