Managing your epilepsy

    Learning to manage your epilepsy can help you to live better with it.

    Fast facts

    Tips for managing your epilepsy

    1. 1
      Learn as much as you can about your epilepsy and seizures
    2. 2
      Manage your medicine so you remember to take every dose and never run out
    3. 3
      Look after yourself - be as active as possible, discover what helps your mental health and eat a healthy diet
    4. 4
      Keep a seizure diary (more on this coming up)
    5. 5
      Recognise the areas of your life that are affected by epilepsy

    Watch

    Epilepsy can have an impact in lots of ways…

    Epilepsy care plans

    You can download a free care plan template on the Epilepsy Action website

     

    Care plan template

    NICE guidelines recommend that everyone with epilepsy has a care plan.

    Why keep a seizure diary?

    Keeping a seizure diary can really help with understanding your seizures and what might trigger them. For example sleepless nights, stress or drinking alcohol. It’s also very helpful information to share with your healthcare team.

    writing a list in a notebook

    What's in my seizure diary...

    "If I think there was a trigger for the seizure"

    "If something was stressing me out!"

    "How much sleep I’ve had"

    "How long my seizure was"

    "How I was feeling"

    "Where I was, what I was doing and who I was with"

    How my seizure diary has helped…

    I found out that my seizures come in clusters”

    I would never remember how many seizures I have, so it helps me to keep a track of how many I have”

    My neurologist really likes the fact I keep a seizure diary, it helps both of us”

    “My seizure diary helped me to work out what my triggers are”

     


     

    Ideas for keeping a seizure diary...

    • What I do…

      Make notes on my phone

    • What I do…

      Use a seizure tracker app

    • What I do…

      Use a notebook. I like lots of space to write down how much sleep I have, how I’m feeling and where I am in my menstrual cycle

    • What I do…

      Use Epilepsy Action’s free seizure diaries

    Get a free Epilepsy Action seizure diary

    Download a pdf seizure diary template from the Epilepsy Action website

    Seizure diary

    Order a free Epilepsy Action seizure diary

    Epilepsy Action Shop

    Stories by you

    Read Kelsey’s story – Why I keep a seizure diary

    Read Paddy’s story about adjusting to life with epilepsy and being 1 year seizure free

     

    Watch

    Who is an epilepsy expert? Watch Derrick and Torie chatting about epilepsy and who to ask when you have questions about epilepsy.

    Do something

    How does living with epilepsy affect you at the moment? Is there anything you could do to manage it better? You might find that ideas come to you as you explore this website.

    Updated 12 May 2020
    Review 12 May 2023
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