Phenytoin is thought to work by suppressing electrical activity in
brain nerve cells."

It turned me into a zombie.

I came off it by the way :-)

Mary

Hi G.  Glad your AED are controlling your seizures.  Mine for the most
part are too except for the Simple Partial variety that still plague me
about once per day.

My interest in the heart article is because my SPS seem to be related
to how often I run.  I believe the author's speculation that "20-40% of
****************
uncontrollable SPS may be related to underlying heart condition" takes
great liberty with the word "related."  Kind of like my saying "I may
be related to Adam and Eve."  I agree with Mary earlier who said it's
more likely that epilepsy causes heart anomolies rather than the
converse but as in all things are can be rare exceptions.

Regarding my comment on AEDs check out the brief article on Dilantin
below and note the prase "thought to work" rather than "known to work."
Source is: http://www.neurologychannel.com/epilepsy/medications.shtml.
This is where I'm coming from in saying the science is still
experimental.

"Phenytoin (Dilantin®) This is one of the more commonly used agents
and often is considered the first-line drug to treat partial and
generalized tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures and status epilepticus.

Phenytoin is thought to work by suppressing electrical activity in
brain nerve cells."

G.- I was only able to use Dilantin (Phenytoin) for about 4-6 weeks and it
gave erratic control so we moved on to Tegretol (Carbamazepine) Controlled
Release, mentioned in same article.   My Dr. told me that Dilantin had been
used since 1930s, and for those who it *will work for,  it gives stable
*cheap control since the research costs have been recovered more than 60
years ago.   Being longer studied, it also has more printed literature.
 (*** Before I forget -- does your Doctor know you Run and how many times a
week? at **s above?  The higher Heart rate during that exercise will tend to
flush some medications more quickly from your system than if you weren't
exercising as vigorously?  They might have set your dose level based on age,
weight and 'sedate' lifestyle,  and not taken into account that you might be
'running off' some of the capacity from your bloodstream?   Just a
hought.  )

  There are more than one article written on Dilantin.  U.S. Ep. foundation
have a glossary too http://efa.org  .    Picking up one word like earlier
(thought to work)  and questioning whether it works since the writer (who
may be a career writer and not have *any pharmaceutical *or medical
experience),  may result in throwing out pills that might work or be cheaper
in the long run.

   I had the mood swings that article describes, and had decided that *no
anti-ep medications were ever going to control the seizures I had, and which
I got randomly each 1-5 weeks while I was using Dilantin.   When I went over
to Tegretol for my type of Temporal Lobe szrs.,  the rate went from each 1-2
weeks to each ~6 weeks to 10-12 weeks, to 4-5 months etc. down to periods of
years (with a second med. and reduced Tegretol). Last szrs. (I listed) were
Dec.97 and June 98.

   Some of the medications can also be affected by other parts of our diet.
Grapefruit Juice, for example, messes up blood levels of Tegretol, but
that's only listed on *some of the glossaries. (My pharmacist told me about
it *after I had found a reference online -- some of the 'random'  late day
seizures may have been caused on days I used G.fruit juice with the Morning
Dose, but since I didn't use it consistently, my szrs. as I got near control
appeared more 'random'... Alcohol and some upset stomach remedies also
interfere with Tegretol and other anti ep medications.
  (One of the acids that's in grapefruit that's *not in other citrus juices
is what interferes with above pills.   So a juice mix that 'may' contain
grapefruit, can produce symptoms that we wouldn't expect to come from a
juice blend, taken 12-15 hours before. )

  *Some of the simple partials can be produced by an aroma we react to,
change in barometric pressure, or other things in our environment, depending
on what our triggers are.

**One thing I *did notice reading the Full article you posted-> Did you
notice that the *writer doesn't appear to know how *many of the drugs they
list work?    Not just the one you list, but more than 50% of the Total
registry, they have included a disclaimer that 'the method this pill works
is not understood, but it's used to treat xxx....'    ??
  That's either Incredible accuracy I've never seen on any *Other glossary
or printout I've received from my Pharmacy on pills I've used on that list,
or they're Really really being careful to not commit Too much to a pill that
might produce side effects they're not aware of,  where a disclaimer-> "this
information is of a general nature and should not be taken as serious
medical advice, contact your Doctor or Neurologist for precise information
etc.etc. etc. " would have been sufficient.
   You probably know, but any of the entries (although I'd use the efa.org
glossary now),  where it refers to using a pill as Adjunct therapy, that
means (like my Frisium)  that it is designed to be used in combination with
at least *one other anti-ep medication.  I don't know how that would apply
to 'only'  simple partial seizures.  Since many of those might be treated as
similar to auras?, they might often be first prescribed a Single anti-ep
medication as treatment.
   I don't have any personal experience with when more than one pill might
be used to treat a *simple partial szr.   Since mine were Complex Partial
(formerly Temporal Lobe) they were targeting those first, and the only S.P.
seizures I had were near the 'end time'  as we got within the last 10% of
full control.    It was only then too that I recognized the Lemon taste or
Aroma and dizzy swirling feeling and Deja Vu as part of the aura of my
particular seizure type.   Only then was I able to track how many S.P.
seizures I was still having as we got near to more control.

   (If you're on another med. than Dilantin, is there a Timed Release
version available?  There isn't for the former, but e.g Tegretol and others
have 'controlled versions', so blood levels remain more stable even if you
take 'each 12 hour dose'  plus or minus ~3 hours from when it's due. )
G./