Does anyone know if its common to have more siezures when you start medication?

[buddhas]

[McAdoo]

I suffer from complex partial seizures and certainly didn't suffer any more seizures once I started taking medication. Maybe I was just lucky that I was given the right medication for me - Carbamazepine - straight away. With others maybe its a case of trial and error to get the right tablets.

[AmyBadd]

I had to try different medications before I found one which worked (the third one, Epilim Chrono), but I don't remember my seizures suddenly getting worse with the others. I think you should see a doctor immediately if this is the case.

[buddhas]

Thanks for your replies its my 9 yr old daughter who has recently been diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy. She suffers from abscence seizures and also tonic clonic. Keppra is the medication prescribed due to her age but seizures appear to becoming more frequent since commencing treatment......she had only suffered 2 we were aware of prior to an EEG and then the commencement of medication a few weeks ago.

[Hidden]

Hi, I have had epilepsy for 39 years now and at long last am 14 months seizure free. I had several seizures at the onset of my epilepsy (both absence and tonic clonic seizures), and tried many medications. Finally, I am on Carbamazapine and Phenytoin which I have been on for years. These control me now but as I was getting older, my seizures were getting longer and worse. Now all of a sudden they appear to have stopped, but I still don't know why. I wish I knew.

[hayley67]

my son was diagnosed with epilepsy and has generalised tonic clonic seizures, he is 16 years old and takes 600mg of epilim chrono at 8pm every night. this has worked so far, he was sleepy to start with but seems to have adjusted.. my heart goes out to all parents experiencing epilepsy with their children, xxx

[jules1973]

Yes i would say it is and i have tried alot in my time and also tiredness is another thing seizures get worse before they settle down and the medication works it takes a good few weeks

[shanomeara]

There are so many anti-seizure drugs out there and since no one drug works the same for all people, it's kind of a hit or miss proposition, depending what your doctor thinks is the best course of action. The best thing doctors can do is to try different drugs kind of on a hit or miss basis until the right one is found. Each drug take between twelve and eighteen months to see if it works for you, at least that has been my experience. So to answer your question, yes it is more common to have seizures if you start taking yourself off the new drug too quickly and not ramping yourself up on the new one just as quickly. One thing I have learned is to equate one drug to another. By that I mean, if you are taking a high level of one drug and you switch to another drug, have your doctor set the new at a high level as well. It only makes sense so as not to create a lull in your medicine.

[Prabz97]

You can have more seizures when you start a new medication because some medications can give you side effects because it may not mix with your immune system