Many doctors no longer prescribe it unless other seizure medicines have failed, however, because of concern that its side effects often outweigh its benefits (except for certain groups such as very young children).
Phenobarbital can be administered as an injection, a liquid elixir, or tablets. Each has their own speed of taking effect and appropriate dosages. Tablets or elixirs begin to act in about 60 minutes,2? and their duration lasts for 10 to 12 hours,3? depending on the dosage and individual metabolism.
Phenobarbital slows the activity of your brain and nervous system. Phenobarbital is used to treat or prevent seizures. Phenobarbital is also used short-term as a sedative to help you relax.
Cognitive deficits in adults: Long-term use of phenobarbital is associated with a number of cognitive deficits in adults that can include similar issues with learning and memory, attention and concentration, complex attention, expressive and receptive speech, and problem-solving.
The muscle relaxant effect of phenobarbitone was studied in genetically spastic rats which exhibit spontaneous tonic activity in the electromyogram (EMG) of the gastrocnemius muscle.
It works by controlling the abnormal electrical activity in the brain that occurs during a seizure. This medication is also used for a short time (usually no more than 2 weeks) to help calm you or help you sleep during periods of anxiety. It works by affecting certain parts of the brain to cause calming.
Seizures take on many different forms and have a beginning (prodrome and aura), middle (ictal) and end (post-ictal) stage.
The different types of generalized seizures are:
- absence seizures (formerly known as petit mal)
- tonic-clonic or convulsive seizures (formerly known as grand mal)
- atonic seizures (also known as drop attacks)
- clonic seizures.
- tonic seizures.
- myoclonic seizures.
Stimulants such as tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, sweets, soft drinks, excess salt, spices and animal proteins may trigger seizures by suddenly changing the body's metabolism. Some parents have reported that allergic reactions to certain foods (e.g. white flour) also seem to trigger seizures in their children.
Many medications are used in the treatment of epilepsy and seizures, including:
- Carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Tegretol, others)
- Phenytoin (Dilantin, Phenytek)
- Valproic acid (Depakene)
- Oxcarbazepine (Oxtellar, Trileptal)
- Lamotrigine (Lamictal)
- Gabapentin (Gralise, Neurontin)
- Topiramate (Topamax)
- Phenobarbital.
While essential resources and information are recommending the use of Levetiracetam, there are also sources discrediting the drug with evidence of causing memory loss and reduced quality of life.
Avoid alcohol. Aggression, nasal congestion, headache, decreased appetite, infection, dizziness, pain, sore throat, depression, nervousness, and fatigue are reasonably common side effects.
Levetiracetam has been linked to rare instances of serum aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase elevations during treatment and to rare cases of clinically apparent drug induced liver disease.
If you need to stop the drug, you should do so by reducing by 1 tablet each day until you are off the medicine. No blood monitoring is needed while on Levetiracetam. More information is available at
As with other antiepileptics, Keppra may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior. Monitor for worsening depression or mood changes. Keppra may also cause behavioral problems such as aggression, anxiety, irritability, and nervousness; advise people taking Keppra to monitor their mood.
What are the symptoms of a seizure?
- Staring.
- Jerking movements of the arms and legs.
- Stiffening of the body.
- Loss of consciousness.
- Breathing problems or stopping breathing.
- Loss of bowel or bladder control.
- Falling suddenly for no apparent reason, especially when associated with loss of consciousness.
Conclusion: Preliminary analyses suggest that clobazam may be beneficial for sleep in patients with epilepsy, primarily by increasing total sleep time. However, further analyses in a larger group are needed to clarify the impact of clobazam on daytime sleepiness and well being.
Clobazam is a 1,5-benzodiazepine indicated for the short-term relief (2-4 weeks) only of anxiety that is severe, disabling or subjecting the individual to unacceptable distress, occurring alone or in association with insomnia or short term psychosomatic, organic or psychotic illness.
Withdrawal syndrome usually begins as soon as the patient stops taking the medicine and lasts for 8 to 10 days. The longer the person has been taking clobazam and the higher the dose, the greater the tolerance and therefore the higher the risk of worsening seizure control.
Taking clobazam with opioid medications (such as codeine, hydrocodone) may increase your risk of very serious side effects, including death. To lower your risk, your doctor should have you take the smallest dose of clobazam that works, and take it for the shortest possible time.
Bottom Line. In studies, weight gain has not been reported as a side effect with Onfi (clobazam). Increased appetite is a known side effect related to Onfi treatment and could result in weight gain in some patients. Higher doses may be linked to increased appetites.
Introduction. Clobazam is a benzodiazepine that is used as an anticonvulsant in the therapy of severe childhood epilepsy. Therapy with clobazam has not been associated with serum aminotransferase elevations, and clinically apparent liver injury from clobazam has yet to be reported and must be rare, if it occurs at all. Clobazam may cause confusion, worsening of depression, hallucinations (seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there), suicidal thoughts, and unusual excitement, nervousness, or irritability.
Clobazam controls the symptoms of seizures by stabilising the electrical activity of your brain, which prevents the seizures from occurring. It also relaxes muscles that stiffen (contract) during a seizure. This means that the numbers of seizures are reduced, and those that do occur, are less severe.
There appears to be significant improvement in cognitive abilities in PBD patients treated with lamotrigine that is most prominent in the areas of working memory and verbal memory and that occurs along with mood stabilization.
This medicine may cause some people to be agitated, irritable, or display other abnormal behaviors. It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies or to become more depressed.
Low risk of weight gain: Lamotrigine (Lamictal) is most likely to cause weight loss. However, it can also cause weight gain. Other common side effects of this drug include: headache.
Lamictal also binds and weakly inhibits several other signaling receptors in the brain, including those to which dopamine and serotonin normally bind. By inhibiting these receptors, signaling in the brain is “tuned down,” or reduced, which can also decrease seizure activity.
Lamotrigine may make you feel very drowsy or sleepy when you start taking it. It may also make it difficult for you to get to sleep. If these symptoms carry on for a long time, or if this is difficult for you, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about other medicines you could take.
Laboratory testing performed at therapeutically relevant concentrations has shown that lamotrigine can increase the risk of serious arrhythmias, which can be life-threatening in patients with clinically important structural or functional heart disorders.
Weakness, drowsiness, confusion. Stiff neck, headache. Increased sensitivity to light. Mood or behavior changes, such as depression, anxiety, agitation, hostility, restlessness, mental or physical hyperactivity, suicidal thoughts.
Adverse effects of the drug may include serious toxic epidermal necrolysis, in which alopecia is a well known phenomenon (1). However, apart from occurring as a part of epidermal necrolysis, hair loss is usually not associated with lamotrigine treatment in the literature (2).
If you stop taking the drug suddenly or don't take it at all: If you take this drug to treat seizures, stopping the drug suddenly or not taking it at all may cause serious problems. These include an increased risk of seizures. They also include risk of a condition called status epilepticus (SE).
