According to a new study, some anti-seizure drugs used to treat epilepsy as well as depression, chronic pain, migraine, bipolar disorder, and other conditions are associated with a higher risk of suicide and violent death than other drugs in the same class
The antiseizure drugs reviewed include:
- gabapentin (Neurontin),
- lamotrigine (Lamictal),
- oxcarbazepine (Trileptal),
- tiagabine (Gabitril), and
- valproate (Depakote).
Despite the risk, experts advise that you should not stop taking the drug without your doctor’s permission.
The study, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, echoes a 2008 review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which concluded that taking anticonvulsants roughly doubled the risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
The new study examined prescription data for 13 different anticonvulsants from health plans across the country and compared them to federal death records and data on emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
Of more than 2 million prescriptions filled in the five-year study period, the researchers looked at 297,620 new prescriptions. Among people who received the drugs, there were 801 suicide attempts, 26 suicides, and 41 violent deaths. Importantly, suicidal thoughts were not tracked.
The study focused on the risk of suicidal behavior associated with specific drugs, comparing each drug to topiramate (Topamax) because it is widely used and prescribed for a range of conditions.
The study concluded that the risk of completed or attempted suicide among people taking tiagabine (Gabitril) was 2.5 times greater than it was among those taking topiramate, while the risk among people taking oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) was twice as great.
The risk of completed or attempted suicide was also higher among people taking lamotrigine (Lamictal), valproate (Depakote), or gabapentin (Neurontin), compared to topiramate.
In all, 5 of the 12 drugs compared with topiramate were found to increase the risk of suicidal behavior.
If you are taking one of these drugs you should tell your doctor if you begin to feel depressed or have thoughts of suicide.
Suffering from a mental or physical problems (or a combination of problems) severe enough to keep you from working in any regular paying job? The Social Security Benefits Attorneys at the Strom Law Firm, L.L.C. will fight to help you obtain social security benefits. The Strom Law Firm aggressively fights social security benefit denials throughout the State of South Carolina. Our lawyers proudly edit the Columbia, South Carolina Injury Board, the Strom Law Social Security Benefits Blog and the Strom Law Workers Compensation Blog as a pro bono effort to provide the public valuable information. Our lawyers are licensed in South Carolina, New York, and Georgia.
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