[ferrells]

We are on our wits end trying to find an anti-seizure med that works for my 9 yr old son. Currently he's on depakote & lyrica at but he's still having 2 to 3 full seizures a week. I might also add that he has a VNS. The Nuero suggested yesterday that we try Felbatol as an adjuctive therapy. I looked it up and it seems pretty ugly but not much worse that some of the other things we have tried. Has any one tried Felbatol? Did it work? Were there side effects?

[Wren]

Hello ferrells ~ First I'll say that I'm so sorry about your son's seizures and the things have gone with them. I understand how difficult that must be.

I'm so very much older than you are that I probably don't count with your son's trials with AEDS, but I took Felbatol for maybe a year after it was first introduced and I had no trouble with it. My neuro jerked me off of it when the bad news about it came out simply because I was having no good news on it either.

There are so very many AEDs available. Has your son tried them all?
This great NeuroTalk Board has a fine Epilepsy site .... be certain to post your question there and you'll get more answers.

Welcome to NeuroTalk - we're glad you're here and hope you find help and comfort.

[Kitty]

Hi Ferrells and welcome to NeuroTalk!

I see you've already visited the Epilepsy Forum and I hope someone there can give you some answers or at least point you in the right direction to find them.

Glad you decided to join the board!

[mrsD]

has a very drastic profile. It can cause aplastic anemia. And I had a patient who almost died from it. (years ago)

For a while it was taken off the market, but it has returned.

You can read about it here:
http://www.patientsville.com/news/felbamate-news.htm

When a person continues to have seizures, when drugs don't seem to work, one should consider food allergy.

The most common, with links to seizures is gluten intolerance.
We have a gluten forum here, and there are many others on Google. I know someone whose daughter's seizures stopped when she went gluten free. It is worth looking into, since you are in a spot between a rock and a hard place. Going gluten free is non-toxic, but does require effort.

Good luck.