016: By the Numbers

If you’ve always wondered: “Why doesn’t my doctor listen to me?”, “Why does my doctor push medication on me?” or “Why is my doctor so terrible?” then this episode is for you. The host of our podcast, David Clifford, covers the relationship between epilepsy patients and neurologists using vital statistics about Epilepsy.

“The more I think about language, the more it amazes me that people ever understand each other at all.”

Kurt Gödel

With Dosage Mapping there are really three options each time the patient and doctor meet for an appointment depending if the patient has had a seizure or had side effects since the last time they met.

1. The patient HAD a seizure and had A LOT of side effects – The doctor must make a decision to determine the odds that an increased dosage will stop the seizures. In this case, the doctor might even try to switch medications of this continues for multiple sessions.
2. The patient HAD a seizure and had FEW side effects – The doctor might want to increase the dosage of the current medication to stop the seizures.
3. The patient DID NOT have a seizure and had A LOT of side effects – the doctor might want to reduce the dosage of the medication.
4. The patient DID NOT have a seizure and had FEW side effects – JACKPOT

It is important to realize that the Dosage Mapping process is LONG. Tiny changes to the prescription are required to make sure that the patient does not have any adverse reactions to the medication. At the same time, if a medication is changed on each appointment, a doctor will not know if the current results are due to the medication or due to other factors.

“But every error is due to extraneous factors (such as emotion and education); reason itself does not err.”

Kurt Gödel

We want to thank all of the Neurologists out there that have committed to a life that helps so so many of us, the people of Epilepsy. We know your job is more than just the time spent in the office. Thank you for investing so much of your lives in making sure that we are safe.

As for our listeners, thanks so much for your support! We wouldn’t be doing this if you weren’t listening. We would love to hear any questions you have about this (or any other) episode. You can always reach out to us in the comments section below, via email at social@brainablaze.com, or on Twitter @BrainAblaze

See You Next Time!

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