Very excited to share that my daughter C. will finally try out a new anti epileptic - one that has been found successful in a significant percentage of EIEE11 cases.
It's the first med change we're making since her diagnosis with that syndrome three months ago.
Aside from CBD, this addition will bring C.'s anti-epileptic tally to three. And while I loathe giving her so many at once, as the neurologist emphasized, the cardinal rule is one med change at a time. So, we'll wait until C. has settled into the therapeutic dose of phenytoin and then, the doctor promises me, we'll remove at least one of the others.
She even asked me which I believe is less effective. I told her that's hard to judge but since Vimpat was added last and there hasn't been an improvement since, I'd like to see the back of that one.
Truth be told, her other med, Keppra, isn't anything to write home about either.
Hoping to get the script for Phenytoin (marketed as Dilantin in some markets) tomorrow.
UPDATE
Yay, got the script and C. has taken her very first Phenytoin pill.
When I told C.'s pediatrician that this was the drug selected by the neurologist, he was surprised: "Back in prehistoric days, when I was doing my residency", he recalled, "we had only two anti-epileptics to administer, Phenobarbitol and Phenytoin. There are so many new ones on the market now."
But, I reminded him, those new ones just don't help C.
Here's some Wikipedia input:
Phenytoin was first made in 1908 by the German chemist Heinrich Biltz and found useful for seizures in 1936. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system.
Hoping that stellar reputation will prove well deserved!
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