Anticonvulsant
Anticonvulsant: A medication used to control (prevent) seizures (convulsions) or stop an ongoing series of seizures. There are a large number of anticonvulsant drugs today including, but not limited to: phenobarbital, phenytoin (Dilantin), carbamazepine, ethosuximide (Zarontin), clonazepam (Klonopin), diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), and midazolam (Versed). Anticonvulsant drugs taken during pregnancy put the baby at risk of major birth defects — growth retardation, microcephaly (a small head) and deformities of the face and fingers — a condition known as anticonvulsant embryopathy.
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- Anticonvulsant
Anticonvulsant: A medication used to control (prevent) seizures (convulsions) or stop an ongoing series of seizures. There are a large number of anticonvulsant drugs today including, but not limited to: phenobarbital, phenytoin (Dilantin), carbamazepine, ethosuximide (Zarontin), clonazepam (Klonopin), diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), and midazolam (Versed). Anticonvulsant drugs taken during pregnancy put the baby at risk […]
- Antidepressant
Antidepressant: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression. The available antidepressant drugs include the SSRIs or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, MAOIs or monoamine oxidase inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, tetracyclic antidepressants, and others. Antidepressants should not be used unless the depression is severe and/or other treatments have failed. As with all drugs, the […]
- Antidepressant, MAOI
Antidepressant, MAOI: Monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), a potent class of medications used to treat depression. This group of antidepressants have many serious drug interactions, which may limit their use.
- Antidepressant, SSRI
Antidepressant, SSRI: A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), one of the commonly prescribed drugs for treating depression. SSRIs affect the chemicals that nerves in the brain use to send messages to one another. These chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters, are released by one nerve and taken up by other nerves. Neurotransmitters that are not taken up […]
- Antidepressant, tricyclic
Antidepressant, tricyclic: One of a class of medications used to treat depression. The tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are also used for some forms of anxiety, fibromyalgia, and the control of chronic pain. “Tricyclic” refers to the presence of three rings in the chemical structure of these drugs.