Seizures | Epileptic Seizures in Children | BANZEL.com

What is a seizure?

Epileptic seizures are caused by sudden episodes of electrical activity in the brain. They can change physical activities or mental behavior. A seizure is a symptom of an underlying disorder. It is a sign that something in the brain is not working as it should.

The causes of seizures in epilepsy may be related to a brain formation or injury. This is sometimes the case with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), but often the cause is unknown.

Seizure types

Many different disorders can affect the brain, causing different types of seizures. What occurs during an epileptic seizure depends on the area of the brain involved. Seizures can range from mild to completely debilitating.

The types of seizures associated with LGS include the following:

  • Tonic – stiffening of muscles lasting a few seconds up to a minute
  • Atonic – brief loss of muscle tone, causing falls (also known as "drop attacks" or "drop seizures")
  • Tonic-clonic – begins with stiffening of the limbs (the tonic phase), followed by jerking of the limbs and face (the clonic phase)
  • Absence – staring spells lasting for many seconds
  • Myoclonic – sudden muscle jerks lasting for many seconds up to a minute
  • Clonic – a pattern of jerking movements
  • Partial – limited to a specific area of the brain; sometimes consciousness may be lost

Tonic, atonic, and absence seizures are the most common in LGS, although tonic-clonic, myoclonic, and other seizure types may occur.

Seizures in children vs. adults

The number of seizures or types of seizures experienced may change when children become adults.

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. BANZEL has been shown to reduce the QT interval. Caution should be used when administering BANZEL with other drugs that shorten the QT interval.
  • 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.

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