Time course of carbamazepine autoinduction. The VA Cooperative Study No.118 Group

We sequentially determined carbamazepine clearance values in 17 patients at the end of weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 of monotherapy. There were no significant differences among these clearance values. In 11 of 17 patients, week 1 clearance accurately predicted week 12 carbamazepine serum concentration (within +/- 33%). Our data indicate that carbamazepine autoinduction was completed within the first 1 or 2 weeks of monotherapy. Serum concentration values obtained after 1 week of monotherapy, using our dosing regimen, can be used to predict directly the dosing rate needed to obtain a specific serum concentration in most patients.