Start a Medication Chart for yourself

Download a Medication Chart (PDF)

Use the above Medication Chart to record the names of all your current seizure medications. List the number of times a day you should take a dose, the amount of medication in each pill, and number of tablets/capsule. Take this list with you when you visit your doctor to be sure s/he knows what you are taking. Update the list every time a change is made in dose or medication, even when it is made by telephone. Also record the date when you get a new prescription and refill to keep track of the number of days between refills.

If you are not sure about the names of the tablets/capsules, bring all your medication to your doctor or pharmacist to ask for help recording the information on your Medication Chart.

Some people say:

“No one ever told me WHEN to take the pills, just to take them twice a day.”

When your doctor prescribed the medication for more than once a day dosing, the reason was to give you smaller amounts throughout the day instead of taking it all at once. This plan reduces side effects while protect you with a booster dose during the day.

It’s easy to plan your schedule if your doctor didn’t tell you. Try this:

If you take a medication once a day, take it at approximately the same time every day (for example 7-8 AM).

If you take your medication twice a day, take the doses approximately 12 hours apart (for example, 7 AM and 7 PM).

If you take your medication three times a day, take the doses approximately 8 hours apart (for example, 7 AM, 3 PM, and 11 PM).

The more doses to take, the more difficult it is to keep them evenly divided during the day. Talk with your doctor about arranging a plan so you don’t have to remember a dose in the middle of the afternoon if you are busy at that time. You might be able to take the mid-day dose with lunch or when you get home from work or school.

Dosing Schedule Issues:

• If you have bothersome physical side effects (tired all the time) or mental side effects (can’t concentrate, lightheaded), ask your doctor if it is possible to decrease the total dose or spread the amount taken into more times a day.
  • If doses are taken too close together, that can cause some problems.
• Ask the doctor about changing the prescription to a long-acting formulation to avoid the problem of short duration of action by continually releasing medication over a long interval.

Seizure Management Issues:

• Missed doses should be considered as a possible reason for some seizures.
• Ask your doctor about changing your medication schedule so that dose times are convenient for you (and easier to remember). Change from three or four doses to a simple twice-daily regimen could decrease missed doses (and better seizure control).
• If you think a medication is not helping control your seizures, don’t just stop taking it. Talk with your doctor about a substitute. Sometimes, adding a second medication will be the best plan.

Dose Times Issues:

• Most seizure medications can be taken with or without food. Unless specifically instructed, take the medication whenever it is most convenient for you.
• If you eat regular meals, a convenient rule-of-thumb is to take all medications while eating (or when at the table, ready to eat). This will help you develop a standard system of taking all the pills together, at specific times of the day.

“Drugs don’t work if you don’t take them.”

Continue to Follow-up Issues

Section Editor: Robert Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., author: Joyce Cramer
Last Reviewed: 11/15/08