Zonisamide Outpatient Study

Exclusion Criteria

• •1. DSM-5 criteria for substance use disorders other than alcohol or nicotine or test positive for prescription or illegal drugs. Regarding marijuana/THC, an individual must test negative at the screening. If an individual's test is positive, they will be given a grace period where they will have the opportunity to return and test negative prior to being enrolled.
• •2. Be pregnant or nursing
• •3. Be taking blood pressure medications, psychotropics (with exception of SSRIs/SNRIs), drugs effecting the CNS, medications contraindicated with ethanol, any sulfonamide, or any other medication that could interact with study medications or alter the effects of alcohol.
• •a. Note that participants may currently be seeking treatment (or already receiving a behavioral treatment) for AUD, but may not be taking medications used in the treatment of AUD (acamprosate, disulfiram, oral naltrexone, and extended-release injectable naltrexone, and topiramate)
• •4. Have neurological or psychiatric disorders other than PTSD or AUD (except mild/moderate depression succeeding PTSD). Examples include:
• •1. Current psychosis, bipolar illness or major depression requiring treatment.
• •2. Organic brain disease or dementia assessed clinical interview.
• •3. History of any psychiatric disorder which would require ongoing treatment or which would make study compliance difficult.
• •4. History of suicide attempts within the past year and/or current suicidal ideation/plan
• •5. Have evidence of untreated or unstable medical illness including: cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, autoimmune, renal, hepatic, or active HIV+, AIDS infection.
• •6. Have a history of medically adverse reactions to alcohol (e.g., loss of consciousness, chest pain, or epileptic seizure) or major alcohol-related medical complications requiring hospitalization (i.e. hepatitis or pancreatitis)
• •7. Have contraindication(s) to take the study medications such as renal or hepatic impairment, congenital metabolic disorders, or hypersensitivity/allergies to study drug or similar compounds
• •8. Have current epilepsy or evidence suggestive of seizure disorder
• •9. Have past brain injury/head trauma with current symptoms (e.g. not photophobic, dizziness, etc.) or past report of loss of consciousness (LOC) for greater than 30 minutes and/or have been blast-exposed or had LOC of greater than 1 minute and current post-concussive symptoms
• •10. Self-report more than thirty days abstinence from alcohol during the three months prior to enrollment/consent
• •11. Current signs of violence or aggression, assessed as part of the consent process
• •12. Participation in a pharmaceutical trial or exposure to any investigational drugs within 1 month of the screening visit
• •13. Hearing loss that would interfere with the FPS measures
• •14. Have any other illness, condition, or use medications (psychotropic or antiretroviral), which in the opinion of the PI and/or the admitting physician would preclude safe and/or successful completion of the study