I don't think it is the same thing, but I take a form of the Carbamazepine drug that works better for my pain than the tegretol. It is time released capsule form and the side effects are not as strong. It too is more expensive, but worth it as long as I can afford it.

My episodes are sporadic, so I do not have to take it on a daily basis, but it does work better for my attacks than when I used to use the chewable generic tegretol tablets.

Good luck, hope your new meds work for you.

Rhonda