This may just be antidotal, but I would like to make you aware of MY long term effects with Dilantin.

I'm 57 and have had epilepsy (grand & petit mal seizures) since I was age 6. At that time I was prescribed Dilantin (300mg per day). I took the same dosage for 49 years (after 20 years Valporic Acid was added to the medication). Two years ago I was also diagnosed with neuropathy in both my legs and arms. I was told the cause was the longterm Dilantin usage.

To both control the seizures and relieve the pain from the neuropathy I was prescribed Neurontin (300mg per day). I have taken the Neurontin for about 2 years now and my seizures are completely controlled and the neuropathy is in remission. Personally I am not a fan of Dilantin usage for more than a 4-5 year period due to the longterm side effects both experienced by me and documented by the maker of Dilantin.

I'm a newbie....can you be more specific to your symptoms. What neuropathy in your arms and legs? They just put me on the "new" dilantin" I'm actually taking the genaic form of it. It's time released and it's called Phenytoin SOD EXT I'm supposed to be on 100 mg 3 x / day but I've only gotten up to 1/day so far. I got such a bad headache when I first started. They are capsules so it's not like you can take 1/2 of one. Crystal