Why do seizures need to be medicated?

Answer 1

There are a few ways you can look at that question, like whether all people who have epilepsy need to be on medication or whether medication is needed when a seizure happens.

Most people with epilepsy are on medication. Epilepsy comes in such a wide variety of types and severity, that there are all sorts of medications and dosages and each individual person is different, so there is not one standard approach. Some people have very mild seizures and may not be on any medication. Others could have very severe seizures and need a lot of medication.

Those that are on medication for epilepsy normally take their medication a set amount of times a day, not at the time they have a seizure. Their medication is designed to control seizures, meaning it should at least reduce if not eliminate seizures. Once a seizure starts, there is nothing that can be done to stop it. However, some seizures are extremely mild, lasting just seconds, with only the person that has had it knowing that something has happened, so there is no need for any assistance. Giving someone medication during a seizure is not going to stop it and in many cases it would be difficult to get someone to take medication when they are having a seizure anyway.

Only in the most extreme cases, would medical intervention be needed, like if someone was going from one seizure into another for a long period of time, like for 20 minutes or half an hour. Then it would be advisable to call an ambulance. That is something that is very rare. For the majority of people, they will have a seizure and recover soon afterwards, and if you called an ambulance immediately the seizure started, they might be fine or at least well on the way to recovery by the time it arrives, so there would be no need for the ambulance.

People seeing someone having a seizure and not knowing what it is tend to panic and call an ambulance, but usually it is not needed. People do get brought to hospital in those cases, just because an ambulance has come and on a precautionary basis, but are usually discharged very soon afterwards, as they have recovered by then. A seizure may only last for a few minutes, so usually there is no medical assistance needed and it is not of any help to the person as they would recover themselves anyway. There is normally no need to give them medication after a seizure either. The person will just follow their normal pattern of when they take their medication. So if someone is having a seizure, all you can do is be there for them, make sure they are OK and comfortable. That is more than sufficient treatment for the vast majority of seizures.

Answer 2

Medication is taken to prevent seizures happening or to reduce the amount or severity of seizures. You cannot take medication to stop a seizure once it has started. People who are on seizure medication take it each day, at different dosages, depending on what has been prescribed for them. Someone might take some in the morning and again in the evening. Nobody wants to have a seizure and for people with very severe seizures, it can be a regular and difficult experience. Naturally they would want to do something to improve their condition, so they take medication.