Medication Management for Epilepsy

It’s important to take the right dose and type of medication to control your epilepsy. Your doctor will work with you to find what prescriptions are best, but everyone is different. A medication and dose that works for one person may not work for you.

When your doctor first prescribes a medication for epilepsy, you’ll usually start with a low dose. Depending on its effectiveness, it may be increased until your seizures are controlled or reduced. Sometimes you’ll need multiple medications to fully control your epilepsy.

While medications may cause some side effects, it’s important to take them as your doctor prescribed. Not taking your medications can have serious side effects, such as:

• Status epilepticus, a condition that causes continuous seizures and can lead to serious complications.
• Making future seizures more difficult to manage and control.
• Coma.
• Death.

To help you avoid these complications, here are some medication do’s and don’ts.

Do

• Take your medicine as prescribed.
• Carry a list of medications and doses with you at all times.
• Tell your epileptologist if you’re taking any other medications, including birth control or vitamins.
• Use a pillbox to organize and help you remember to take your medication.
• Let your doctor know if you experience any side effects from your medications.
• Talk to your doctor if you have questions or concerns about your medication. Never adjust doses or stop taking medication without direction from your doctor.

Don’t

• Skip any doses.
• Stop taking your medications.
• Change the doses.
• Take your medication with grapefruit juice, which interacts badly with some medications.
• Run out. Contact your pharmacy when you have a week’s supply left to get a refill.

If medications aren’t able to stop your seizures, other options may help, including:

• Surgery, such as temporal lobectomy or corpus callosotomy.
• Implantable devices. 
• Ketogenic diet.

It’s up to you and your doctor to work together to find the best way to control seizures. However, not all medications work for all patients. In the video below, Mariel Velez, M.D., a neurologist with Sutter West Bay Medical Group, talks about her recommendations for patients who need more than medication to manage their epilepsy.

If you have any concerns or questions about medication or treatment options, speak with your doctor.