Primidone Description

Generic Name : PRIMIDONE

Pronunciation : (pri' mi done)

Trade Name(s) : Mysoline

Why it is prescribed: Primidone acts on the brain and nervous system to control convulsions and seizures.

When it is to be taken: Primidone usually is taken once a day at bedtime when you first use it, and the dosage is gradually increased to three or four times a day. Follow the instructions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor to explain any part that you do not understand.

How it should be taken: Primidone comes in tablets and suspension i.e., oral liquid. Your prescription label tells you how much to take at each dose. Shake the suspension well before each use. You may obtain a specially marked measuring spoon to be sure of an accurate dose.

Special Instruction :
1. Keep all appointments with your doctor and the laboratory so that your doctor can monitor your response to this drug. Your dose may need to be adjusted frequently, especially when you first take primidone. You probably will have blood and urine tests periodically to check how the medication is affecting you.
2. Primidone can cause dizziness, incoordination, blurred or double vision, and drowsiness. Even when taken at bedtime, it can cause these effects the next morning. Do not drive a car, operate dangerous machinery, or do anything that requires alertness until you know how this drug affects you.
3. Do not stop taking this drug until your doctor specifically tells you to do so. Stopping the drug abruptly can cause seizures. Your doctor probably will want to decrease your dose gradually.
4. Take primidone exactly as your doctor has directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more or less often than as instructed. Contact your doctor if you continue to have seizures.
5. If you forget to take a dose, take the missed dose as soon as you remember it and take any remaining doses for that day at evenly intervals. However, if you remember a missed dose at the time you are scheduled to take the next one, omit the missed dose completely. Do not take a double dose.

Side Effects :
1. Drowsiness, incoordination, irritability, headache, restlessness, dizziness, blurred or double vision, excitement, tiredness, impotence, hair loss, swollen eyelids or legs. Contact your doctor if these effects are severe or persist.
2. Nausea, vomiting, loss of taste and appetite. Take the medication with food or a lot of water. If these problems persist, contact your doctor.
3. Skin rash, sore throat, fever, yellowing of skin and eyes and dark urine, bloody nose, unusual bleeding, tiny purple-colored skin spots, easy bruising. Contact your doctor immediately.

Other Precautions :
1. Before you take primidone, tell your doctor if you are pregnant or think that you may be pregnant or breast-feeding; if you have liver, lung, or kidney disease or a history of porphyria; or if you ever had a bad reaction to amobarbital, butabarbital, pentobarbital, Phenobarbital, or secobarbital. Primidone can affect the action of other drugs, and the action of primidone can be altered by many drugs.
2. Before taking primidone, tell your doctor what prescription and nonprescription drugs you are taking, especially other seizure medication steroids, anticoagulants, digitoxin, griseofulvin, disulfiram, medication for depression, doxycycline, and birth-control pills.
3. Primidone can decrease the effectiveness of birth-control pills; use another method of birth control. Use caution when drinking alcoholic beverages or taking over-the-counter antihistamines or sleeping pills; these substances add to the drowsiness caused by primidone.
4. Do not allow anyone else to take this medication.

Storage Conditions :
1. Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of the reach of children.
2. Store it at room temperature.