Some have them only every few weeks or months, while others endure hundreds a day. If I had the choice of cutting off my arm or having this, I'd cut off my arm today. Medications still the primary treatment Thanks to the medical breakthroughs of the last few decades, many Americans with epilepsy can control their seizures. The primary treatment remains medications, old and new. Most work by blocking the passage of certain chemicals into neurons, to try to prevent the frenzied brain-wave activity that signals a seizure.
Patients generally start by taking the medications in tablets or capsules of varying dosages.
This allows doctors to determine the most effective dose for each person. Three medications in particular, Dilantin , Tegretol and Depakene , have formed the backbone of anticonvulsant therapy for the last 25 years. But they're not perfect. All have been linked to increased risk of birth defects, and can produce side effects in some people that range from mental confusion to depression to tremors or even anemia. Many patients can do quite well with medical treatment.