Hi,I am Dr. Shanthi.E (General & Family Physician). I will be looking into your question and guiding you through the process. Please write your question below.
Hi, My Brother is suffering from epilepsy from 10 years onwards, from that time we consulted doctor , they told him to take Levipil 500g tablet. but now he is 20 years old, now he didn t face any issues he is normal only. But still doctor is advising him to take tablet daily 2 times , morning 250g and night 250g. When he can stop taking the tablets even though he s completely fine. We are not understanding why doctor is telling him to continue the tablet for some more months. Please advise...
Hello, Welcome to health care magic. I am Dr Alok Sinha, MD Psychiatry from India. I can understand your concern. I will try my best to answer your query. Levepil (Levetiracetam) is a good antiepileptic drug. As epilepsy is a serious and long lasting illness of brain its medicines should be continued for many years. These medicines have prophylactic effect and it prevents epilepsy from occurring again. Your brother's doctor understands the requirement of medicine hence he continued it. Apparently you are not convinced that your brother is currently well on maintenance medication. If an epileptic person stops medicines there are chances of relapse. If there is some structural defect or history of some epileptogenic focus in brain then the chances of recurrence is much more. Here no information is provided about MRI, EEG brain etc. So I can not say whether his brain is OK or not.
If a person has relapse of illness in past then it is unwise to discontinue medication, but if the person is stable and seizure free then doses may be gradually tapered (which your brother's doctor is doing that is reduction from 500 mg to 250 mg dose). When to stop medicines, it should be decided by treating physician. As such the doses are very mild and no serious side effects with this dose is observed.
I humbly suggest you to have faith in the treating doctor. I hope it answers your question. I wish your brother all the best.
I find this answer helpful
You found this answer helpful
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Disclaimer: These answers are for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.
This is a short, free answer.
For a more detailed, immediate answer, try our premium service
[Sample answer]
We use cookies in order to offer you most relevant experience and using this website you acknowledge that you have already read and understood our
Privacy Policy
Does Levipil Help Treat Epilepsy?
Hello, Welcome to health care magic. I am Dr Alok Sinha, MD Psychiatry from India. I can understand your concern. I will try my best to answer your query. Levepil (Levetiracetam) is a good antiepileptic drug. As epilepsy is a serious and long lasting illness of brain its medicines should be continued for many years. These medicines have prophylactic effect and it prevents epilepsy from occurring again. Your brother s doctor understands the requirement of medicine hence he continued it. Apparently you are not convinced that your brother is currently well on maintenance medication. If an epileptic person stops medicines there are chances of relapse. If there is some structural defect or history of some epileptogenic focus in brain then the chances of recurrence is much more. Here no information is provided about MRI, EEG brain etc. So I can not say whether his brain is OK or not. If a person has relapse of illness in past then it is unwise to discontinue medication, but if the person is stable and seizure free then doses may be gradually tapered (which your brother s doctor is doing that is reduction from 500 mg to 250 mg dose). When to stop medicines, it should be decided by treating physician. As such the doses are very mild and no serious side effects with this dose is observed. I humbly suggest you to have faith in the treating doctor. I hope it answers your question. I wish your brother all the best.