Missed medicines can trigger seizures

It is important to take prescribed medicines at recommended times.  

A seizure can be defined as an uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain, which may produce a physical convulsion, minor physical signs, thought disturbances, or a combination of symptoms. Seizures can be caused by head injuries, brain tumours, lead poisoning, poor development of the brain, genetic and infectious illnesses, and fevers. In half of the patients with seizures, no cause can yet be found as per medicinenet.
Recently, a friend had a patient on their hands. This person was an epileptic who came in convulsing. They had not taken their medicine. “Missed medicines can trigger seizures in people with both well-controlled and poorly controlled epilepsy. Seizures can happen more often than normal, be more intense or develop into long seizures called status epilepticus,”as per the Epilepsy Foundation. Status epilepticus is described as a medical emergency. It is said that it can lead to death if the seizures aren’t stopped. Missing doses of medicine can also lead to falls, injuries and other problems from seizures and changes in medicine levels.

The medicines in question today might not be taken by the majority of the population but perhaps one could know someone else taking them. They are crucial drugs therefore and getting their dosage right is crucial. Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant drug, used for people with epilepsy and is used other conditions like patients who have bipolar disorder. This disorder simply put is characterized by phases of depression and mania.
Commonly, it is branded as Tegretol and comes as 100mg tablets. There are also 200mg tablets as well. There are also forms of the drug called suppositories that are inserted through the anus. It can be taken either once or twice a day dependent on what the doctor prescribes.

It is advised that if it is almost time for the next dose, that is if it is within four hours, then the missed dose should be skipped and the next dose taken at the usual time.
If, however, it is beyond the four hours, then the medicine should be taken as soon as one remembers and the next dose as usual. Taking a double dose to make up for a missed dose is not advised because this might increase the risk of one suffering unwanted side effects.
Sodium valproate is another drug used in epilepsy, however, as far is this drug is concerned, one should never take a double dose because the body takes a long time to eliminate this. Some other medicines that fall under this category are Ethosuximide, Phenytoin, and Tiagabine.

The writer is a pharmacist