How long can you go without epilepsy medication?

How long can you go without epilepsy medication?

Quitting medication suddenly can lead to a withdrawal seizure. Your doctor will lower your dose over time. Children may be completely off medication in as little as 1 month. For adults, it’s usually between 1 and 6 months, though some doctors think 3 months is the minimum.

Why is it important for patients with epilepsy to take their medications?

Taking Your Medication Regularly is Essential to Controlling Your Seizures. Taking seizure medications regularly, and as recommended by your doctor, is vitally important! It gives you the best chance to achieve the goals of epilepsy therapy: no seizures and no side effects.

What happens when you don’t take your medication?

If you don’t take your medication as prescribed, you will experience a worsening of pain and possibly progression of the disease. If you’re taking medicine for chronic pain, skipping medication can make pain harder to treat.

Can you live without seizure medication?

The length of time a person is seizure free before stopping medicine depends on many issues. The longer the time a person is seizure free on medications, the better chance of coming off medicines. More than 50 out of 100 children outgrow their epilepsy.

Is seizure medication for life?

Most doctors will consider tapering the dosage and discontinuing your seizure medicines after a seizure-free period of 2 to 4 years. If you have had only one seizure, some doctors will consider discontinuing the medicine if you have been seizure-free for 6 to 12 months.

Can a person with epilepsy not have a seizure?

Not all people with epilepsy have seizure triggers. And the things that trigger one person’s seizures might not affect other people with epilepsy in the same way. Here are some of the seizure triggers that are commonly reported by people with epilepsy: Not taking epilepsy medicine as prescribed.

When does epilepsy become a life threatening condition?

If your seizures are not controlled, epilepsy may become life-threatening. Your seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes. You have trouble breathing after a seizure. You have diabetes or are pregnant and have a seizure. You have a seizure in water, such as a swimming pool or bathtub. You have a second seizure within 24 hours of the first.

Why is it important to take medication for epilepsy?

Taking epilepsy medicines regularly, as prescribed by the doctor, will help to keep a steady level of the medicine in your blood. Several studies have shown that missing a dose of your epilepsy medicine increases the risk of you having a seizure.

How does others react to people with epilepsy?

How others might react can also affect whether they tell people about their condition or choose not to. Many of the people we interviewed mentioned the lack of understanding and knowledge of epilepsy among the general public.

What happens when you stop taking epilepsy medication?

When some medicines are stopped suddenly, a person can have withdrawal symptoms. You could also have long seizures, clusters of seizures or status epilepticus, even if you’ve never had these problems before.

Are there problems accepting the diagnosis of epilepsy?

Problems accepting diagnosis of seizures and epilepsy: It’s not easy understanding and accepting that you may have seizures and need to take medicines daily. Some people tend to deny they have epilepsy or get angry. Since seizure medicines are the visible reminder of having epilepsy, you may blame the medicines and not take them.

Is it hard to have a job with epilepsy?

In fact, about half of people with seizures feel anxious or depressed. Between the unpredictability of seizures, side effects from medicine, fear of having seizures in public, and other worries, epilepsy can be a lot to manage. These things can also make it hard for someone with epilepsy to have a job.

Can a person have more than one type of epilepsy?

Generalized seizures affect both sides of the brain. Focal seizures affect just one area of the brain. These seizures are also called partial seizures. A person with epilepsy can have more than one kind of seizure. Read more about types of seizures and what they look like. If I have a seizure, does that mean I have epilepsy? Not always.