Other Clinical Uses

Several antiseizure drugs are effective in the management of bipolar affective disorders, especially valproic acid, which is now often used as a first-line drug in the treatment of mania. Carbamazepine and lamotrigine have also been used successfully in bipolar disorder. Carbamazepine is the drug of choice for trigeminal neuralgia, and its congener oxcarbazepine may provide similar analgesia with fewer adverse effects. Gabapentin has efficacy in pain of neuropathic origin, including postherpetic neuralgia, and, like phenytoin, may have some value in migraine. Topiramate is also used in the treatment of migraine. Pregabalin is also approved for neuropathic pain.