Does control change over time?
JME almost always requires lifelong treatment. The frequency of seizures may fluctuate, however. Some patients with a less severe form may have short periods of worsening. Others, whose seizures are more difficult to treat, may later experience spontaneous improvement in seizure control. For example, one patient experienced his first seizure at age 16. He was started on Depakote and stopped having seizures. But when he was 27, his epilepsy became active again and did not respond to several medications, with no apparent explanation. Further study is necessary to identify the clinical significance of seizure recurrence in JME. Find out more Here are links to two articles on this topic: Dasheiff RM, Ritaccio AL. Characterization of intractable juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: new perspectives on primarily generalized seizures. Seizure 1993 Mar;2(1):11-9. A study of 12 patients with intractable juvenile myoclonic epilepsy lasting for many years. Gelisse P, Genton P, Thomas P, Rey M, Samuelian
