Frequently asked questions

Specify the person’s usual events, first response, thresholds for emergency services, any prescribed rescue treatment, who is trained to give it and recovery supervision. Review the plan after clinically important changes.

Epilepsy Foundation · management plans ↗

Classify the event first, then the epilepsy type and any recognisable syndrome. These describe different levels of the diagnosis and should not be treated as interchangeable labels.

ILAE · clinical definition of epilepsy ↗ · ILAE · seizure classification (2025) ↗

The main classes remain focal, generalised, unknown whether focal or generalised, and unclassified. For relevant classes, consciousness is assessed through both awareness and responsiveness. Describe symptoms in their chronological sequence.

ILAE · seizure classification (2025) ↗

A seizure close to an acute brain or systemic insult has a different diagnostic context from an unprovoked seizure. Establish the precipitating condition and reassess the continuing treatment rationale rather than automatically assuming lifelong epilepsy therapy.

ILAE · acute symptomatic seizures ↗

Use the individual clinical situation and, where appropriate, a pre-conception concentration as a reference. Agree monitoring, interpretation and dose-review responsibilities through pregnancy, with a written plan for the early postnatal period.

NICE NG217 · treatment and monitoring ↗

No. Explain the Australian TGA precautions and current product information. The paternal-risk signal is uncertain and should not be presented as proven causation or an Australian blanket exclusion of a demographic group.

TGA · paternal valproate precautions (2025) ↗

Product information has been updated with additional reproductive and neurodevelopmental-risk information. Use the current Australian PI and specialist counselling rather than relying on an older general safety summary.

TGA · Product Information updates, January 2025 ↗

No. Use the current licensing standards and your treating clinician’s advice. Record your last event accurately and ask about the rules that apply to your licence and jurisdiction.

Bring event dates, any change in treatment, witness descriptions, relevant reports and the licensing forms requested by your clinician.

Check what the referral is for, whether the service performs the required test, referral requirements, fees, waiting time and accessibility. Confirm details directly before travelling.

Ask about preparation, whether sleep is planned, medicines, appointment duration, fees and how the report reaches your referring doctor. Follow that provider’s instructions.

Describe the actual impact on everyday function, assistance needs, variability and safety. Gather relevant treating reports. A diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility for a particular program.

Use a checklist of required documents, dates, outstanding reports and official contact details. Confirm current forms and requirements with the issuing service.

Levetiracetam is the ingredient; Keppra is a brand example. Match the brand, formulation and strength on the pack to its official Australian PI or CMI. Do not change or stop treatment independently.

Match treatment to seizure type and syndrome, then weigh comorbidity, interactions, organ function, reproductive circumstances, treatment burden and the person’s goals. Record the rationale and planned review.

NICE NG217 · seizure-specific treatment ↗

No. NICE lists lamotrigine or levetiracetam as first-line focal-seizure monotherapy. Comparative trial evidence informs selection, but does not make every levetiracetam prescription inappropriate. Apply Australian approval and local guidance.

NICE NG217 · seizure-specific treatment ↗

Review actual use, benefit, tolerability, interactions and effects on daily function. Ask specifically about mood, sleep, cognition, family planning and treatment preferences. Agree who will act on the findings and when.

NICE NG217 · treatment and monitoring ↗

Confirm the indication and ongoing benefit. Review actual use, renal function, tolerability and mood or behavioural changes. Distinguish the original acute-care indication from the rationale for continued treatment. Consult current PI for prescribing details.

Australian Government Medicine Finder · levetiracetam ↗

Make the discussion individual, proportionate and actionable. Document the person’s priorities, seizure-related risk factors, agreed measures and follow-up. Avoid presenting a monitor as proven prevention for an individual patient.

Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network · SUDEP ↗

Share an agreed functional plan with the child and family’s involvement: event recognition, recovery needs, training, adjustments and review triggers. Keep educational advice individual rather than inferring limitations from the diagnosis alone.

Epilepsy Action Australia · school resources ↗ · Victorian education guidance · individual adjustments ↗

Establish the baseline, time course and functional impact. Consider epilepsy, sleep, psychosocial circumstances, comorbidity and medication exposure together; a temporal association is informative but does not alone prove causation.

Australian Government Medicine Finder · levetiracetam ↗

Describe the person’s events, recovery, treatment effects and relevant task demands. Distinguish observed limitations from assumptions. Occupational and licensing decisions require the applicable standards and individual assessment.

Better Health Channel · epilepsy and employment ↗

Review the formulation, prescribed interval, itinerary, time-zone changes and ability to take treatment during transit. Document the schedule and contingencies for delays or illness. Avoid a single timing rule for all regimens.

Epilepsy Foundation · travel planning ↗

List essential trips, available public transport, help from trusted people and any local support options. Check accessibility, cost and booking requirements directly with the provider.

No live booking, driver matching or transport dispatch is provided here. Use the information to plan with established services and trusted support people.

Confirm the working diagnosis, goals, medicine decisions, monitoring, safety advice, review date and contact route. Give the person an accessible summary and clarify which clinician will complete each action.

NICE NG217 · information and support ↗

No. MyWise is a read-only preview. It accepts no health entries or photos, stores no patient record and sends no reminders. Use downloadable blank forms offline and keep completed copies securely.

Include your epilepsy description, current medicines, allergies, emergency contacts, doctor, pharmacy, next review and relevant care-plan dates.

Personal account storage is not active. Use the printable resources privately with your care team. The dashboard remains a preview and does not collect your health record.

No. EpiSOS is planned and inactive. It sends no alerts or test alerts, does not contact carers, share a location or call emergency services. In an emergency in Australia call 000; elsewhere use the local emergency number.

Epilepsy Action Australia · seizure first aid ↗

Choose trusted people who may need to help. Agree what to do, which contacts to call and when to use emergency services. Review the plan together.

No. It does not dispatch an ambulance, notify contacts or provide continuous monitoring. In an emergency in Australia call 000 directly.

Ask which events it detects, how often events are missed, false alarms, battery and connectivity needs, who receives alerts and what they should do.

Agree a backup plan covering loss of power, connectivity or response. A device should not be the only part of the person’s safety arrangements.

New submissions and publication are paused until contact delivery, privacy, reporting, moderation and retention procedures have been verified. Read the community privacy guide for current limits.

Avoid identifying health records, prescriptions, addresses and other people’s private information. Seek consent before discussing another person’s circumstances.

No. Shared experiences can help you prepare questions, but a medicine change or urgent symptom needs advice through the appropriate clinical service.

Interpret each trial within its enrolled population, comparator treatments and open-label design. The focal and generalised/unclassified studies answer different questions; neither provides a universal ranking for all emergency and long-term prescribing contexts.

SANAD II · focal epilepsy trial ↗ · SANAD II · generalised / unclassified epilepsy trial ↗

It helps you explore how symptoms and context can lead to different clinical questions. It does not diagnose epilepsy or select a medicine for you.

Discuss why more than one explanation may fit, what additional history would help and which test would answer the unresolved question. Use it to practise reasoning, not certainty.

The ILAE definition concerns failure of two tolerated, appropriately chosen and used schedules to achieve sustained seizure freedom. Reassess diagnosis, classification and adequacy of treatment rather than simply counting prescriptions.

ILAE · drug-resistant epilepsy definition ↗

No. Specialist assessment clarifies the diagnosis and options. It may include event recording, imaging review and other assessments, and can identify surgical or non-surgical approaches suited to the individual.

ILAE · specialist and surgical evaluation ↗

Review technical quality, montage, state, activation and background before interpreting individual transients. Account for artefact and normal variants. Use the recording context and referral question to guide the report.

IFCN / ILAE · EEG recording standards ↗

No. Evaluate morphology, field, background disruption and other validated features in context. An isolated sharp transient or simplified teaching sketch cannot independently establish an epilepsy diagnosis.

Kural et al. · epileptiform discharge criteria ↗

Use it as a descriptive discussion of treatment-related apparent resistance. Separate diagnostic error, seizure aggravation, treatment inadequacy and adverse effects from confirmed drug-resistant epilepsy. State the specific suspected mechanism rather than assigning a catch-all label.

ILAE · drug-resistant epilepsy definition ↗ · Smith et al. · epilepsy misdiagnosis in a specialist referral cohort ↗ · Genton et al. · seizure aggravation in selected juvenile myoclonic epilepsy patients ↗

Reconstruct the habitual events, classification, aetiology, actual exposure, treatment adequacy, interactions and tolerability. Consider event capture and specialist reassessment when the account or treatment response is discordant.

NICE NG217 · diagnosis and assessment ↗

It must not imply that all levetiracetam use is reflex prescribing, that all continuing seizures are iatrogenic, or that selected misdiagnosis and seizure-aggravation studies provide population-wide rates. Preserve timely referral for confirmed drug resistance.

NICE NG217 · seizure-specific treatment ↗ · ILAE · specialist and surgical evaluation ↗