Hi there. And greetings on this thread from another Mike.

I just wanted to say that I was on Trileptal for almost two years without incident, but with regular (every sixth week) blood test to measure I believe my liver functions and my blood sodium levels. One day my neurologist tracked e down on the cell phone and ordered me to stop taking Trileptal at once because my blood sodium levels had fallen percipitiously. Another month or so and I could have sustained some irriversable nerve damage.

Now, I hadn't appreciated what Trileptal was doing for me. It had no obvious side-effects and I couldn't "feel" it in my system. That said, I was hit with a hard rebound that only went away as I was ramped up on Neurontin, a drug that now puts me to sleep almost every time I take it and causes weight gain in some people, but other than that has no other side effects, i.e., it is as, I am told, as "non-toxic" as any of these drugs. (Compare, Topamax). I hope this is helpful.

Mike