How can a medication that is used to treat epilepsy be also a mood stabiliser IE!
Question: Tegretard Retard is a mood stabiliser. It affects the hormones such as Progesterone and sodium levels in the body . This is by affecting the hormones involved in regulating the water and salt levels by mimicking the hormone vasopressin. It is now used to treat bipolar disorder as it affects the levels of dopamine and acetycholine (increases the levels). It can affect a variety of chemical processes in the body.
"The hpa axis consists of a feedback loop that includes the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands. The hormones that regulate the HPA axis are corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), argenine vasopressin (AVP), adrenocorticotropin hormone(ACTH) and cortisol. The HPA axis is involved in the stress response and abnormalities in the HPA axis have long been implicated in mood disorders. Increased HPA axis activity has been associated with mixed-maniac states, depression and classic manic episodes (Manji & Lenox, 2000; Varghese & Sherwood Brown, 1999)."
Answers: Tegretard Retard is a mood stabiliser. It affects the hormones such as Progesterone and sodium levels in the body . This is by affecting the hormones involved in regulating the water and salt levels by mimicking the hormone vasopressin. It is now used to treat bipolar disorder as it affects the levels of dopamine and acetycholine (increases the levels). It can affect a variety of chemical processes in the body.
"The hpa axis consists of a feedback loop that includes the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands. The hormones that regulate the HPA axis are corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), argenine vasopressin (AVP), adrenocorticotropin hormone(ACTH) and cortisol. The HPA axis is involved in the stress response and abnormalities in the HPA axis have long been implicated in mood disorders. Increased HPA axis activity has been associated with mixed-maniac states, depression and classic manic episodes (Manji & Lenox, 2000; Varghese & Sherwood Brown, 1999)."
It suppress and stimulates chemicals that controll nerves and emotion! That is a pretty serious drug! I had it prescribed to me when I had severe nerve damage and chronic pain due to a facial fracture! I was so upset about the ingury the doc thought that tegratol would help my ups and downs because I would get real sad and unhappy out of no where and depressed because of the injury! I opted not to take it! All those pharmas are bad news!
Because most epileptics are prescribed a calming drug as well as a drug to stop the seizures and to name a couple for you have 1. Mysoline this is an older drug
2. Frisium, this is a newer one
and they give the epileptic these also to stop any anxiety they may also have.
all medicines can be used for more than just one thing if you don't understand ask your doctor, but you can also phone and ask your pharmacy their number will be on the label of your medicine and they know just about the every medicine there is. good luck your answer is only a phone call away.
Tegretol helps to control seizures by stabilising your brain cells which stops them from firing too much.
It helps with mood stabilisation (eg. in bipolar) by inhibiting a certain enzyme (latest research).
So it works in different ways to achieve different aims.
You could just as well ask how can a drug that's a painkiller also be used to prevent heart-attacks, e,g. aspirin. Lots of compounds have more than one use.
On the spicific question of why anti-epileptic drugs also have mood stabilising properties, that's an excellent question they don't quite have the answer to.
The brain is way more complex than the heart.
Tegratol (Carbamazepine) is thought to affet the glutamine activity in the brain, however it is not fully understood how tegratol works as a mood stabiliser.