Epilepsy patients discontinue medication on their own, leading to the abandonment of treatment

    Epilepsy is a chronic recurrent transient brain dysfunction syndrome characterized by abnormal brain neuronal discharges causing recurrent epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is one of the common neurological disorders with long treatment time. Treatment methods include medication, surgery, and diet therapy, among which medication is preferred.    The treatment includes medication, surgery, diet therapy, etc. Among them, medication is the first choice. Reasonable medication can improve the control rate of epilepsy Xiao Yan, female, 24 years old, was admitted to the hospital for “recurrent convulsive seizures for more than 4 years”. Xiao Yan had episodes of unconsciousness, clenching of teeth, rolling of eyes, drooling, twitching of limbs and tilting of head back for a few minutes each time, with headache and dizziness 1 to 2 days before the seizure and dizziness, nausea and vomiting after the seizure. After the onset, he had been attending the epilepsy center of Tangdu Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University, where he was given medication. For two years, the disease was well controlled and the seizures did not occur again. Xiao Yan felt that she had not had any more seizures for a long time, so she stopped taking the medication without the doctor’s permission. A week after stopping the medication, she developed memory loss, emotional instability, and grand mal seizures. The family rushed to the epilepsy center of Tangdu Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi’an with Xiaoyan. Sun Yang, Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University After treatment, the convulsions stopped and the situation improved. She was given medication adjustments according to her condition and was instructed to keep in touch with her doctor, adhere to long-term medication, and not to stop taking it on her own.    She was then instructed not to stop medication at will, and that medication discontinuation and reduction should be done carefully and gradually under the guidance of a doctor. This is because the doctor will consider whether a patient can stop the medication according to the patient’s condition and even various factors, such as the type of seizure, the medication and the duration of the seizure, before deciding whether the medication can be stopped. If the medication is stopped suddenly, it will cause a sharp increase in seizures and the treatment will be lost.