What is the risk of seizure recurrence after stopping anti-epileptic treatment?
A number of factors are known to influence the risk of relapse of seizure after withdrawal of medications in patients who have been seizure free for 2-3 years while on treatment. In no individual case can the safety of anti-epileptic withdrawal be absolutely guaranteed. Usually, almost half the cases whose treatment is stopped go into complete remission. If a patient has epilepsy secondary to brain damage or partial seizures, the risk of seizure recurrence is much higher and in most such cases, the treatment should be continued for many more years even if the seizures are controlled. It is a common experience that among patients being considered for withdrawal of anti-epileptic drugs, recurrence of seizures is most common while the drugs are being withdrawn or soon after the withdrawal is completed. In our experience the maximum risk of seizures recurrence is within three months of the drug withdrawal. If a patient has no fits for 4 to 5 years after the drug withdrawal, then his/her ch
