Friday 24 January 2014

Understanding Anti Seizure Medications

Anti Seizure Medications are an important part of epilepsy and seizure disorder treatments and can help bring relief for sufferers as well as improve quality of life.Many people aren't aware of the devastating effects seizures can have on an otherwise healthy individual - in cases of severe juvenile epilepsy of seizure disorders the child can regress, becoming non-verbal and unable to walk due to the severity of the seizures. For these patients controlling the seizures is imperative to survival and achieving a high quality of life.

There are many different types Anti Seizure Medications that are used to treat different types of seizures and medications that work well for one type of seizure might not work for another type. For this reason patients who experience various types of seizures will need several medications to control them completely. In severe cases when the brain is in a state of perpetual seizure (Status Epilepticus) emergency medical intervention is necessary and emergency anti seizure medications either intravenously or via suppository.

Depakote (Valproic Acid)&  Zarontin  are the most common medications of choice for Petit Mal seizures. These seizures, distinguished by staring spells that could be mistaken for daydreaming, are usually responsive to medication. Depakote, like many other anticonvulsant medications are dangerous, medical supervision is essential.

Dilantin is another anti seizure medication, and has proven effective to control partial seizures, as well as generalized tonic-clonic seizures. It is also commonly administered intravenously to quickly control active seizures in emergency settings. In many cases it is used in conjunction with Topamax, Trileptal or Lamictal for complete seizure control.

Almost 70% of epilepsy patients are effectively treated with medications. For the remaining 30% surgery can sometimes help control the seizures. Finding the right combination of medications isn't an exact science, and in many cases patients go by trial and error for years in an attempt to find the dosage or combination that works best for them.

An accuracy diagnosis of not only the type of seizure, but the type of epilepsy is very important to finding the right medication quickly. Regardless, each patient is different, and the final treatment will depend on the patients reaction to the medications prescribed as well as and side effects that they might experience due to the medications.

In many cases, even if there is no obvious negative side effects, regular tests are required to avoid liver damage due to the medications.

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