• Effectiveness

  Can't tell (for epilepsy)
• Side effects

  Moderate (depressed mood)
• Adherence

  Usually
• Burden

  Very hard to take

Dosage: 100 mg Twice daily

• Effectiveness

  Slight (for seizures)
• Side effects

  Moderate (fuzzy thinking, cognitive confusion)
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  Not at all hard to take

Dosage: 50 mg Twice daily

• Effectiveness

  Slight (for seizures)
• Side effects

  Severe (fuzzy thinking, cognitive confusion)
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  Not at all hard to take

Dosage: 50 mg Twice daily

Advice & Tips: On stronger doses, you do feel like your IQ has dropped significantly. I spent an afternoon trying to work out how to switch my watch off Daylight Savings (and failed). You can make very poor and impulsive decisions. A client who didn't know my condition was bugging me for a conference call, and I sent him a selfie from my ICU bed to explain that, no, I can't do a conference call (blush). You can miss out on vital information - it just flies over your head. I wish I could say you feel care free, but you don't because you know you're missing your mental cognition. You need to make notes about EVERYTHING, especially questions for med team. You need to re-read those notes and add further notes. IMHO, you need to get your Phenytoin exit strategy in place as soon as you learn how to say it. The day my dosage halved and we added Keppra was such a joy - I could think again!

• Effectiveness

  None (for psychogenic non-epileptic seizures)
• Side effects

  Severe (anaphylaxis)
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  Not at all hard to take

Dosage: 50 mg One time

Advice & Tips: Allergy anaphylaxis