Helping Treatment Work

• Ask your doctor ahead of time what to do if you forget a dose of your medication.
• Don't stop taking your medicine suddenly. It could cause non-stop seizures that would put you in the hospital and might even threaten your life.
• Tell your doctor if you notice any unusual changes in health, feelings or behavior when you are taking your medicines.
• Be careful about drinking alcohol. Check with your doctor about how these drinks will mix with your medicine.
• Get enough sleep.
• Think about things you want to ask before you see the doctor. Write them down so you don't forget.
• Keep follow-up appointments. You may need to have special tests from time to time to make sure the medications you take aren't doing anything to your body that might be damaging.
• Tell doctors planning surgery for you, or treating you for other medical conditions, that you have epilepsy and what medicine you take for it. Write down its name and dosage and keep it in a safe place.
• Ask your doctor if there are any cold pills, fever medicines or other drug-store products that you should not use because you take epilepsy medicine.
• If your doctor changes your medicine, don't drive until you know how it's going to affect you.