Anticonvulsants are medications originally used to treat seizure disorders. Anticonvulsants work by decreasing the hyper-excitability of nerves, and so decrease how easily pain signals are transmitted. Because anticonvulsants work by slowing down nerve signals, they�re helpful in disorders that have overly-excited nerves. What�s most interesting about anticonvulsants is that they work in disorders where we might not expect them to work. An example is fibromyalgia, which used to be thought of as an inflammatory disorder, or even a psychological disorder. These meds are very closely related chemically, and are often lumped together as the same med. Some doctors had prescribed the older drugs for non-seizure-related conditions, but the development of the new drugs spurred a greatly increased use of both the old and the new anticonvulsants to treat conditions other than seizures.
Generic Topamax is used for treating seizures in certain patients. It may be used alone or with other medicines. It is also used to prevent migraine headaches.
More info »Some anticonvulsants have been around for decades. As these older drugs generally have more side effects than most of the newer anti-seizure drugs, they are mainly used when the newer medications prove to be ineffective. Some of the widely prescribed anticonvulsants are: carbamazepine, phenytoin, valproic acid, gabapentin phenobarbitone etc. The major adverse effects of anticonvulsants are constipation, mild nausea or vomiting, and mild dizziness, drowsiness, or lightheadedness. These problems usually go away as the body adjusts to the drug and do not require any medical treatment. Anticonvulsants should not be stopped quickly, as this, though rare, can cause seizures. Gabapentin has the fewest side effects among drugs of the "second generation", so it is generally the first anti-seizure drug prescribed in case of nerve pain.