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Excerpt from  Cafer's Mood Stabilizers and Antiepileptic Drugs Topiramate (TOPAMAX)  toh PEER a mate / TOH pah max “Top at max (speed on) Top (of) pyramid” ❖  Antiepileptic   ❖ Voltage-gated sodium and calcium channel blocker    ❖ Glutamate ⇩ FDA approved for:   ❖  Focal seizures   ❖ Bilateral tonic-clonic seizures   ❖ Lenno x-Gastaut syndrome  ❖ Migraine prophylaxis  ❖ Obesity, long-term tx  (in combination with phentermine) Used off label for: ❖ Alcoholism (relapse prevention)  ❖ Bipolar disorder (adjunct)  ❖ Weight loss (monotherapy)  ❖ Binge eating disorder  ❖ PTSD Nightmares Topiramate is prescribed by psychiatrists for several off-label uses. The most compelling data is for preventing alcohol relapse . Although not FDA-approved for alcoholism, it is recommended in the 2015 US Veterans Affairs guidelines for moderate/severe alcohol use disorder.  Nicknamed ...

Excerpt from  Cafer's Mood Stabilizers and Antiepileptic Drugs ,  available on Amazon  ❖ Antiepileptic  ❖ Voltage-gated sodium  and calcium channel blocker  ❖ Glutamate ⇩  FDA approved for: ❖  Bipolar I maintenance ❖  Focal seizures ❖  Lennox-Gastaut syndrome  ❖  Bilateral tonic-clonic  seizures  Used off-label for: ❖  Bipolar II maintenance ❖  Major depressive  disorder ❖  Borderline personality  disorder ❖  Neuropathic pain ❖  Fibromyalgia ❖  PTSD ❖  Other seizure disorders  "Lamb ictal" - “Ictal” refers to a neurologic event such as a seizure.  Lamotrigine is the mood stabilizer of choice for maintenance of bipolar disorder . Lamotrigine has few health risks and few side effects . The most commonly reported side effects at high doses are dizziness and blurred vision . Lamotrigine does not cause weight gain and is generally non-sedating . No lab monitoring is...

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) Excerpt from the book Cafer's Pharmacology , available soon from Amazon New AEDs are often initially approved as adjuncts for focal seizures (formerly called “partial” seizures) but are prescribed off-label for adjunctive treatment of bilateral tonic-clonic seizures (formerly “primary generalized” seizures) and/or as monotherapy. GABA is the brain’s principal inhibitory neurotransmitter. AEDs with “gab” in their name are either structurally relate d to GABA and/or lead to GABA(A) receptor activation. Benzodiazepines (Chapter 4) may be used for epilepsy but are excluded from this list. Barbiturate monographs are in Chapter 3.  The monographs in this chapter are presented in order of mood stabilizers followed by the non-mood stabilizing AEDs in descending order of popularity in terms of number of prescriptions issued (Rx #). An angry face means that a medication may cause significant irritability and potentially aggression , to the extent it should not be...