Safety and tolerability of an oral zonisamide loading dose.

Purpose: There are a limited number of anticonvulsant medications that can be administered with an oral loading dose in order to rapidly achieve an effective serum level, and most of these have associated adverse effects. Zonisamide is approved for the treatment of partial onset epilepsy, and is used in practice for both generalized and partial onset epilepsy. It is generally well-tolerated, has a long half-life, and can be administered once daily.