LUNE HUGGETT
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Lune' Huggett 31913377 Blog #7
16 Mar 2021, 16:05
- The anti-epileptic that interact with oral contraceptives include: phenobarbitone, phenytoin, carbamazepines, oxacarbazepine and topiramate. The implication of these drugs are that it decreases the effectiveness of the oral contraceptives, causing unwanted pregnancies and unregulated hormone levels. The anti-epileptic drugs that doesn’t affect oral contraceptives are valproate, lamotrigine, gabapentin, leviteracetam and vigabatrin.
- Oral contraceptives can affect the effectiveness of anti-epileptic drugs as well by affecting their serum levels.
- Anti-epileptic drugs affect Neonates, babies and children, adults and geriatric patients differently. The metabolism of anti-epileptic drugs in neonates is slower than in adults whereas in babies and children, it is faster than in adults. A geriatric patient’s liver doesn’t work as optimally as that of a healthy adult and therefore anti-epileptic drugs are metabolised slower by them than by adults.
- Plasma blood levels are monitored to ensure that the patient’s renal and liver functions aren’t affected by the drugs they are taking. These tests are also to check for allergies, drug interactions and adverse effects.