Carbamazepine, sold under the brand name Tegretol among others, is an anticonvulsant medication used in the treatment of epilepsy and neuropathic pain. It is used as an adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia along with other medications and as a second-line agent in bipolar disorder. Carbamazepine appears to work as well as phenytoin and valproate for focal and generalized seizures. It is not effective for absence or myoclonic seizures.
Anticonvulsants are a diverse group of pharmacological agents used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also increasingly being used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, since many seem to act as mood stabilizers, and for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Anticonvulsants suppress the excessive rapid firing of neurons during seizures. Anticonvulsants also prevent the spread of the seizure within the brain.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis–Ekbom disease (WED), is generally a long-term disorder that causes a strong urge to move one's legs. There is often an unpleasant feeling in the legs that improves somewhat by moving them. This is often described as aching, tingling, or crawling in nature. Occasionally, arms may also be affected. The feelings generally happen when at rest and therefore can make it hard to sleep. Due to the disturbance in sleep, people with RLS may be sleepy during the day, have low energy, and feel irritable or depressed. Additionally, many have limb twitching during sleep, a condition known as periodic limb movement disorder. RLS is not the same as habitual foot-tapping or leg-rocking.
Colloquially known as "downers," depressants, or central depressants, are drugs that lower neurotransmission levels, or depress or reduce arousal or stimulation in various areas of the brain. Depressants do not change the mood or mental state of others. Stimulants, or "uppers," increase mental or physical function, hence the opposite drug class from depressants are stimulants, not antidepressants.
Gabapentin, sold under the brand name Neurontin among others, is an anticonvulsant medication primarily used to treat partial seizures and neuropathic pain. It is commonly used medication for the treatment of neuropathic pain caused by diabetic neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, and central pain. It is moderately effective: about 30–40% of those given gabapentin for diabetic neuropathy or postherpetic neuralgia have a meaningful benefit.
Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is neuropathic pain that occurs due to damage to a peripheral nerve caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus. PHN is defined as pain in a dermatomal distribution that lasts for at least 90 days after an outbreak of herpes zoster. Several types of pain may occur with PHN including continuous burning pain, episodes of severe shooting or electric-like pain, and a heightened sensitivity to gentle touch which would not otherwise cause pain or to painful stimuli. Abnormal sensations and itching may also occur.
Cabergoline, sold under the brand name Dostinex among others, is a dopaminergic medication used in the treatment of high prolactin levels, prolactinomas, Parkinson's disease, and for other indications. It is taken by mouth.
Pregabalin, sold under the brand name Lyrica among others, is an anticonvulsant, analgesic and anxiolytic medication used to treat epilepsy, neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome, opioid withdrawal and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Pregabalin also has antiallodynic properties. Its use in epilepsy is as an add-on therapy for partial seizures. It is a gabapentinoid medication and acts by inhibiting certain calcium channels. When used before surgery, it reduces pain but results in greater sedation and visual disturbances. It is taken by mouth.
Fosphenytoin, also known as fosphenytoin sodium, and sold under the brand name Cerebyx among others, is a water-soluble phenytoin prodrug that is administered intravenously to deliver phenytoin, potentially more safely than intravenous phenytoin. It is used in the acute treatment of convulsive status epilepticus.
Stiripentol, sold under the brand name Diacomit, is an anticonvulsant medication used for the treatment of Dravet syndrome - a serious genetic brain disorder.
Pramipexole, sold under the brand Mirapex among others, is medication used to treat Parkinson's disease (PD) and restless legs syndrome (RLS). In Parkinson's disease it may be used alone or together with levodopa. It is taken by mouth. Pramipexole is a dopamine agonist of the non-ergoline class.
Piribedil (trade names Pronoran, Trivastal Retard, Trastal, Trivastan, Clarium and others) is an antiparkinsonian agent and piperazine derivative which acts as a D2 and D3 receptor agonist. It also has α2-adrenergic antagonist properties.
Vilazodone, sold under the brand name Viibryd among others, is a medication used to treat major depressive disorder. It is classified as a serotonin modulator and is taken by mouth.
Safinamide is a drug used as an add-on treatment for Parkinson's disease with "off" episodes; it has multiple modes of action, including the inhibition of monoamine oxidase B.
Retigabine (INN) or ezogabine (USAN) is an anticonvulsant used as an adjunctive treatment for partial epilepsies in treatment-experienced adult patients. The drug was developed by Valeant Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline. It was approved by the European Medicines Agency under the trade name Trobalt on March 28, 2011, and by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the trade name Potiga, on June 10, 2011. Production was discontinued in June 2017.
Hydroxybupropion, or 6-hydroxybupropion, is the major active metabolite of the antidepressant and smoking cessation drug bupropion. It is formed from bupropion by the liver enzyme CYP2B6 during first-pass metabolism. With oral bupropion treatment, hydroxybupropion is present in plasma at area under the curve concentrations that are as many as 16–20 times greater than those of bupropion itself, demonstrating extensive conversion of bupropion into hydroxybupropion in humans. As such, hydroxybupropion is likely to play a very important role in the effects of oral bupropion, which could accurately be thought of as functioning largely as a prodrug to hydroxybupropion. Other metabolites of bupropion besides hydroxybupropion include threohydrobupropion and erythrohydrobupropion.
Gabapentinoids, also known as α2δ ligands, are a class of drugs that are derivatives of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) which block α2δ subunit-containing voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs). This site has been referred to as the gabapentin receptor, as it is the target of the drugs gabapentin and pregabalin.
Mirogabalin is a gabapentinoid medication developed by Daiichi Sankyo. Gabapentin and pregabalin are also members of this class. As a gabapentinoid, mirogabalin binds to the α2δ subunit of voltage-gated calcium channel, but with significantly higher potency than pregabalin. It has shown promising results in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain.
An analgesic adjuvant is a medication that is typically used for indications other than pain control but provides control of pain (analgesia) in some painful diseases. This is often part of multimodal analgesia, where one of the intentions is to minimize the need for opioids.
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