Posted by SLS on April 13, 2001, at 11:37:06
In reply to Is anyone taking Felbamate?, posted by SalArmy4me on April 11, 2001, at 18:50:06
Hi SalArmy4me.
> The anticonvulsants have all been good for me, but they pooped-out. Has anyone taken Felbamate? Did you have to sign some kind of waiver because of the hematological side-effects?
I am a bit surprised that you should be looking into trying new anticonvulsants. I guess you were unable to establish a satisfactory response to lamotrigine, gabapentin, or topiramate. Have you tried combining them? Very often, each is singularly inadequate and requires a second “mood-stabilizer” to augment it. The NIMH has been looking very closely at the combination of lamotrigine and gabapentin.
What is your diagnosis or major complaints? Do you have bipolar disorder?
In what way have these mood stabilizers pooped-out on you? How long were you taking them before you began to lose the therapeutic effects?
What is it specifically about felbamate that attracts you to it?
Although I am very curious to see how one would respond to felbamate (Felbatol), I would council anyone thinking of using it to consider that it can produce serious, potentially fatal side effects.
Felbamate can produce aplastic anemia, a hematological (blood) condition in which the bone marrow no longer produces many different types of critical blood cells.
Felbamate can also cause hepatic (liver) failure.
The rates of occurrence of both of these side effects have shown themselves to be very much higher than what pre-marketing trials reported.
I can understand your interest in this drug. You obviously know its potential for dangerous reactions. Please post your results as you progress through your research of felbamate and how you respond to it.
Good luck.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:59473
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010411/msgs/59682.html