02-01-2003

Anna (12) has been taking Zonegran for several months now and it has significantly helped her seizures. Side effects have included excessive sleepiness and urine retention (Zonegran causes urine to become more alkaline, and apparently it's been bothering Anna, as she now "holds" until she can't hold any longer and then "floods".) Her appetite has not been suppressed as it was by Topamax, which works along some of the same chemical pathways as Zonegran (which is why they're generally not given together.) We watch her carefully for signs of other potential side effects such as UTIs, anemia, kidney stones, etc. Zonegran is the first drug that diminishes her used-to-be-daily tonic/clonic seizures and her very troubling (and extremely uncomfortable for her) "tonic" episodes (possibly a form of status epilepticus) in which she stiffens up, her heart pounds, and she has great difficulty moving - and stays that way for many hours. She presently takes (3) 100 mg capsules daily (1 in the morning and 2 at night.) Zonegran enters the bloodstream very slowly so it take a week or two for dosage changes to take effect.

Extensive FDA information about Zonegran, Diastat, and almost every other med can be found at this link: http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/DEFAULT.HTM

RD (father of Anna, 12)