Antiepileptic drugs may not have to be taken for a lifetime. When seizures have been reliably controlled over a period of time (usually a year or two), there is a good chance that a timed, careful withdrawal from the medication will be successful and that the seizures will remain in remission without further treatment. Studies in children show that 65 to 70% of children who are free of seizures for several years on antiepileptic drugs will remain seizure free after the drugs are withdrawn. However, like so much in epilepsy treatment, the risks vary between individuals and between types of epilepsy. Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, for example, is not associated with successful drug withdrawal, while childhood absence is.
The major risk associated with discontinuing AED therapy is seizure recurrence. In children, almost half the recurrences occur within 6 months of medication withdrawal, and 60-80% occur within 1 year of stopping the drugs. More than 80% of recurrences occur within the first 5 years.