They gave it to me for seizures when I was a kid. Started VERY young, like, before age 3, and kept on it until I finally came up with a normal EEG at age 18.

At age 23 or so, I saw an article in the newspaper about a new study of phenobarbital, and how it was SO not recommended for use in anyone under 18, because it caused a 30-40 point drop in IQ and increased the risk of learning disabilities.

At age 31, having been blown off by every educator, ever, when I tried to tell them about my trouble with math, I went and had some testing done by the educational psychs at the university I was attending in an attempt to finish my bachelor's. At the end of a month of testing, the head of the department came in to give me the results. He said in 30 years in the profession, he had never seen ANYONE with such an enormous gap between their mathematical and verbal skills, at least not anyone with an above-average IQ.

The damn dean still made me take algebra, even though I had a 4.0, had already received a full scholarship to graduate school, and would never use algebra, ever, the rest of my life. This was in spite of the head of the ed psych department personally asking her to let me out of the requirement.

I took the damn stuff 3 times a day till I was 10, then just once at bedtime till I went off it. I don't remember if it made me sleepy, but I do know I would definitely find something else to use for sleep. Even Tylenol PM. I think phenobarb has even fallen out of favor for use in controlling seizures. I know you're over 18, and I know I have a definite bias, but I still won't recommend it to anyone. We'll see what Larry says.

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