Mom new to this needing help...

I can tell you that while there are awful side effects for aeds,  the outcome of constant seizures is worse.  I know there is the ketogenic diet if you and your doctor are on the same page.  It requires working with the Neuro is all.  Long and hard path ahead.  Stay strong 

epilepsy is a big shock for a parent to come to terms with! you may find that your thoughts on things change quite a bit depending on how your child responds. seizures usually have worse effects on life than medications so it is not a minor issue. but it's harder to see that when seizures are difficult to catch.CBD may be from a plant but is still a drug (many drugs originate in nature), here's an excerpt from  http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/treating-seizures-and-epilepsy/other-treatment-approaches/medical-marijuana-and-epilepsy"It is important that people know that even though marijuana is a plant, it is broken down in a person’s liver like many medicines. There is some misbelief that because it is a plant or oil from a plant, in the case of CBD, that marijuana is completely safe. However, medication interactions can occur that need further study."I suggest you read the page as it is a nice   presentation of info from epidiolex (CBD) studies and more, so includes side effects seen and possible drug interaction issues.it sounds like your child has a form of epilepsy that usually responds to meds and is likely to only need treatment for a few years. that is very lucky compared to people who have devastating forms of epilepsy. my child has a genetic form where the generalized seizures are controlled but the focal seizures have never completely responded to drugs. we've tried three different drugs in little over four years and it isn't always easy but I think our child is on a good path right now. hopefully it will resolve in a few years, after puberty. although I think the coming disagreements with the doc will be about ending meds - he probably wants to try ending sooner but as partials still happen, I do not want to deal with more seizures and the negative impacts on schooling. the alternative treatments to drugs are ketogenic diets (usually started in hospital) and for certain people surgery is an option. 

ps - there are small numbers of  people who have very good reactions to other dietary changes - one example - some celiacs can sometimes have seizures stop by removing all glutens (usually those are drug resistant epilepsies so it's a huge bonus). so for some people, very specific diet changes can have a big effect. that doesn't factor in for most people.