Phenobarbital for epilepsy

Phenobarbital for epilepsy
Examples
How It Works
Why It Is Used
How Well It Works
Side Effects
What To Think About
References
Credits

Content provided by Healthwise

Examples

Brand Name	Chemical Name
Solfoton	phenobarbital

Phenobarbital requires one dose each day in most people. Infants may need two doses. Phenobarbital is available in liquid, capsule, and tablet forms.

Primidone (Mysoline) is a drug that the body converts into phenobarbital. It usually requires three doses per day.

How It Works

Phenobarbital is a barbiturate, which acts as a sedative or depressant.

Why It Is Used

Phenobarbital is the antiepileptic drug of choice for newborns who have epilepsy.

Partial seizures and generalized tonic-clonic seizures may be treated with phenobarbital.

How Well It Works

Phenobarbital is effective in preventing partial and tonic-clonic seizures.¹

Side Effects

Phenobarbital often makes children and older people:

Hyperactive.
Restless.
Unable to sleep.
Aggressive.

Phenobarbital has the opposite affect on young and middle-aged adults, who may feel:

Listless.
Depressed.
Tired.

Phenobarbital can alter your mood, behavior, thought processes, and ability to learn or remember things. These effects may be worse in older people.

See Drug Reference for a full list of side effects. (Drug Reference is not available in all systems.)

What To Think About

It may take time and careful, controlled adjustments by you and your doctor to find the combination, schedule, and dosing of medication to best manage your epilepsy. The goal is to prevent seizures while causing as few unwanted side effects as possible. Once the most effective medication program is determined, it is important that you follow it exactly as prescribed.

Adverse effects. Phenobarbital's effect on your thinking and state of mind is a serious drawback to using the drug. Teenagers and adults taking the drug may feel depressed or irritable. It can cause memory loss and decrease your ability to learn. Children and older adults may feel restless and have trouble sleeping. Primidone is usually less effective and has more side effects than phenobarbital (including depression and impotence).
Risk of birth defects. Use of phenobarbital during pregnancy increases the risk of minor birth defects in the newborn.
Ease of use. Phenobarbital only has to be taken once a day, making it a good choice if you have a busy schedule or have trouble remembering to take your drugs. Because phenobarbital works very slowly, it may take weeks before phenobarbital levels reach the proper level. However, missing a dose of phenobarbital now and then usually does not affect the drug levels in your bloodstream. This is not true of other antiepileptic drugs.
Cost. Phenobarbital is the cheapest of the broad-spectrum drugs used to treat a variety of seizures.
Other concerns. Phenobarbital may reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills.

Complete the new medication information form (PDF) (What is a PDF document?) to help you understand this medication.

References

Citations
Brodie M, Kwan P (2002). Staged approach to epilepsy management. Neurology, 58(8, Suppl 5): S2–S8.

Credits

Author	Monica Rhodes
Editor	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS
Associate Editor	Pat Truman
Primary Medical Reviewer	Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics
Specialist Medical Reviewer	Steven C. Schachter, MD - Neurology
Last Updated	November 11, 2005

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Last updated:	November 11, 2005
Author:	Monica Rhodes
Reviewed By:	Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics, Steven C. Schachter, MD - Neurology
Editors:	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman

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