Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 7/5/2008

Question
I have been taking this medication with success and when presciption was recently refilled..I was given a pill that was round, pink with the numbers 54/331.
The pharmacy is closed tomorrow and I will not take it until I know what it is. It does not look like the oblong yellow pill  with 13/7.
In addition to wanting to know what this is..can I go two days wihtout the med? I take 150 mg twice a day.
thank you for your time and expertise.


Answer
Hi, Kellie . . .

Then a medication goes from there just being the brand product on the market, in this case Trileptal, to a situation where there are many generic forms also on the market, patients are often become confused. What had been a consistently appearing tablet or capsule often changes in size or shape and the medication can look different each time a prescription is filled.

Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) recently went generic and there are now multiple forms of it on the market. As I am not familiar with all of them, there is no way I can tell you what the medication you have actually is.

Oxcarbazepine is an anticonvulsant, and even if you are taking it as a mood stabilizer, it is not a good idea to suddenly stop taking anticonvulsant medication.

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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