Carbamazepine may cause rare but serious blood problems including low white blood cell counts. Symptoms may include: fever, sore throat, or other infections that come and go or do not go away, easy bruising, red or purple spots on your body, bleeding gums or nose bleeds, or severe fatigue or weakness.

How does carbamazepine cause leukopenia?

A decrease in WBC is thought to occur with carbamazepine due to the inhibition of colony-stimulating factor in the bone marrow.

What are the side effects of carbamazepine?

Common side effects of carbamazepine include feeling sleepy, dizziness, headaches and feeling or being sick. These are usually mild and go away by themselves. It usually takes a couple of weeks for carbamazepine to work. When taking carbamazepine for epilepsy, it’s best to stick to the same brand.

What causes drug induced neutropenia?

Drug-induced neutropenia is caused by decreased production or increased destruction of neutrophils. Decreased production is frequently a consequence of chemotherapeutic drugs that cause suppression of bone marrow myeloid progenitor cells.

Can carbamazepine cause neutropenia?

Transient leukopenia and, less commonly, neutropenia may occur with carbamazepine therapy. Discontinuation of therapy is usually not indicated unless symptoms are severe, persistent, or accompanied by infection.

Can Tegretol affect BP?

Although rare, a variety of cardiovascular effects including hypertension have been reported with carbamazepine. Numerous mecha- nisms may be responsible; however, shared pharmacologic properties with the tricyclic antidepressants are suspect. Hypertension is a rare side effect of carbamazepine.

Does carbamazepine cause hyponatremia?

One cause of hyponatremia, the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) secretion, has been associated with some drugs, including carbamazepine (CBZ). Because of its antidiuretic effects, CBZ has been used successfully to treat diabetes insipidus centralis.

Does carbamazepine cause leukocytosis?

The possible causes of and pathophysiology of leukocytosis are reviewed. The changes in WBC that occurred with the rechallenge of carbamazepine indicate that the drug was the probable cause of the leukocytosis.

What is normal WBC?

Different laboratories might use different ranges. In general, the normal range for men is 5,000-10,000 white blood cells per microliter of blood. For women who are not pregnant, the range is 4,500-11,000 white blood cells per microliter. For children, the range is 5,000-10,000.

Who should not take carbamazepine?

You should not take carbamazepine if you have a history of bone marrow suppression, or if you are allergic to carbamazepine or to an antidepressant such as amitriptyline, desipramine, doxepin, imipramine, or nortriptyline. Do not use carbamazepine if you have taken an MAO inhibitor in the past 14 days.

What happens if you stop taking carbamazepine suddenly?

Do not stop using carbamazepine suddenly, even if you feel fine. Stopping suddenly may cause increased seizures. Follow your doctor’s instructions about tapering your dose.

How do I wean off carbamazepine?

When you decide with your doctor to stop taking carbamazepine, you will probably reduce the dose slowly over at least a month to stop you getting any uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. Go and speak to your doctor if you have missed a few doses or have decided to stop taking your medication.

Is neutropenia reversible?

Transient neutropenia, in most circumstances, is reversible with removal of the offending agent. Neutropenia is defined as an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) < 1,500/μL.

How long does drug-induced neutropenia last?

Confirmation of drug-induced neutropenia is made by repeating the CBC and differential after withdrawal of the offending drug. The neutropenia usually resolves within 3 weeks.

How do you reverse neutropenia?

Neutropenia Treatment

  1. Antibiotics for fever. …
  2. A treatment called granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). …
  3. Changing medications, if possible, in cases of drug-induced neutropenia.
  4. Granulocyte (white blood cell) transfusion (very uncommon)

Which antibiotics cause neutropenia?

The drugs most commonly associated with neutropenia are antibiotics (particularly beta-lactam and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxasole) as well as antithyroid drugs, antiplatelet agents, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, and noramidopyrin (3).

Can antibiotics affect neutropenia?

Neutropenia is an uncommon but potentially serious complication of drug therapy. Many drugs, especially antibiotics, can produce this untoward effect. Typically, drug-induced neutropenia occurs in a patient receiving a semisynthetic penicillin for two weeks or more.

Does meropenem cause neutropenia?

Postmarketing surveillance has associated meropenem with the development of hematologic abnormalities, including agranulocytosis, neutropenia, and leukopenia, but the exact incidence in children is unknown.

Does carbamazepine affect heart rate?

Although sinus tachycardia is the most frequently observed cardiac side effect of carbamazepine, sinus and nodal bradycardia, atrioventricular block, premature ventricular contractions, ventricular tachycardia and junctional escape rhythms have been reported in patients due to carbamazepine toxicity.

Can Tegretol cause low platelet count?

ALTHOUGH REPORTS OF TRANSIENT OR PERSISTENT DECREASED PLATELET OR WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNTS ARE NOT UNCOMMON IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE USE OF TEGRETOL, DATA ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO ESTIMATE ACCURATELY THEIR INCIDENCE OR OUTCOME.

Can carbamazepine cause heart problems?

Most of the cases of cardiovascular effects reported have occurred in patients receiving carbamazepine for trigeminal neuralgia. The reported effects included congestive heart failure, edema, hypotension, syncope and arrhythmias.

Why does carbamazepine cause low sodium?

The main mechanism by which carbamazepine causes hyponatremia is by increased antidiuretic hormone (ADH) secretion, but it has also been related to increased sensitivity of the renal tubules to ADH activity as well as increased aquaporin 2 channel expression in the renal tubule [5].

Why does Tegretol cause low sodium?

Carbamazepine causes increase in antidiuretic hormone (ADH) which leads to abnormal sensitivity of renal tubules to ADH activity. This causes increased expression of aquaporin 2 channels in the renal tubules. [7] The incidence of hyponatremia due to carbamazepine has been found to be 1.8%–40% in previous studies.

How is oxcarbazepine induced hyponatremia treated?

Most cases of OXC-induced severe or symptomatic hyponatremia can be corrected with dose reduction or drug discontinuation and fluid restriction.

What medications cause leukocytosis?

Among the most common medications causing leukocytosis are corticosteroids, lithium, and β-agonists. Also implicated are recombinant cytokines, antihypertensives, antifungals, antibiotics, anticonvulsants, antidiabetics, antidepressants, and others.

What is the medical term for low white blood cell count?

A low white blood cell count (leukopenia) is a decrease in disease-fighting cells (leukocytes) in your blood. Leukopenia is almost always related to a decrease in a certain type of white blood cell (neutrophil). The definition of low white blood cell count varies from one medical practice to another.

How does Carbimazole cause agranulocytosis?

Carbimazole-induced agranulocytosis occurs generally within few weeks or months of taking the anti-thyroid medication, but onset may be delayed by 1 year with an incidence of 0.1%–0.3%. Agranulocytosis is a serious rare side effect of carbimazole. …

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What is an alarming WBC count?

In general, for adults a count of more than 11,000 white blood cells (leukocytes) in a microliter of blood is considered a high white blood cell count.

Is 11.7 WBC high?

A: For an adult, a healthy WBC count is considered to be between 4,000 and 11,000 WBCs per microliter of blood. This is on average – some healthy individuals may have a higher or lower count.

Is 2.9 WBC too low?

A normal WBC count is approximately 4,500 to 10,000 WBCs per microliter of blood. A low WBC count is generally below 3,500 WBCs per microliter of blood, but this number varies depending on the medical laboratory, the particular test used, and the individual medical practice.