Taking Stock: Asking About Side Effects

Headache

Headaches may occur as part of seizures or, more commonly, following seizures. Migraine headaches are also common in people who have seizure disorders/epilepsy. Painful headaches can limit your activities and well being in many ways.

On the other hand, many people develop headaches as symptoms of stress or other medical problems. If you have headaches, chart when they occur on your seizure calendar and share that information with your doctor. If your headaches are related to seizures, considering ways to improve your seizure control may be the best solution.

Here are some questions you might consider asking your doctor:

• Are my headaches being caused by my medication?
• Am I taking an inappropriate amount of medication? Or could I be taking it incorrectly?
• Could my medication's generic version eliminate this side effect?
• Is it safe for me to take an over-the-counter drug to alleviate my headaches?
• Could this be a sign of brain damage or some other type of medical issue?

In a study published in the medical journal Neurology in 2001, it was reported that headaches related to seizures, either before or after, occur in 47 percent of people with partial seizures, including temporal lobe and extratemporal lobe seizures. Forty-four percent of the people reported headaches after the seizure, and three percent said the headaches came before.

Read about other possible side effects...