I have been on tegretol for 30 years for epilepsy (600mg, which is a small dose for epilepsy) and I take 20mg of imipramine as a migraine preventer.

I find if I take more than 600mg of tegretol the side effects are awful, but many people successfully take much higher doses than i can tolerate. But then again, I think that around 600mg is the usual dose for pain conditions. I am also on epilim for my epilepsy, which makes up for the smaller than usual dose of tegretol.

I have not experienced any problems with interactions between tegretol and imipramine. I have been on the imipramine for about ten years I guess, so it has been a while. The reason I swapped on to imipramine (was on amytriptaline prior) was because it is the least sedating of the tricyclics. I also find that imipramine really helps with my sleep.

My neuropathy started after I had been on tegretol for 20 years, so it is impossible to say whether it has been good/bad or indifferent for my PN as I have always been on it. It did make it difficult to come up with any rx for my neuropathy when it was very painful as I was already on three meds that are often prescribed for PN. I now have numbness and motor loss so my pain management days are long gone, thankfully.

good luck with the meds
raglet