Carbamazepine
Anticonvulsant • Brands: Tegretol
Last reviewed: 2025-09-24
Dosing & forms
- Forms/strengths: —
- Frequency: —
- Food: —
- Typical range: 400–1200 mg/day (in divided doses)
- Therapeutic range: 4000–12000 ng/mL
Mechanism (brief)
Voltage‑gated sodium channel blocker; reduces high‑frequency neuronal firing.
Metabolism & Half‑life
- Metabolism: Strong CYP3A4 inducer, autoinduction, epoxide metabolite.
- Half‑life: ~12–17 h (after autoinduction).
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)
Recommended: Yes
Reference range: 4000–12000 ng/mL
Sampling: Trough
View labelExact
Monitoring highlights
- CBC, LFTs, sodium (hyponatremia risk) — Baseline and periodically
- Consider HLA‑B*1502 in at‑risk ancestry — Baseline
- Consider HLA-B*1502 in at-risk ancestry — Baseline
In‑depth reading
- Carbamazepine‑induced hyponatremia: risk and management — Review (2019)
- Review of carbamazepine-induced hyponatremia. — Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry (1994)
Sources
- Carbamazepine label — DailyMed (2025)