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Diagnosis & Treatment > Seizure Medications > Sabril > What's the best amount of Sabril to take?
 

What's the best amount of Sabril to take?

For adults, the doctor often will begin by prescribing 1 gram (two tablets) per day, or perhaps twice that if your seizures are severe. Then you will be told to increase or decrease the dosage gradually until you achieve the fewest possible seizures and side effects.

Most adults do best at 2 to 4 grams (4 to 8 tablets) per day. Very few people improve any further with doses larger than that amount. With greater experience, many Canadian and European neurologists have come to recommend 1.5 to 2.5 grams per day. They have found that higher doses often increase side effects more than they decrease seizures.

The dose for a child depends on the child's body weight. A common dose to start is 40 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg, 2.2 pounds) of weight per day. This would represent one tablet for a child weighing 25 or 30 pounds, or more for larger children. An additional tablet per day can then be added each week, depending on how the child responds, up to about double the starting dose.

For children with infantile spasms, maximum doses of 100 to 150 mg per kg per day are used.

Reviewed February 2004 by Steven C. Schachter, MD, epilepsy.com Editorial Board.