Patients suffering from adverse side effects after taking the epilepsy drug Dilantin could eventually benefit from cerebellar atrophy treatment.

Research shows that long-term use of Dilantin (phenytoin) can lead to an increased risk of the patient incurring cerebellar atrophy, a degeneration of the cerebellum. As the cerebellum deteriorates, the patient will experience adverse effects on movement, speech and coordination.

Dilantin controls seizures by interrupting the connections among the brain’s neurons. While this action effectively inhibits seizures, the neurons in the cerebellum that are susceptible to Dilantin’s actions start to cause problems. The cerebellum is the portion of the brain that controls posture, speech, balance and coordination.

Patients in need of cerebellar atrophy treatment are apt to exhibit a variety of symptoms, including some or all of the following:

• Slow, unsteady walk
• Lurching walk
• Uncoordinated, jerking movements of arms or legs
• Slow or slurred speech
• Unnatural cadence to speech
• Rapid eye movements
• Memory loss
• Inability to judge distance
• Continuous head bobbing
• Continuous trunk bobbing
• Vertigo
• Tremors
• Difficulty swallowing

Other tasks in need of fine motor skills such as brushing teeth, tying shoes, buttoning clothes, eating and writing can become difficult for someone in need of cerebellar atrophy treatment.

Any patient who takes additional medications to treat ulcers, abnormal heart rhythms, alcoholism or tuberculosis is at a greater risk of cerebellar atrophy, as are the elderly.

Cerebellar Atrophy Treatment for Dilantin Patients

Even though no patient should ever stop taking Dilantin without a doctor’s approval and supervision, cerebellar atrophy treatment usually includes stopping the drug. After the drug has left the system, the patient possibly could recover from cerebral atrophy and localized cerebellar atrophy.

Unfortunately, if a patient either has taken Dilantin for years of chronic treatment or has experienced acute toxicity due to an overdose, some cerebellar atrophy can be permanent.

Dilantin is a very strong medication, and the slightest dose increase can cause toxic complications. One of the symptoms most likely to become permanent is the lack of muscle coordination.

In some cases, cerebellar atrophy can occur in patients who reportedly kept the drug level in their systems within normal range. The reason that some patients’ brains would be more susceptible to such damage is not known.

Other types of cerebellar atrophy treatment include combating the symptoms with other prescription medications, high doses of vitamin E, and gluten-free diets. These measures have varying effects on different patients.

Epileptic seizures can cause cerebellar atrophy, too, but a 1994 study allowed for that and still determined that those exposed to Dilantin had substantially smaller cerebella than the patients who had never been treated with the drug. In 2003, a follow up study found that using Dilantin for a long period of time resulted in moderate to severe atrophy of the cerebellum.