Hello all. My elderly dad who had anxiety and agitation had been prescribed
Risperdal, became more agitated with less sleep on that, and has recently been
switched to Tegretol, on which he is extremely agitated and anxious constantly
until he finally passes out from overexertion. The psychiatrist's solution to
this has been to double the dose of Tegretol, which has led to even more
agitation, and as you might guess, I'm gravely concerned about his care.  The
approach to his medical situation has been to treat supposed 'seizures' and
'psychosis', neither of which I see any evidence of even after close medical
review. On both medications my dad has been experiencing tarditive dyskinesia
as well-- stooping, dizziness, etc.

If anyone can comment on the recent doubling of a Tegretol dose in these
circumstances, pro or con, it would be greatly appreciated, and may help me
explain to his caregiver that there may be other options and that further
discussion should be undertaken with his psychiatrist.  Thank you very much.

Individual experiences or anecdotes, are welcomed, by the way.

It is unclear to me why he was prescribed Tegretol. What is his
psychiatric diagnosis? Depression, dementia or something else? Are there
are medical conditions present?

Risperdal can cause the restlessness (akathisia), but the reaction to
Tegretol is unusual. I have seen some idiosyncratic reactions to
Tegretol, like confusion, severe dizziness etc.

BTW, tardive dyskinesia usually occurs after months to years of
traditional anti-psychotic treatment. Stooping and dizziness are not
symptoms of it; it is usually writhing, twitchy movements of the mouth
and tongue.

You don't mention how many milligrams of Tegretol, so it is a little
hard to estimate the significance of the doubling of the dose.

I would wonder if your father has a depressive illness and that
treatment might be aimed in that  direction.

These are all points to discuss with his psychiatrist.

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