banzel experience with

[oldhats]

Good Morning,
I am wondering if anyone has had experience with Banzel. Our son was started on last fall and was up to a dosage of 2400mg/day. This dosage was held for 6 weeks and then was increased to 3200mg/day. Within 2 weeks of this last increase he started to experience very violent seizures compared to his "usual" seizures. finally the doctor decided to decrease his dosage to 2400mg/day.
my question is-in the Banzel flyer that accompanies the bottle of medication it says that there is no clinical information regarding a dosage LOWER than the maximum dosage being effecctive. Does this seem plausible?
Thank you for any reply about your experience with this medication

[joy]

welcome oldhats. it is not me but my grown daughter that has seizures. I do not know about this drug. I hope others will know something and share with you. wish you good luck in finding a drug that helps son.

[jingle]

WebMD.com has an article about BANZEL and 4 comments about people who have used it.
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[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Oldhats))))))

Welcome to Brain Talk!

I'm so sorry that your son is experiencing seizures.

While I'm not familiar with Banzel, I do know that some seizure medications can cause an increase in seizure activity, in seizure duration, as well as promote seizures of a different type than the one for which the med is being given. This is particularly true with increased dosages of the AED (Anti-Epileptic Drug). Our Drug Info link indicates that seizures can be a side effect of Banzel.

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It doesn't seem plausible that there is no statistical/clinical information on the efficacy of Banzel at various dosage levels. There should be data of that nature about every drug, I would think. In trial studies, I would imagine that they could indicate that X % of the participants achieved X % of seizure control at X dosage, while Y% of the participants showed no improvement at X dosage, but did at Y dosage.

On the lower dosage of Banzel, were your son's seizures being controlled? Had they improved, lessened? Had they worsened, prompting the doctor to increase the dose?

Has your son tried other AED's? How did he respond to them?

Sometimes, a cocktail of AED's is necessary to achieve improvement and/or control. Monotherapy on an AED is uncommon, I think.

I hope someone comes along with experience with Banzel.

Please join us on the Child Neurology forum (aka, CN), where most of us have children with a seizure disorder. We understand what you're going through and are here to support you.

Child Neurology:

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I look forward to getting to know you and your dear son.

Love & Light,

Rose

[oldhats]

Thank you for your kind thoughts. And I really appreciate your reply-

[oldhats]

Thank you for the website link, it was helpful.

[oldhats]

Thank you for your kind thoughts and also the website link. It was helpful and I bookmarked it.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((oldhats))))))

You are so welcome. I am going to post on Child Neurology for you to ask if any parents there have experience with Banzel. Please visit the Child Neurology forum, and respond to that thread.

Love & Light,

Rose

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((oldhats))))))

I posted on Child Neurology, and one member has responded with her experience with Banzel. Here is the link to that thread:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

Many of us on Child Neuro have experience with intractable seizures with our children. It is so frustrating and frightening. We understand.

Please visit and share more about your son and his seizures, so that we are better able to help and support you.

Love & LIght,

Rose

[howdydave]

Howdy oldhats!

Yes it is plausable.
It just means that no clinical testing was done with low doses.

BIG difference between: "no testing has been done" and "it won't work!"

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Howdy Dave))))))

In clinical trials, don't participants start on the lowest dose of the medication and titrate their way up on the drug? Aren't their blood levels measured along the way, before taking the med, after the first 2 weeks on a low dose, after every dose increase, etc.? That just seems logical to me, as a way of establishing a therapeutic level of the medication. If that is the case, then it would seem that they would have clinical data on lower doses achieving seizure control, if it occurred. That's why I felt it was implausible for that data to not exist.

Love & Light,

Rose