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What is it like to have Epilepsy?

Common Symptoms	Patients' Latest Severity	My Current Severity
	Severity Severe Moderate Mild None
Excessive daytime sleepiness (somnolence)	411 (14%) patients experienced severe severity 852 (29%) patients experienced moderate severity 949 (32%) patients experienced mild severity 775 (26%) patients experienced no severity	None Mild Moderate Severe
Headaches	377 (13%) patients experienced severe severity 719 (24%) patients experienced moderate severity 889 (30%) patients experienced mild severity 1023 (34%) patients experienced no severity	None Mild Moderate Severe
Memory problems	624 (21%) patients experienced severe severity 1062 (36%) patients experienced moderate severity 807 (27%) patients experienced mild severity 495 (17%) patients experienced no severity	None Mild Moderate Severe
Problems concentrating	521 (17%) patients experienced severe severity 1016 (34%) patients experienced moderate severity 919 (31%) patients experienced mild severity 533 (18%) patients experienced no severity	None Mild Moderate Severe

What do patients take to treat Epilepsy and its symptoms?

Commonly prescribed and frequently used treatments

Treatment name	Efficacy	Overall rating of side effects	# of Evaluations
Levetiracetam (Keppra XR, Keppra)	143 (45%) experienced major efficacy 93 (29%) experienced moderate efficacy 32 (10%) experienced slight efficacy 16 (5%) experienced no efficacy 37 (12%) could not tell	60 (19%) experienced severe side effects 102 (32%) experienced moderate side effects 101 (31%) experienced mild side effects 58 (18%) experienced no side effects	321
Lamotrigine (Lamictal, Apo-Lamotrigine, Lamictal ODT Green Titration Kit, Lamictal XR)	90 (41%) experienced major efficacy 61 (28%) experienced moderate efficacy 31 (14%) experienced slight efficacy 13 (6%) experienced no efficacy 26 (12%) could not tell	24 (11%) experienced severe side effects 71 (32%) experienced moderate side effects 72 (33%) experienced mild side effects 54 (24%) experienced no side effects	221
Carbamazepine (Novo-Carbamazepine, Hermolepsin retard, Teril, Carbatrol ER)	65 (40%) experienced major efficacy 44 (27%) experienced moderate efficacy 24 (15%) experienced slight efficacy 11 (7%) experienced no efficacy 18 (11%) could not tell	34 (21%) experienced severe side effects 58 (36%) experienced moderate side effects 43 (27%) experienced mild side effects 27 (17%) experienced no side effects	162
Topiramate (Topamax Sprinkle, Topamax, Topictal, Toprel)	41 (26%) experienced major efficacy 58 (37%) experienced moderate efficacy 24 (15%) experienced slight efficacy 14 (9%) experienced no efficacy 18 (12%) could not tell	36 (23%) experienced severe side effects 59 (38%) experienced moderate side effects 27 (17%) experienced mild side effects 33 (21%) experienced no side effects	155
Phenytoin (Phenytoin liquid, Dilantin Infatabs, Epamin, Dilantin Kapseals)	49 (38%) experienced major efficacy 33 (26%) experienced moderate efficacy 18 (14%) experienced slight efficacy 14 (11%) experienced no efficacy 14 (11%) could not tell	34 (27%) experienced severe side effects 37 (29%) experienced moderate side effects 29 (23%) experienced mild side effects 28 (22%) experienced no side effects	128
Divalproex sodium (Apo-Divalproex, Valtas OD, Divalproex sodium ER, Depakote)	51 (42%) experienced major efficacy 34 (28%) experienced moderate efficacy 10 (8%) experienced slight efficacy 18 (15%) experienced no efficacy 8 (7%) could not tell	47 (39%) experienced severe side effects 36 (30%) experienced moderate side effects 29 (24%) experienced mild side effects 9 (7%) experienced no side effects	121
Zonisamide (Zonegran)	19 (28%) experienced major efficacy 22 (33%) experienced moderate efficacy 13 (19%) experienced slight efficacy 4 (6%) experienced no efficacy 9 (13%) could not tell	12 (18%) experienced severe side effects 17 (25%) experienced moderate side effects 17 (25%) experienced mild side effects 21 (31%) experienced no side effects	67
Lacosamide (Vimpat)	18 (27%) experienced major efficacy 18 (27%) experienced moderate efficacy 8 (12%) experienced slight efficacy 9 (14%) experienced no efficacy 13 (20%) could not tell	13 (20%) experienced severe side effects 17 (26%) experienced moderate side effects 23 (35%) experienced mild side effects 13 (20%) experienced no side effects	66
Oxcarbazepine (Oleptal, Trileptal)	19 (31%) experienced major efficacy 19 (31%) experienced moderate efficacy 8 (13%) experienced slight efficacy 7 (11%) experienced no efficacy 8 (13%) could not tell	17 (28%) experienced severe side effects 15 (25%) experienced moderate side effects 18 (30%) experienced mild side effects 11 (18%) experienced no side effects	61
Clonazepam (DOM-Clonazepam, Paxam, APO Clonazepam, Clonotril)	12 (23%) experienced major efficacy 17 (32%) experienced moderate efficacy 14 (26%) experienced slight efficacy 3 (6%) experienced no efficacy 7 (13%) could not tell	8 (15%) experienced severe side effects 9 (17%) experienced moderate side effects 20 (38%) experienced mild side effects 16 (30%) experienced no side effects	53
Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS)	12 (39%) experienced major efficacy 9 (29%) experienced moderate efficacy 1 (3%) experienced slight efficacy 4 (13%) experienced no efficacy 5 (16%) could not tell	1 (3%) experienced severe side effects 6 (19%) experienced moderate side effects 19 (61%) experienced mild side effects 5 (16%) experienced no side effects	31
Gabapentin (Gralise, DOM-Gabapentin, PMS-Gabatentin, APO-Gabapentin)	4 (14%) experienced major efficacy 12 (41%) experienced moderate efficacy 3 (10%) experienced slight efficacy 4 (14%) experienced no efficacy 6 (21%) could not tell	10 (34%) experienced severe side effects 5 (17%) experienced moderate side effects 11 (38%) experienced mild side effects 3 (10%) experienced no side effects	29
Phenobarbital (Luminal)	12 (44%) experienced major efficacy 5 (19%) experienced moderate efficacy 3 (11%) experienced slight efficacy 4 (15%) experienced no efficacy 3 (11%) could not tell	6 (22%) experienced severe side effects 10 (37%) experienced moderate side effects 6 (22%) experienced mild side effects 5 (19%) experienced no side effects	27
Pregabalin (Lyrica)	5 (21%) experienced major efficacy 12 (50%) experienced moderate efficacy 3 (13%) experienced slight efficacy 3 (13%) experienced no efficacy 1 (4%) could not tell	6 (25%) experienced severe side effects 10 (42%) experienced moderate side effects 4 (17%) experienced mild side effects 4 (17%) experienced no side effects	24
Lorazepam (Sandoz Lorazepam, Lorenin, Temesta, Orfidal)	20 (83%) experienced major efficacy 1 (4%) experienced moderate efficacy 2 (8%) experienced slight efficacy 0 (0%) experienced no efficacy 1 (4%) could not tell	3 (13%) experienced severe side effects 3 (13%) experienced moderate side effects 9 (38%) experienced mild side effects 9 (38%) experienced no side effects	24

These charts show data from Epilepsy patients' latest treatment evaluations

Who has Epilepsy at PatientsLikeMe?

6,300 patients have this condition
296 New patients joined this month
5,736 say Epilepsy is their primary condition

<20	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69	70+
Current Age
345 patients	1141 patients	1456 patients	1278 patients	681 patients	208 patients	36 patients

Distribution of females vs. males
Gender
71%	Females
29%	Males

Age at first symptom
Age at first symptom	# of patients	Proportion
0-19 yrs	2773	2773
20-29 yrs	784	784
30-39 yrs	452	452
40-49 yrs	247	247
50-59 yrs	76	76
60-69 yrs	23	23
70+ yrs	6	6

Diagnosis status
Diagnosis status	# of patients	Proportion
Diagnosed	4355	4355
Not Officially Diagnosed	192	192

These charts show data from Epilepsy patients who have completed their condition history

Find patients just like you Patients with Epilepsy

Where do I talk to patients with Epilepsy?

Epilepsy Room

**7,090** members
21k+ posts | 2k+ topics

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