Cure is the wrong word, but the outcomes here are the strongest in this group. About two thirds of people with focal epilepsy become seizure-free on medication. For those who do not, surgery for drug-resistant focal epilepsy renders a proportion seizure-free long term, which is as close to a cure as epilepsy treatment gets. Some people eventually stop medication and stay well.
Cure is the wrong word, but the outcomes here are the strongest in this group. About two thirds of people with focal epilepsy become seizure-free on medication. For those who do not, surgery for drug-resistant focal epilepsy renders a proportion seizure-free long term, which is as close to a cure as epilepsy treatment gets. Some people eventually stop medication and stay well.
Anti-seizure medications suppress seizures; they do not remove the underlying tendency. Around half of people are controlled by the first drug tried and the figure rises to roughly two thirds with a second or a combination. Being seizure-free on medication is a genuinely different life from ongoing seizures: it changes driving, work, safety and independence. The word cure understates it in one direction and overstates it in another, which is why neurologists talk about seizure freedom instead.
Failure of two appropriate medications at adequate doses defines drug-resistant epilepsy, and it is the point at which referral to a comprehensive epilepsy centre becomes appropriate rather than trying a seventh drug. There, video EEG monitoring, MRI and functional studies locate where seizures begin. If a single focus is identified in a region that can be removed safely, resective surgery offers a real chance of lasting seizure freedom. Laser ablation, responsive neurostimulation and deep brain stimulation are alternatives where resection is not possible. This practice performs no surgery; evaluation, medication management, routine EEG and ambulatory EEG happen here, and referral goes to a surgical centre.
After a long period of seizure freedom, some adults can taper off medication and remain well, and the chance depends on the cause of the epilepsy, the EEG, whether MRI shows a lesion and how long control has lasted. It is a decision made deliberately with your neurologist, with a plan for what happens if a seizure occurs, including driving. Stopping medication on your own is how people end up in an emergency department, and it is the single most common avoidable trigger.
Sleep deprivation, missed doses and alcohol are the most reliable triggers, and missed doses are the commonest of all. Driving eligibility after a seizure is set by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, and the current requirement should be confirmed with them rather than assumed from an article. Anyone who could become pregnant should discuss medication choice before conceiving, because some anti-seizure drugs carry significant risk to a pregnancy.
Clinical Neurology Specialists has been physician-owned since 1998, when Leo Germin, M.D., FAANEM founded it. Five board-certified neurologists and four advanced practice providers see patients at the Las Vegas and Henderson offices, each with its own AANEM-accredited electrodiagnostic laboratory.
Clinical Neurology Specialists is an adult outpatient neurology practice for patients 18 and older. The practice performs no surgery and operates no imaging suite, infusion suite or interventional pain programme, and provides no emergency or inpatient care.
Physician-reviewed. Reviewed by the physicians of Clinical Neurology Specialists — board-certified neurologists, AANEM-accredited electrodiagnostic laboratories, physician-owned since 1998. Reviewed 1 August 2026. This article is general education for adults 18 and older and is not a substitute for a consultation.
Sources and further reading: MedlinePlus: epilepsy; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; American Academy of Neurology.
Adults 18 and older, at the Las Vegas and Henderson offices. Call 702-804-1212 or request an appointment online.