Description: The correct classification of each person's epilepsy by seizure type and epilepsy syndrome is important for proper treatment. Identifying the type of seizure has the most immediate influence on therapy. If the seizure is classified incorrectly, the seizure medicine that the doctor prescribes not only may not help but actually may make the seizures worse. For example, a man who had two generalized tonic-clonic seizures while he was sleeping was thought to have partial seizures and was given Tegretol (carbamazepine). The man continued to have an occasional tonic-clonic seizure during sleep even though he took his medicine faithfully. Several months later, he had an EEG after a period of sleep deprivation. This test showed a pattern of generalized spike-and-wave discharges, which is a sign of a generalized seizure. His medicine was changed to Depakote (valproate), which is the drug of choice to treat generalized seizures. The new seizure medicine completely stopped his seizures.