Clomiphene as an Anticonvulsant Drug

Abstract

The effect of sex steroids on seizure disorders is controversial. Two controlled trials showed no effect^1,2; however, there are other descriptions of patients whose attacks were aggravated by oral contraceptives.^3,4 Some experimental evidence suggests that estrogens increase the electrical excitability of the brain.⁵ Clomiphene citrate, an antiestrogen drug, has been used to treat oligospermia and asthenospermia.^6-8 In contrast to its use in women for infertility, where the drug is taken for only five days each month, clomiphene is used in men for at least 25 days per month. Whether the drug is safe to use in either men or women with a seizure disorder is not known. If the evidence that estrogen adversely affects seizure disorders is correct, then this antiestrogen drug might have an ameliorative effect. However, there is some evidence that clomiphene may act as an estrogen in a man.⁹ Thus, its