Seizure Prevention Issues

Many children with epilepsy gain complete control of their seizures with regular use of seizure preventing medicines. These medicines have to be taken from one to four times a day. This means that some children with this disorder will have to take medicine during the school day.

Successful treatment depends on keeping a steady level of medication in the child's blood at all times, so it is important that doses not be missed or given late.

In many schools the school nurse will be the staff member who will look after the medicine and give it to the child each day. The time when it is given, and the amount, will be arranged with the parents according to the doctor's instructions.

In some schools, however, the principal or the home room teacher will have this responsibility.

Whatever the arrangement, permission for the child to get the medication on a pre-arranged schedule should be freely given and every effort should be made to help him or her get the medicine on time.

State or local regulations may require an adult to give medicine at school. However, the child should have the responsibility of knowing when it should be taken and making sure that he's in the right place to get it.

Although the side effects of antiepileptic drugs are generally mild, unusual fatigue, lethargy, clumsiness, nausea or other signs of ill health in the child with epilepsy should be reported promptly to the school nurse and to the parents.