When does Seizure Medication start working?
- Thread starter niceguyVZ
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arnie
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Some meds get up to therapeutic levels in a few days, and others you have to gradually increase the dose over a period of time. Unfortunately, there are a lot of times when a medication will only partly control seizures, and your doctor may have to change the dose, add another medication, or try an entirely different medication all by itself. It can be a long process trying to get your seizures under control.
Is there a difference in how Meds work for Full Tonic clonics vs Myoclonus type of Seizures(partial seizures). Would they work better and faster on Partial Seizures like with myoclonus?
cause i dont have full tonic clonics
chmmr
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No they don't necessarily work faster or better on the partials etc unfortunately. Like Arnie said finding a med balance can be tricky but if you are feeling like they are less already that is great.
Keep a journal of how often you are having them so that you can figure out if they keep getting better or change.
What medication did your Doctor put you on ?
Keep a journal of how often you are having them so that you can figure out if they keep getting better or change.
What medication did your Doctor put you on ?
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niceguyVZ
Some medication will work in a few days others take longer. It depends on the medication and the body mainly the thing is just because you are put on a medication does not mean it will work for you or it could be that you need a combination to help control the seizures they all work differently for each of us and there is no guarantee of full control of them no matter how much we want it. You have to give the medication a chance to work and for this it needs to get around your system we are a complicated being.
There is no typical amount of days for any of us, you just have to wait and maybe try different medication until you get the one that suits you. Hang in there its no easy ride.
Some medication will work in a few days others take longer. It depends on the medication and the body mainly the thing is just because you are put on a medication does not mean it will work for you or it could be that you need a combination to help control the seizures they all work differently for each of us and there is no guarantee of full control of them no matter how much we want it. You have to give the medication a chance to work and for this it needs to get around your system we are a complicated being.
There is no typical amount of days for any of us, you just have to wait and maybe try different medication until you get the one that suits you. Hang in there its no easy ride.
I would give it two to three weeks before you evaluate if it is working. And then Give it a full month till you evaluate if you are having side effects. But medicine is typically absorbed into your system after 1/2 - 1 hr of taking the dose.
Cheers!
Cheers!
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I give meds a couple of weeks to start working for me.
It's different for everyone though on how they may react.
Belinda
It's different for everyone though on how they may react.
Belinda
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My neuro told me on average it takes around a month to find out how the medicine is going to work for me. If it's not working the way he want's it to he may change the dosage or add another pill after that. Sometimes a medicine may not be working at all or I can't take the side effects and he has to change everything and start all over. I tend to call this finding the 'recipe' that is good for you.
Unfortunately there is no cure for epilepsy. It took a few years to find out what meds worked well for me to get my seizures under control. Even under control I'm still having seizures but I went from having around 20 a month to around 7 a month.
Defiantly keep a journal. Mark down when your seizures were and what they are like. Also since you are starting a new med it would be a good idea to keep track of any sort of side effect you think you are having. This is another thing that deals with if you should be taking the med or not.
On one med all I did was sleep, I was so tired that it took everything just to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. On another I ate like crazy, I bet I gained 40lbs. Another I didn't eat at all, my family had to force me to. One med made me itchy like crazy. There have been other side effects that I've had that were too much and I couldn't stay on that med.
There are people who have found meds that work for them but they still might have one or two seizures a year. Some may go years with the meds they are on then have a seizure. I guess it just depends on the person, if that's the right way to put it.
Unfortunately there is no cure for epilepsy. It took a few years to find out what meds worked well for me to get my seizures under control. Even under control I'm still having seizures but I went from having around 20 a month to around 7 a month.
Defiantly keep a journal. Mark down when your seizures were and what they are like. Also since you are starting a new med it would be a good idea to keep track of any sort of side effect you think you are having. This is another thing that deals with if you should be taking the med or not.
On one med all I did was sleep, I was so tired that it took everything just to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. On another I ate like crazy, I bet I gained 40lbs. Another I didn't eat at all, my family had to force me to. One med made me itchy like crazy. There have been other side effects that I've had that were too much and I couldn't stay on that med.
There are people who have found meds that work for them but they still might have one or two seizures a year. Some may go years with the meds they are on then have a seizure. I guess it just depends on the person, if that's the right way to put it.
My daughter started on Ethosuximide about 3.5 weeks ago....I do not like the side effects I'm seeing in her. She's sleeping much more than normal, has very little appetite and is verbalizing how sad she is. She's tearful and just so different than she was, but I don't see the seizures anymore....I'm wondering if the side effects may lessen over time or at what point do we try another med?
Hi Jessicalt, I'm a 27yo female who had a terrible first time on ethosuximide. So bad that initially I didn't give them a chance. I got scared by the depression coming on so quickly I made them change my meds immediately. Now 4 years on I have tried it again. With the support of a fantastic epilepsy nurse. After 5 months I am finally on the correct dose...... The tiredness does come and go but I find exercise really helps keep me alert. The appetite, again eating has brome more necessity than anything else. But you get used to these. The psychological side effects can be very difficult, immense sadness and depression And at times suicidal feelings.
I didn't make the decision to go back on to this lightly it can be extremely scary, but these feelings dissipated after each dose increase, I still don't feel like myself..... Things bear down on me much more than before. The most important thing has been support for me.... My family and close friends saw what this did last time and this time I know I can just offload my feelings no matter how ridiculous. (Because it can really mess with your thoughts) but I am coming out if the other side now. It has been 5 months.... I deliberately did this slowly so I could cope and I am now on 750mg 2x a day. I still have a lot of trouble with my emotions and feeling depressed.... And it is incredibly difficult but just support her and I am sure she will come out the other side.
It is a very effective drug for me whilst others have been patchy at best.
But the first time it got too much and I came off it I felt like a new person within days if not hours.... So if it does escalate go down a dose. She will feel normal within days and then maybe find the strength to face it again. Many of the thoughts I had were ridiculous but still upsetting so as long as she knows you can talk about it. Maybe even laugh about how silly some of the thoughts are....
Stick with it. It's verydifficult but I'm glad I did because it's also very effective xxxxxxxxxxx
I didn't make the decision to go back on to this lightly it can be extremely scary, but these feelings dissipated after each dose increase, I still don't feel like myself..... Things bear down on me much more than before. The most important thing has been support for me.... My family and close friends saw what this did last time and this time I know I can just offload my feelings no matter how ridiculous. (Because it can really mess with your thoughts) but I am coming out if the other side now. It has been 5 months.... I deliberately did this slowly so I could cope and I am now on 750mg 2x a day. I still have a lot of trouble with my emotions and feeling depressed.... And it is incredibly difficult but just support her and I am sure she will come out the other side.
It is a very effective drug for me whilst others have been patchy at best.
But the first time it got too much and I came off it I felt like a new person within days if not hours.... So if it does escalate go down a dose. She will feel normal within days and then maybe find the strength to face it again. Many of the thoughts I had were ridiculous but still upsetting so as long as she knows you can talk about it. Maybe even laugh about how silly some of the thoughts are....
Stick with it. It's verydifficult but I'm glad I did because it's also very effective xxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry that was really long.... The feelings are really intense to begin with but taking things slowly has helped and the side effects do slowly wear off....... It does take a few months though. I also had an upset tummy for 4 months.... That has finally gone too.