Levetiracetam and lamotragine

Medication is different from person to person. I’ve been on levetiracetam before and the neurologist had to up the dose, but that was more because my seizures have been difficult to control. I’m just now starting on lamotrigine at a low dose so I can’t say in that one. It’s not uncommon for the neurologist to increase the dose if they believe it’s effective, but if it’s not decreasing your seizures then it’s appropriate for you to talk about your concerns with your doctor and see if they have a recommendation for another medication or maybe even seeking a second opinion. Other factors that you may need to consider are stress, lack of sleep and over exertion as potential triggers for your seizures. You mentioned that you are in a final year placement and concerned about graduation. I’m not sure what you mean by that and where you are located, but sometimes there are special rules for accommodations that if you put things in place now you can still make it possible to graduate even if something happens with your health. I’m a licensed clinical social worker and certified rehabilitation counselor and have helped people with these things in the past. 

Hi, thank you very much for your reply.I am a student social worker in northern ireland and on your final placement youre required to spend 4 and a half months practicing however if you miss 10 days your placement is didcontinued. So far, i have missed 7 and im only 2 months in.

Based on my brief review of the protections available for people with disabilities in northern Ireland v. the United States, they are much more limited in northern Ireland. It seems the laws don’t actually use the word “right” and while I’m not a lawyer, that substantially limits your protection unless of course this has been updated from the very brief review that I was able to do for you. That being said, I would advise you based on my own experience as a social worker with epilepsy and what I have had to do in my training and employment to “get by” at times and also advocate for myself professionally. If you haven’t disclosed your epilepsy already, I advise you not to do so unless it’s absolutely necessary. It sounds like you have absence seizures, so maybe for safety reasons you and your healthcare team believe it is necessary. The reason is because of discrimination - even though it’s wrong it still happens. The next advice that I have for you is to see if you can “make up” those missed days so that they are not counted against you. If not, then perhaps you do need to see if you can get an accommodation in place now that allows for you to make up any future missed days if they are for your health, but this would require disclosure of your disability and depending on the laws in northern Ireland you may not be given the accommodation because you may not have a “right”. The last thing that I would say is this...you only have two and a half months left, so unless it’s absolutely necessary like in the case of an emergency...you may need to go to your placement and just put your best effort in that day even if it’s not your best work if you are functional. I don’t know enough about your seizures such as if you have an aura or your postictal state, etc. and that’s something that you need to discuss further with your healthcare team, but I know for me I sometimes just had to sleep more, not have a social life, and push through the rest of the day at my internship or work to meet my goal in order to graduate or not get fired until I ultimately found out what I needed to do for my health long term. Work is like medication, it’s trial and error and learning what you need and what your limits are, but in all cases be sure to talk things over with your doctor and in the end you know your body best and need to make the final call.