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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)	340 (13%) patients experienced severe severity 698 (28%) patients experienced moderate severity 822 (32%) patients experienced mild severity 673 (27%) patients experienced no severity	None Mild Moderate Severe
Headaches	301 (12%) patients experienced severe severity 616 (24%) patients experienced moderate severity 762 (30%) patients experienced mild severity 861 (34%) patients experienced no severity	None Mild Moderate Severe
Memory problems	543 (22%) patients experienced severe severity 876 (35%) patients experienced moderate severity 691 (27%) patients experienced mild severity 412 (16%) patients experienced no severity	None Mild Moderate Severe
Problems concentrating	440 (17%) patients experienced severe severity 865 (34%) patients experienced moderate severity 782 (31%) patients experienced mild severity 443 (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

	Efficacy	Overall rating of side effects	# of Evaluations
Levetiracetam (Keppra XR, Keppra)	124 (45%) experienced major efficacy 80 (29%) experienced moderate efficacy 25 (9%) experienced slight efficacy 12 (4%) experienced no efficacy 33 (12%) could not tell	51 (19%) experienced severe side effects 84 (31%) experienced moderate side effects 88 (32%) experienced mild side effects 51 (19%) experienced no side effects	274
Lamotrigine (Lamictal ODT Green Titration Kit, Lamictin, Apo-Lamotrigine, Lamictal ODT Orange Titration Kit)	75 (41%) experienced major efficacy 53 (29%) experienced moderate efficacy 25 (14%) experienced slight efficacy 9 (5%) experienced no efficacy 19 (10%) could not tell	20 (11%) experienced severe side effects 55 (30%) experienced moderate side effects 64 (35%) experienced mild side effects 42 (23%) experienced no side effects	181
Topiramate (Topamax Sprinkle, Topictal, Toprel, Topamax)	38 (29%) experienced major efficacy 47 (36%) experienced moderate efficacy 18 (14%) experienced slight efficacy 12 (9%) experienced no efficacy 15 (12%) could not tell	32 (25%) experienced severe side effects 47 (36%) experienced moderate side effects 25 (19%) experienced mild side effects 26 (20%) experienced no side effects	130
Carbamazepine (Shire Carbamazepine, Equetro, Hermolepsin retard, Carbatrol ER)	51 (43%) experienced major efficacy 33 (28%) experienced moderate efficacy 18 (15%) experienced slight efficacy 8 (7%) experienced no efficacy 10 (8%) could not tell	25 (21%) experienced severe side effects 36 (30%) experienced moderate side effects 37 (31%) experienced mild side effects 22 (18%) experienced no side effects	120
Phenytoin (Phenytoin EX, Phenytoin liquid, Dilantin Infatabs, Epamin)	42 (40%) experienced major efficacy 29 (28%) experienced moderate efficacy 16 (15%) experienced slight efficacy 9 (9%) experienced no efficacy 9 (9%) could not tell	28 (27%) experienced severe side effects 30 (29%) experienced moderate side effects 24 (23%) experienced mild side effects 23 (22%) experienced no side effects	105
Divalproex sodium (Divalproex DR, Divalproex sodium ER, Novo-Divalproex, Depakote Sprinkles)	38 (38%) experienced major efficacy 31 (31%) experienced moderate efficacy 10 (10%) experienced slight efficacy 16 (16%) experienced no efficacy 5 (5%) could not tell	36 (36%) experienced severe side effects 29 (29%) experienced moderate side effects 27 (27%) experienced mild side effects 8 (8%) experienced no side effects	100
Zonisamide (Zonegran)	20 (32%) experienced major efficacy 18 (29%) experienced moderate efficacy 12 (19%) experienced slight efficacy 4 (6%) experienced no efficacy 8 (13%) could not tell	13 (21%) experienced severe side effects 17 (27%) experienced moderate side effects 14 (23%) experienced mild side effects 18 (29%) experienced no side effects	62
Lacosamide (Vimpat)	16 (27%) experienced major efficacy 15 (25%) experienced moderate efficacy 8 (14%) experienced slight efficacy 8 (14%) experienced no efficacy 12 (20%) could not tell	9 (15%) experienced severe side effects 19 (32%) experienced moderate side effects 20 (34%) experienced mild side effects 11 (19%) experienced no side effects	59
Oxcarbazepine (Oleptal, Trileptal)	17 (32%) experienced major efficacy 15 (28%) experienced moderate efficacy 6 (11%) experienced slight efficacy 7 (13%) experienced no efficacy 8 (15%) could not tell	16 (30%) experienced severe side effects 14 (26%) experienced moderate side effects 13 (25%) experienced mild side effects 10 (19%) experienced no side effects	53
Clonazepam (DOM-Clonazepam, Paxam, APO Clonazepam, Clonotril)	7 (19%) experienced major efficacy 10 (28%) experienced moderate efficacy 11 (31%) experienced slight efficacy 3 (8%) experienced no efficacy 5 (14%) could not tell	7 (19%) experienced severe side effects 7 (19%) experienced moderate side effects 13 (36%) experienced mild side effects 9 (25%) experienced no side effects	36
Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS)	11 (39%) experienced major efficacy 9 (32%) experienced moderate efficacy 1 (4%) experienced slight efficacy 3 (11%) experienced no efficacy 4 (14%) could not tell	1 (4%) experienced severe side effects 5 (18%) experienced moderate side effects 17 (61%) experienced mild side effects 5 (18%) experienced no side effects	28
Gabapentin (DOM-Gabapentin, PMS-Gabatentin, APO-Gabapentin, Gabaran)	4 (15%) experienced major efficacy 12 (44%) experienced moderate efficacy 2 (7%) experienced slight efficacy 4 (15%) experienced no efficacy 5 (19%) could not tell	10 (37%) experienced severe side effects 4 (15%) experienced moderate side effects 11 (41%) experienced mild side effects 2 (7%) experienced no side effects	27
Phenobarbital	11 (46%) experienced major efficacy 5 (21%) experienced moderate efficacy 3 (13%) experienced slight efficacy 2 (8%) experienced no efficacy 3 (13%) could not tell	5 (21%) experienced severe side effects 9 (38%) experienced moderate side effects 6 (25%) experienced mild side effects 4 (17%) experienced no side effects	24
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, Orfidal, Tranquipam)	18 (82%) experienced major efficacy 1 (5%) experienced moderate efficacy 2 (9%) experienced slight efficacy 0 (0%) experienced no efficacy 1 (5%) could not tell	3 (14%) experienced severe side effects 2 (9%) experienced moderate side effects 8 (36%) experienced mild side effects 9 (41%) experienced no side effects	22

These charts show data from Epilepsy patients' latest treatment evaluations

Who has Epilepsy at PatientsLikeMe?

4,821 patients have this condition
151 New patients joined this month
4,422 say Epilepsy is their primary condition

<20	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69	70+
Current Age
237 patients	859 patients	1136 patients	993 patients	520 patients	171 patients	30 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	2169	2169
20-29 yrs	628	628
30-39 yrs	371	371
40-49 yrs	205	205
50-59 yrs	65	65
60-69 yrs	20	20
70+ yrs	4	4

Diagnosis status
Diagnosis status	# of patients	Proportion
Diagnosed	3417	3417
Not Officially Diagnosed	163	163

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

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19k+ posts | 2k+ topics

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