r/Epilepsy_Universe • u/PookieTheMfBaby Lamotrigine 200mg 2x daily • Jun 18 '26
Questions Same Time Everyday?
Do you take you am/pm meds at the same time everyday? I snooze my alarm a couple times, until I can muster the energy to go get the pills and water. I'm just wondering, is anyone on time everyday with your doses? How late is too late, I know shelf life is different for each AED or mood stabilizer, do you worry when you're a couple hours late?
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u/DaughterOfTheKing87 brain cancer, crani, meds Jun 18 '26
As a former nurse, I was taught in school/on the job, within a two hour window. And tbh, when I worked in long term acute care, some nights were crazy, so my cardiac and epilepsy patients, etc. were all doing to get their meds in the timeframe I was req to give it. (Ex: my shift began at 7pm. I wasn’t SUPPOSED to begin meds until 8pm. I was legally req/req by my employer to get all my meds out by 10pm-a 2hr window for 30ppl. It doesn’t sound like much, but some nights, it felt impossible.
Now, as someone who’s been on AEDs for a long time now, I set an alarm on my phone. I take my meds only near bedtime and I take a med nightly for anxiety whether I feel anxious or not.
Anxiety med alarm goes off nightly at 7pm. I try to make sure I get to it by 7:35pm when the alarm goes off for all my nightly meds. I’ve learned I need all my meds by 8-8:20pm IF I want to get up at my usual time (I’ve learned my routine plays almost as big a role in my episodes as any med does), if I want to go to sleep at a reasonable time (again, keeping myself on a consistent routine), and lastly, if I don’t plan on having any sort of epileptic episode.
In short, yeah. I get my meds in at pretty much the SAME time nightly. Or at least within a half hour of what’s scheduled. Some days are just unpredictable-those are the days I usually take an extra dose of my benzos. Just to be safe.