The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued an alert, warning of a higher risk of suicidal thoughts while taking certain prescription anti-epileptic medications. After a preliminary analysis of reports of suicides linked to this class of drugs in 2005, the FDA specifically requested that drug manufacturers provide data from their controlled clinical studies for a full inquiry. A “statistically” higher risk of suicidal thoughts occurred in patients taking the drugs for psychiatric disorders, migraine headaches, bipolar disorder, and other disorders, with an even higher risk for epilepsy patients alone.

The FDA is urging all health care providers to warn patients and report any adverse reactions to Medwatch Adverse Event Reporting program. Although the analysis was conducted on the clinical trials of some drugs, the FDA includes the warnings for all anti-epileptic class of drugs.

Information for patients, family members, and caregivers:

*Do not make any changes to the medication regimen without first talking with the responsible healthcare professional.

*Pay close attention to any day-to-day changes in mood, behavior and actions. These changes can happen very quickly so it is important to be mindful of any sudden differences.

Awareness of common warning signs that can precede a suicide attempt are listed by the FDA as;

*Talking or thinking about wanting to hurt yourself or end your life.

*Withdrawing from friends and family.

*Becoming depressed or having your depression get worse.

*Becoming preoccupied with death and dying.

*Giving away prized possessions.

Anti-epileptic prescription medications analyized;

Carbatrol, Equetro, Tegretol
Neurontin
Lamictal
Keppra
Trileptol
Lyrica
GabitrilTopamax
Depakote
Zonegran