Felbamate (Systemic)

Brand Names : Felbatol, FBM

Before Using This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For felbamate, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to felbamate or to medicines like felbamate such as carbromal, carisoprodol (Soma, Rela), mebutamate, meprobamate (Equanil, Miltown), or tybamate (Tybatran). Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy - Felbamate has not been studied in pregnant women. However, studies in pregnant animals have shown that felbamate may cause lowered birth weight and lowered survival of offspring when given to the mother in doses more than one and one-half times the usual human dose. Before taking this medicine, make sure your doctor knows if you are pregnant or if you may become pregnant.

Breast-feeding - Felbamate passes into breast milk. However, it is not known whether this medicine causes problems in nursing babies.

Children - This medicine has some very serious unwanted effects. Children may not be able to tell their parent or guardian or their doctor if they have symptoms of these effects, such as chills or stomach pain. Felbamate should be used in children only if other medicines have not controlled their seizures.

Older adults - Many medicines have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects or problems in older people. There is no specific information comparing use of felbamate in the elderly with use in other age groups. However, older people are more likely to have other illnesses and to use other medicines that may affect the way felbamate works. Your doctor may start with a lower felbamate dose or may increase the dose more slowly.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking felbamate, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Carbamazepine (e.g., Tegretol) or
• Phenytoin (e.g., Dilantin) or
• Valproic acid (e.g., Depakene) - Higher or lower blood levels of these medicines or felbamate may occur, which may increase the chance of unwanted effects; your doctor may need to change the dose of either these medicines or felbamate

Other medical problems - The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of felbamate. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

• Anemia or other blood problems (or history of) or
• Liver problems (or history of) - Felbamate may make the condition worse