I Forgot to Take my Epilepsy Medicine | Browns Pharmacy Guide

This article has been written and medically approved by Pharmacist Conor McSorley GPhC Reg No. 2223070

Medicine can be very specific and therefore it is critical that any information taken from a generalised blog should be combined with specific drug information that you can attain from the Patient Information Leaflet or a healthcare professional.

For all of these specific blogs, the general advice still applies from our earlier blog about how to find the information for the medication you are taking which can be found here.

Taking anti-epileptic medication regularly is particularly important. A single missed dose can lead to a seizure and therefore any person who has missed a dose should avoid activities where having a seizure could be dangerous for yourself or others. Generally, if someone misses a dose then they should take a missed dose as soon as possible unless the next dose is due within a few hours.

The Epilepsy Society have suggested that, in general, if you miss a dose of an anti-epileptic drug then the taking of the forgotten dose should depend on how often you take the medication:

• Once a day

If a medication is usually taken once a day, then a forgotten dose should be taken as soon as it is remembered.

• Twice a day

If a medication is usually taken twice a day, then take the forgotten dose if you remember within six hours after it was due. If it is over six hours, then take the next dose at the due time.

It is always important to remember that if you miss a dose, DO NOT take twice as much when taking the next dose. This can increase the risk of side effects.

Information was correct at time of writing.