Q: My 12 years old daughter is being treated by a drug for epilepsy. She had her first seizure early last year and the second late last year. She has since then been on Selzic 300 and Levepil 250 in the morning and Selzic 450 and Levepil 250 in the evening. I have the following questions on Levepil: what are the side effects? Is it an anti-convulsion drug? Is it a curative prophylactic drug and does it have a sedative?

A:Selzic is the brand name of a medicine called oxcarbazepine. It is also sold under the brand name of Oxrate. It is closely related to carbamazepine, the age old anti-epileptic medicine. Its side effects include fatigue, asthaenia, acne, sleepiness, dizziness, loss of hair etc. Levepil is the brand name of a medicine called levetiracetam. Its side effects include headache, infection, asthenia, sleepiness, depression, emotional lability, hostility, tiredness and weakness, problems with muscle coordination (problems like walking and moving), mood and behaviour changes (aggression, agitation, anger, anxiety, depression, hostility, sometimes even hallucinations, suicidal ideation), vertigo, double vision, rash and low white blood count. Due to lack of adequate testing, it was till recently not allowed to be used in children below 16 years in advanced countries like US, UK, Australia etc. However recently it has been cleared for use in children over 4 years in USA but not in UK and Australia. Levetiracetam is an adjunctive therapy (to be used alone) in the treatment of partial onset seizures with/without secondary generalisation in patients with epilepsy. These medicines suppress the seizure attacks. It is not clear from your message whether conventional medicines such as phenobarbital, carbamazepine, sodium valproate etc. were tried before shifting to current medicines.