However, producing seizure-freedom is often overemphasized, at the expense of inducing adverse effects of treatment. All antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have the potential to cause dose-related, “neurotoxic” adverse effects (i.e., drowsiness, fatigue, dizziness, blurry vision, and incoordination).
Full Answer
What medications cause seizures?
Seizures are more common than you might think. Seizures can happen after a stroke, a closed head injury, an infection such as meningitis or another illness. Many times, though, the cause of a seizure is unknown. Most seizure disorders can be controlled with medication, but management of seizures can still have a significant impact on your daily ...
What are the precautions for seizures?
- First, ensure adequate ventilation and place patients on the floor on their left side
- Loosen clothing around the neck and ensure the airway is patent. ...
- Remove all items from the surrounding that can be hazardous. ...
- If the patient is confused and wandering, either gently guide him/her away and block access to outside areas
When to stop antiepileptic medication?
You have the best chance of remaining seizure-free without medication if:
- You had few seizures before you started taking seizure medicine
- Your seizures were easily controlled with one type of medicine
- You have normal results on a neurological examination
- You have a normal EEG
- You have a normal CT scan or MRI
What is the risk of seizures?
You might be at risk of:
- Falling. If you fall during a seizure, you can injure your head or break a bone.
- Drowning. If you have a seizure while swimming or bathing, you're at risk of accidental drowning.
- Car accidents. ...
- Pregnancy complications. ...
- Emotional health issues. ...
Why is it difficult to treat epilepsy?
The long term use of antiepileptic drugs is limited due to their adverse effects, withdrawal symptoms, deleterious interactions with other drugs and economic burden, especially in developing countries. Furthermore, some of the available antiepileptic drugs may even potentiate certain type of seizures.
Can AEDs make seizures worse?
Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may aggravate pre-existing seizures and trigger new seizure types.
Can AEDs cause seizures?
Irregular or missed medication. Abrupt withdrawal from AEDs often causes breakthrough seizures.
How effective are AEDs epilepsy?
They help control seizures in around 7 out of 10 of people. AEDs work by changing the levels of chemicals in your brain. They do not cure epilepsy, but can stop seizures happening.
Can medication make seizures worse?
Type of epilepsy. Not all medications work on all types of seizures. And, sometimes, an epilepsy medication can make seizures worse. If your doctor can't determine what type of seizures you have, you may be prescribed what's known as a "broad-spectrum" epilepsy medication.
What are the most common side effects of anti seizure medications?
Some of the more common seizure medication side effects include:Feeling tired and drowsy.Feeling agitated (nervous or jumpy)Headaches.Nausea (feeling like you're going to be sick)Shaking and tremors.Hypersensitivity (being strongly affected by noise or light)Hair loss.Weight gain.More items...•
Do AEDs have side effects?
All antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have the potential to cause dose-related, “neurotoxic” adverse effects (i.e., drowsiness, fatigue, dizziness, blurry vision, and incoordination). Such adverse effects are common, especially when initiating AED therapy and with polytherapy.
What is the most common reason for drug therapy failure in patients who have epilepsy?
The main cause of treatment failure is due to not following the treatment plan. You don't have epilepsy. You may be having events that look like seizures but are not. You may be having seizures, but something other than epilepsy is causing them.
Can too much anti seizure medication cause seizures?
An incorrect choice of drugs in the treatment of an epileptic syndrome or seizure type may provoke seizures (as for example the provocation of absences due to carbamazepine or phenytoin). The possible seizure-inducing effect of AEDs has to be differentiated from seizure occurrence due to the natural course of epilepsy.
How effective are treatments for epilepsy?
At least half the people newly diagnosed with epilepsy will become seizure-free with their first medication. If anti-epileptic medications don't provide satisfactory results, your doctor may suggest surgery or other therapies.
How do AEDs work?
A built-in computer checks a victim's heart rhythm through adhesive electrodes. The computer calculates whether defibrillation is needed. If it is, a recorded voice prompts the rescuer to press the shock button on the AED. This shock momentarily stuns the heart and stops all activity.
How does anti seizure medication work?
Anti-seizure medicines work by reducing the abnormal electrical activity in the brain that is causing the seizures. Different medicines do this in different ways, and some work better for certain kinds of seizures than others.
Epilepsy Treatment: Why Choose Johns Hopkins
The large number of patients we treat gives us unparalleled expertise in assessing and treating the full spectrum of epilepsy and seizure disorders.
Epilepsy Assessment and Diagnosis
There are several different types of epilepsy, characterized by seizures, with symptoms causing changes in awareness, muscle tone, emotions, behavior and sensory experience. Proper treatment starts with a careful assessment of the person’s seizures, which may include:
Epilepsy Treatment: What to Expect
There is more than one way to treat seizures or epilepsy. Based on your diagnosis, your doctor will discuss which therapies are likely to be most effective. These include:
Treating Epilepsy with a Laser Focus
Epileptologist Joon Kang and neurosurgeon William Anderson are using laser interstitial thermal therapy, or LiTT, to treat epilepsy.