I was prescribed Tegretol for the stabbing nerve pains of trigeminal neuralgia but to be honest, I don't think it helped me at all. I think my TN was due to MS, and I although I kept taking it during the attack, I think I got much more relief from Prednisolone when my doctor added that to my medications.

I'm on a similar anti-epileptic drug now called Sodium Valproate (Epilum) for chronic optic nerve pain, and I get limited pain relief from that one.