Our son was given an epilepsy drug that almost killed him. Jonathon also has type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes. The neurologist prescribed zonisamide for him. We questioned the neuro and the pharmacist about side effects with Jonathon's diabetes and/or insulin, and they told us it was safe. The day after Jonathon started taking it, he had an episode of very low blood sugar that resulted in a trip to the ER. We questioned the ER doctor whether it might be the medicine. He did some research and told us he couldn't find any information indicating the medication could cause hypoglycemia. The next day Jonathon still had episodes of low blood sugar, so we reduced his insulin. Knowing something was wrong, we decided to get up every couple hours and check his blood sugar. Twice in one night we got up to find him unconscious from low blood sugar. If we hadn't realized there was a serious problem, he would have been dead by morning. We ended up back at the ER that day, and the doctor discontinued all insulin and gave him a high-carb meal. When Jonathon's blood sugar sky-rocketed, the doc wanted to send us home. I refused to leave until they contacted Jonathon's endocrinologist. She ordered some additional blood work and insisted on speaking to me directly. She was not familiar with the zonisamide, and advised us to do whatever the ER doctor recommended. She told us what to do with Jonathon's insulin for the night. The ER doc did not think it was caused by the zonisamide. We decided to discontinue the zonisamide (against doctors orders), and did our own research. I spent about 30 minutes searching the internet, and found that zonisamide has a rare serious adverse reaction of hypoglycemia. My point is that a neurologist, a pharmacist, and two ER doctors all insisted that the medication was safe, but it WAS NOT SAFE for Jonathon. We will never again start Jonathon on a new medication without doing our own research. You are your own best advocate when it comes to your health.
Dawn
--- In epilepsy@yahoogroup
>
> This is how people get hurt. CHECK YOUR DRUGS people. Ellie started a new med (Lamactil). It's supposed to be titrated VERY slowly because it has a potentially serious side-effect called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. She works up from 2.5mg to 7.5mg (twice a day) over the course of 6 weeks. The pharmacist gave me two bottles of the drug by mistake. one 5mg tablets and one for 25mg tablets. At NO POINT does she ever get to 25mg, ever!
> Imagine if I had given her one and a half tablets of the wrong dosage.
> Jan
>
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
No comments:
Post a Comment