How long does it take for Oxtellar XR to work?

Oxtellar XR (oxcarbazepine) is a medication used to treat partial-onset seizures. You may need to take Oxtellar XR for weeks to months to see if it is working for you to reduce the number of seizures you have.

During clinical development of Oxtellar XR, patients who were already taking one to three antiepileptic drugs were given Oxtellar XR to see if it would help them.

When patients first started treatment with Oxtellar XR they were only given a low dose. The dose was then increased weekly until the recommended daily maintenance dose of the drug was reached. During clinical development it took four weeks for patients to reach their maintenance dose. How quickly a patient reaches their maintenance dose depends on how well they respond to treatment and the side effects they experience.

These patients were then followed-up for a further 16 weeks to see if Oxtellar XR reduced the frequency of their seizures.

Oxtellar XR may also be used ‘off-label’ as a mood stabilizer for the treatment of bipolar disorder. This condition also requires long-term treatment and patients may need to take this medication for several weeks to see obvious signs that it is working for them.