Seizure Medicines

Medication for Epilepsy

Medicine is the most common way of treating epilepsy and is almost always the first treatment tried. There are many different medicines that can prevent or stop seizures. These are called anti-seizure medications (ASMs). They will successfully control seizures for about 7 out of 10 people with epilepsy.

Some medicines tend to work better for certain kinds of seizures than for others. If one medicine fails, another may work better. A combination of medications may be tried too. The medications don’t fix the problem that causes seizures. Instead, they work to stop seizures from occurring.

Learning more in-depth information on ASMs and how to use them will help in your role during treatment. It’s important to talk with your doctor about the pros and cons of the different seizure medicines available to treat your kind of epilepsy.

Important Information

• Taking your medication regularly is essential to controlling your seizures.
• Never stop or change your medication without talking to your doctor, as this could cause a severe seizure.

Watch the Approach to Seizure Medications video below for more information.

This video explains anti-seizure medications (previously AEDs) and the process of choosing the best medicine for you.

When to Seek Specialty Care

If your seizures are difficult to control, we recommend seeking more specialized care. Difficult to control seizures are ones that continue to occur after one year or after two anti-seizure medications have been tried.

Epilepsy centers provide a team approach to caring for people with seizures and epilepsy. Testing is available to diagnose whether a person has seizures and the type of epilepsy they may have. Epilepsy experts can help explore all treatment options, including:

• New or add-on seizure medications
• Surgery
• Devices
• Dietary therapy
• Clinical trials

"The goal is to get the best seizure control possible."

Medical Therapy in Epilepsy Webinar

Medical Therapy in Epilepsy: Treatment, Side Effects, Drug Interactions 

Barry Gidal PharmD, RPh, and Elaine Kiriakopoulos MD, MSc, spoke to behavioral health providers about medical therapy in epilepsy. The goal was to improve their understanding of seizure treatment, medication side effects, and drug interactions to help them meet the needs of their patients living with epilepsy.

Watch the recording from September 19, 2019

This webinar shares information about medical therapy options, specifically about anti-seizure medications. Learn about treatment, side effects, drug interactions and more.