Do any of you take seizure medicine and calcium supplements?

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mhugh200

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I keep reading about how Zonisamide lowers the calcium level. One doctor has expressed fear of the two binding. A nutritionist has said it's fine as long as they are taken a few hours apart. Are any of you taking these two and how is it working out for you? Have you had seizures since doing so?
 
I was on Zonisamide for only 6 months. I did NOT have a good reaction to it, and ended up having a big ol' seizure on it. (Make sure your doc has told you about metabolic acidosis and tested your serum bicarb). I can't remember if the multivitamin I took contained calcium. I do remember that vitamins were especially hard to take because Zonisamide gave me bad stomach pains and appetite issues.

Zonisamide does act a bit like a calcium channel blocker, so theoretically a calcium supplement could lower it's effectiveness. But your nutritionist is correct -- as long as the calcium supplement isn't massive (and anything higher than 500-600mg won't get absorbed anyway) and is taken a few hours after the Zonisamide, you should be fine.

Also, stay away from grapefruit juice -- it can interfere with Zonisamide absorption/metabolism.
 
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