Treatment for seizures involves a commitment to take medications every day, perhaps for years, perhaps for the rest of your life. Before you make this commitment, you and your doctor must decide if it is necessary. The point of antiepileptic drug therapy is to control seizures without causing side effects. Seizures can usually be completely controlled without side effects, but there are times when a patient and doctor must balance seizure control and side effects. The first step is to correctly identify the seizure type.
Accurate diagnosis is essential to successful drug therapy.
Different types of seizures respond better to some medications than others, so a proper diagnosis is critical. Once epilepsy is diagnosed and the type of seizure identified, antiepileptic medication is usually prescribed. These are powerful medicines that act on the brain to prevent seizures. Picking the best medication and the right dosage can be a very difficult part of drug therapy. Drug requirements may change over time, necessitating a change in routine.