The trick is to find the drug or combination of drugs that is right for the individual sufferer. If we could find a drug that stopped seizures altogether, that would be as good as a cure. Also, the drugs interfere with the electrical activity in the brain, and there's a thin line between normal and abnormal activity. Some get good seizure control from drugs, but find side effects like sleepiness or dizziness or an unsteady gait interfere too much with their daily life so they don't take them. Some are not taking the right medications because they don't follow up with their doctors and try new approaches if the drugs aren't working.
Some people have surgery to remove the part of the brain where the seizures originate.
Sometimes there's a surgery to separate the two sides of the brain to prevent the seizure from spreading. The hope is that better targeting of drugs to different parts of the brain will help control and ultimately stop seizures. Gene therapy treatment has shown some early promise in animals, and the search for genetic causes may also eventually help us better understand how the brain works and help find a cure. Deep brain stimulation similar to that used in Parkinson's patients, where an implant is buried deep into the brain may also someday help with seizures. There is also a nerve stimulator that attaches to the vagus nerve in the neck that is effective for some in controlling seizures in some people.