What Are the Treatments for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy?

Temporal lobe epilepsy is a condition that causes seizures localized only in the temporal lobes, sections of the brain that appear just behind your ears on either side of your head. Although the seizures caused by temporal lobe epilepsy rarely cause convulsions or falling, temporal lobe epilepsy must still be treated in order to prevent damage to the brain or memory loss.

Identification

• In adults whose temporal lobe epilepsy originates in a portion of the brain not needed for vital functioning, surgical removal of the effected area is a possible treatment. For children and people whose temporal lobe epilepsy, treatment typically revolves around controlling the number of seizures caused by the disorder, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Types of Medications

• There are a variety of medications that prevent temporal lobe seizures, including carbamazepine, phenytoin, valporic acid, oxcarbazepine, lamotrigine, gabapentin, topiramate, phenobarbital, zonisamide, tiagabine, pregabalin and felbamate.

Risks

• The most common side effects of the medications used to treat temporal lobe epilepsy include fatigue and dizziness, cautions the Mayo Clinic. Additionally, 2.1 out of every 1,000 patients who takes anti-epileptic drugs develop suicidal thoughts or self-harmful behaviors due to the medications, warns the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Features

• Between 65 percent and 90 percent of patients who undergo surgery to remove the part of the brain where temporal epilepsy is caused see a reduction of seizures, reports the Mayo Clinic. In some cases, these patients require some anti-epileptic medications to completely prevent seizures, but are able to use the drugs at lower doses than other patients.

Prognosis

• Approximately 50 percent of children who develop temporal lobe epilepsy outgrow the condition before adulthood, according to Epilepsy.com. The remainder of children and adults with the disorder usually have success controlling their seizures, but it may take time to find the right drug.