My daughter is taking Tegretol XR for her epilepsy. She has been on 900 mg since she turned 18 yrs old but has been taking Tegretol since she was 4 yrs old....so 22 years now. Just had her annual check-up with her neurologist. Her white cell count is down to 4.0. Her doctor suggested changing to a different medication because she may get Aplastic Anemia. I guess her count has been slowly going down ever since she started the medication. It has worked great in controlling her seizures. She has lived a productive life, was a runner in college, is able to drive and graduated with dual degrees from the University of Idaho. Can she do anything to build up her white cell count to avoid the Aplastic Anemia. Her red cell count is fine as she has been on the high side of iron. About 4 years ago she was having the breathing problems, heart issues (which they did find a heart murmur), she was getting extremely tired. She seen a doctor that worked with her for about a year and a half to figure out what was going on with her. She got her on Paleo Diet but let her have the beans and peanut butter on it. She also started taking Vitamin Ds and a probiotic. This seemed to help and she got back to just about where she was with her athletics and finished up her college courses. Now we are not sure what to do. Can we build up her immune system to avoid Aplastic Anemia so she can stay on her medication? She really does not what to change to a new medication as this one has worked so well for her. She will be starting graduate school in May of 2019 and does not want this to be a problem as she pursues her doctorate. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Christine