Information for Patients | BANZEL.com

Information for Patients

If you or a loved one is prescribed BANZEL as a part of your epilepsy therapy, be sure to talk to your healthcare provider about the possible risks and side effects associated with the use of BANZEL. It’s important to read the Medication Guide and important safety information below and discuss them with your healthcare provider.

Hormonal contraceptives – Using BANZEL at the same time as hormonal contraceptives may make the contraception less effective. Additional non-hormonal forms of contraception are recommended when taking BANZEL.

Pregnancy and Nursing – If you or a loved one taking BANZEL become pregnant or plan to become pregnant while taking therapy, please notify your healthcare provider. Also, notify your healthcare provider if you or a loved one taking BANZEL is breast feeding or plan to breast feed.

If pregnant, you or your loved one taking BANZEL should enroll in the North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry by calling the toll free number 1-888-233-2334 or on the Web at http://www.aedpregnancyregistry.org/.

Ask your healthcare provider about adding BANZEL to an existing treatment. As with all antiepileptic drugs, BANZEL should be withdrawn gradually, so be sure to talk to your health care professional before stopping or starting any medication.

Important Safety Information

There are risks associated with the use of BANZEL that you should know about. We encourage you to talk to your healthcare provider about these risks.

  • Patients with a history of Familial Short QT syndrome should not be treated with BANZEL. Talk to your healthcare provider if you are unsure if this affects you or your loved one.
  • All medications to treat seizures, including BANZEL, may cause suicidal thoughts or actions in a very small number of people, about 1 in 500. Call your healthcare provider right away if you or your loved one experiences new or worsening symptoms of depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, thoughts or actions about suicide or self-harm, aggression, agitation, anger, anxiety, or irritability.
  • Use of BANZEL has been associated with side effects such as sleepiness or feeling tired, difficulty with coordination, dizziness, and problems with walking or movement.
    • –Alcohol, in combination with BANZEL, may increase or worsen these side effects.
  • Call your healthcare provider if you or your loved one experiences a rash. This can be a sign of a more serious condition, such as multi-organ hypersensitivity reaction.
  • You or your loved one should take BANZEL only as prescribed. Do not stop taking BANZEL without first talking to your healthcare provider. Stopping BANZEL suddenly can cause serious problems.
  • Tell your healthcare provider about all the medications you or your loved one takes, including prescription and non-prescription medications, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Using BANZEL with certain medications can affect each other, causing side effects.
  • In studies, the most commonly observed (≥10%) side effects with BANZEL vs placebo (sugar pill with no medicine in it), respectively, were headache (25% vs 20%), dizziness (17% vs 10%), feeling tired (15% vs 9%), sleepiness (13% vs 9%), and nausea (11% vs 7%). Most of these side effects were mild to moderate in severity and typically went away in a short amount of time.

This Web site contains information relating to various medical conditions and treatment. Such information is provided for educational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice of a physician or other health care professionals. You should not use this information for diagnosing a health problem or disease. In order for you to make intelligent health care decisions, you should always consult with a physician or other health care provider for you, or your loved one's, personal medical needs.

All quotes included in this Web site represent the individual experience of some doctors, some patients, and their caregivers. Individual responses to treatment may vary.

This site is intended for residents of the United States only. Any products discussed herein may have different product labeling in different countries.

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