by Robert S. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief

It’s sad, but true: certain medications can provoke seizures. For some, the provoked seizure will be the only seizure. Other people with a history of seizures will precipitate another by taking a particular medication or street drug. These medications do not cause epilepsy, which is the condition of spontaneously recurrent seizures. But a drug can provoke a seizure in a person with a pre-existing tendency to have seizures.

Many medications can provoke seizures. The table at this link lists over 200, prepared from clinical experience of the Editor-in-Chief, and perusal of multiple on-line medication databases. The list is far from complete. Occasionally, an antiepileptic drug can make seizures worse, instead of better, especially if used in toxic doses. Even pure water in excessive quantities can lead to a seizure. Much depends upon the dosage of a drug, whether it is in a quick or slow-release form, whether it is interacting with another drug in your system, whether you have built up to a dosage slowly or quickly, and multiple other factors. A medication that may make one person seize may be quite harmless to another. Some medications have a direct effect to cause seizures, others provoke seizures with drug withdrawal.

If you know that you have a tendency to have seizures, then treat the medications listed here with caution. Do not refuse to take them if your doctor says that you need them. But do ask whether there are alternative medications, or alternative ways to take the listed medicine, that would achieve the therapeutic goals with maximal safety. Do not stop a medicine simply because it is on this list! Confer with your medical team.

Here is a subset of the full table to show some commonly used medications and recreational drugs that have been found to provoke seizures. Be aware that a generic name may be associated with more than one brand name. For example, the generic name, hydroxyzine, is associated with both Atarax and Vistaril brand names. Not all brand names are listed, so when in doubt look your medication up by the generic name.

Download full table as a PDF.
Download full table as an Excel spreadsheet.

Submitted June 30, 2009