Hesperian Health Guides
Chapter 4: Medicines for epilepsy and seizures
Antiseizure medicines can help manage or control seizures caused by epilepsy or other health conditions by preventing seizures from happening as often or stopping them completely. Unfortunately, there are not yet any medicines that cure epilepsy.
Antiseizure medicines work by slowing down and balancing the electrical activity in the brain that causes seizures. Antiseizure medicines mostly come as pills or capsules taken by mouth, and some are available as liquids for children. Most emergency antiseizure medicines are injected into a vein (intravenous, or IV).
Different antiseizure medicines at different doses control different types of seizures. That is one reason why learning to identify different types of seizures is important (see Chapter 3). It can take time to find the right medicine and dose for each person. The best medicine, or medicine combination, for a person with epilepsy will:
- prevent seizures.
- work at the lowest possible dose for that person.
- have few side effects.
- be compatible with other medicines they may be taking.
- be easy for them to get.
- be free of charge or affordable.
Antiseizure medicines can help people feel better and give them more control over their lives. For children with epilepsy or other health conditions that cause seizures, antiseizure medicines can help them learn well, participate in everyday activities, and prevent other problems that may be caused by seizures.
A seizure can be caused by a health condition other than epilepsy, such as meningitis, malaria in the brain, or others. The medicines used to treat those conditions are different than the medicines for epilepsy and are not all discussed in this chapter. High fever in very young children can also cause seizures.
Medicines are not the only way to treat seizures and epilepsy. See Chapter 6 to learn about how getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, exercising, and avoiding things that trigger seizures can improve health and make medicines work better. Sometimes a special diet will help control seizures, even when medicines do not (see “Drug-resistant epilepsy”).