Epilepsy – Medication Period

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Some types of epilepsy may have seizures that are actually easy to control with just one medication, but, they may need medication for their entire lives, even if they have been seizure-free for many years or even decades, withdrawing the medication may result in seizure recurrence. On the other hand, people with other kinds of epilepsy, for example temporal lobe epilepsy, which is the most common type of epilepsy in adults, may be able to be weaned off their anti-seizure medication or medications after a significant period of seizure freedom and remain seizure-free even without medication treatment. This is certainly not always the case. I would never recommend that a patient decrease or stop their anti-seizure medications without the advice of their physician. When you are first diagnosed with epilepsy, you should ask your doctor what kind of epilepsy you have, and whether the doctor thinks you will need medication treatment just for a few years or for many years or your whole life.