Why are medications used to treat seizures and depression used to treat pain?
An interesting thing about pain is that many of the same chemicals the body uses to transmit or block pain signals are the same as those that seem to be out of balance when a person becomes depressed. Other sorts of pain act a bit like seizures, where nerves fire at times and in ways that are inappropriate. Antidepressants and anticonvulsants have been shown to help many different pain conditions. They also help with sleep (which is often disturbed by pain) and have a helpful effect on mood. They do have side effects (like almost everything), and we monitor their use carefully, including obtaining electrocardiograms and blood tests, depending on the medication.
