Medication for Epilepsy & Seizure Disorders

NYU Langone doctors typically use antiepileptic medications first when treating adults with epilepsy. These medications don’t cure the condition, but they can help control seizures and improve a person’s quality of life.

Several antiepileptic medications are available, such as carbamazepine, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, and eslicarbazepine. These medications are available as pills that are taken by mouth daily.

At NYU Langone’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, our experts work with you to find the medication—or combination of medications—that best suits your needs.

Most people with epilepsy require medication for only a small portion of their lives. With many types of epilepsy, medications can be slowly reduced and discontinued, under a doctor’s supervision, after a person has been free of seizures for two to four years.

The longer people go without seizures while taking epilepsy medication, the better their chances of remaining seizure-free after stopping treatment.