Epilepsy presents many challenges. However, there are several best practices that may help you or someone you care for live a healthy and fulfilling life after an epilepsy diagnosis.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are currently about 3.4 million people in the United States living with epilepsy. Nearly 4% of Americans develop epilepsy, while about 9% will experience a seizure at some point in their lives. Epilepsy affects people of all ages, but more frequently children and older adults.
Epilepsy causes seizures, or disruptions of the electrical communication in the brain. Seizures can present as changes in sensation, emotions, or behavior, or as convulsions, muscle spasms, or loss of consciousness. Only a doctor can diagnose epilepsy and recommend a specific course of treatment.
Approaches for treating epilepsy vary. For about 70% of epilepsy patients, seizures can be controlled with medication. When medication is ineffective or causes significant side effects, physicians might recommend surgery, or prescribe a special diet or neuromodulation device, which stimulates nerves to disrupt abnormal brain activity leading up to a seizure.
While the frequency and severity of seizures can usually be managed, there’s currently no cure for epilepsy. Additional research is needed to determine the origin points of seizures and to predict and prevent them from occurring.
Day-to-day challenges
Receiving an epilepsy diagnosis — for yourself, a child, or someone close to you — might feel overwhelming. You might worry about seizures occurring unexpectedly and interfering with daily life. Seizures might make it difficult to go to work or school, drive, or socialize, and some lifestyle adjustments might be necessary. Sometimes epilepsy medications have side effects that make people feel tired, weak, or forgetful.
Another challenge is that the public generally doesn’t understand epilepsy well. Others may not have witnessed a seizure before and may be unsure how to respond. Or, they might assume epilepsy is universally debilitating and perpetuate stigmas about it. Therefore, it’s important to share accurate information. The Epilepsy Foundation provides excellent resources for patients, families, and communities.
How to manage epilepsy
With epilepsy, it’s beneficial to establish a support system that includes doctors, caregivers, and trusted friends or family members. The CDC recommends some additional strategies to manage epilepsy, feel better, and enjoy an improved quality of life.
- First, you’ll want to understand epilepsy and your treatment. Talk to your doctor about health concerns and other medications, and take prescribed seizure medicines as directed.
- If you’re experiencing seizures, try to track when they happen. See if there might be a pattern to their occurrence or if something triggers them.
- Try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, get about eight hours of sleep per night, exercise regularly and safely, eat a balanced diet, avoid tobacco and unprescribed drugs, and limit alcohol consumption.
- Practice stress reduction techniques, talk to someone about how you’re feeling emotionally, try exercises or games to boost memory, and keep in touch with friends and family.
- Explore epilepsy self-management programs. Typically, after a few training sessions, these can then be practiced on your own to better manage symptoms independently. The Managing Epilepsy Well Network outlines several effective programs.
- For questions about epilepsy, call the Epilepsy Foundation’s 24/7 Helpline. Available in English (1-800-332-1000) and Spanish (1-866-748-8008), the helpline’s specialists can answer questions and connect you to nearby resources.
