Does that mean that going on meds is less effective?
Short answer: Nope! Those meds might be equally effective this time. The fact that your seizures were responsive to medication the first time around bodes well for them being responsive to meds again. The odds are in your favor.
Long answer: Nope! Because...
"Kindling" is more a general descriptive term of what
can happen with a seizure disorder, rather than a predictive term for what
will happen with yours. Each person has a very different individual epilepsy history and prognosis.
The gist of "kindling" is that the more seizures an individual has, the more likely it is that that individual will have them in the future. Each time a seizure follows a given path in the brain, it may strengthen the neurons in that path, making it more likely that the seizure will choose that path the next time. Over time, repeated seizures may progress in frequency, duration, and/or kind.
I like to think of kindling in these terms: First, you (i.e. your brain) discovers a faint, barely-used path and follows it (during the course of a seizure). Each time you travel that dysfunctional path, it gets wider and more worn-in (or "hard-wired.") And the more worn-in that path gets, the more likely you are to take it. So repeated seizures can potentially change a tiny path into a well-worn trail, then from a trail into a dirt road...then into a paved road...then into a 4-lane highway.
But there's nothing in the kindling theory that says anything about what will happen in a given individual's seizures, or about what happens when seizures have been treated with a given med. What it does imply is that it's terrific if a seizure disorder can be diagnosed and stopped (with meds or other means) before your brain starts to get "in the habit" of seizing". (i.e. before the seizure path changes into a seizure highway).
