|
|
(anti-seizure medications) Summary of Anti-seizure medications Some of the more effective and commonly used medications for chronic pain are drugs that were developed to control other conditions. Anti-seizure (anticonvulsant) medications were developed primarily to reduce or control epileptic seizures, but they also help control stabbing or shooting pain from nerve damage. These drugs seem to work by quieting damaged nerves to slow or prevent uncontrolled pain signals. These medications can cause dizziness, drowsiness, nausea and lack of balance and coordination. But most people are bothered only minimally. More severe but less common side effects include blood and liver disorders. To reduce your risk of side effects, your doctor will likely start you off on a small amount of the drug and gradually increase the dose while monitoring you. Oxcarbazepine (marketed as Trileptal® by Novartis or Trexapin by Taro) is an anticonvulsant and mood stabilizing drug, used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. As of October 2007, Trileptal has also been available as a generic drug in the United States. Oxcarbazepine is structurally a derivative of carbamazepine, adding an extra oxygen atom on the dibenzazepine ring. This difference helps reduce the impact on the liver of metabolizing the drug, and also prevents the serious forms of anemia or agranulocytosis occasionally associated with carbamazepine. Aside from this reduction in side effects, it is thought to have the same mechanism as carbamazepine - sodium channel inhibition (presumably, the main mechanism of action) - and is generally used to treat the same conditions. Oxcarbazepine has recently been found associated with a greater enhancement in mood and reduction in anxiety symptoms than other drugs employed to treat epilepsy. Oxcarbazepine occasionally causes fatigue, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, and blurred or double vision. It can cause hyponatremia( 2.7% of patients), so blood sodium levels should be tested if the patient complains of severe fatigue. Some of these side effects (such as headache) are more pronounced shortly after a dose is taken and tend to fade with the passage of time (generally 60 to 90 minutes). A craving for salty foods (such as potato chips) has also been noted. The frequency of adverse effects rises after dosage above 1200mg/d. Concentration loss is also reported to be a frequent side effect.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
