Say you are the mother of an adorable kid who was diagnosed with epilepsy. Your world, from that moment, gets turned upside down. Along with other parenting activities that you have to do like pick-ups and drop-offs from school, helping with homework, and preparing meals, you are also coming to terms with the diagnosis. No doubt, you’d be desperately searching for solutions, going for hospital visits, and ensuring that your child takes their medication to help with seizures. All the while, you are anxiously hoping that your baby will be fine. And you worry, probably all of the time.
Or, you’re a young person with a full-time job and was recently diagnosed with epilepsy. Along with keeping up with the drastic changes in your life and adulting in general, you’re scared about having a seizure when you’re alone, have to remember to take your medications on time, and are frustrated that you might miss your doses sometimes.
Sound familiar?
Living with epilepsy or having a loved one with the condition can be hard. It is complicated to remember everything about taking or administering epilepsy medications, and you might sometimes forget. But taking these medications on time as prescribed by the doctor is important, and we hope that this article helps you understand why.
How your antiepileptic medications work
There are many treatments for epilepsy including surgery, VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulation) implants, among others, but epilepsy medications, commonly called Antiepileptic Drugs (AEDs) are the most common forms of treatment for people diagnosed with epilepsy. While they do not “cure” epilepsy, they help to reduce the number of seizures that a person has, and, in essence, “control” the condition.
