How to Treat Epilepsy Correctly: 10 Tips from The Epileptologist

Have you ever experienced a seizure? Have you ever seen a convulsing person? If the answer is yes, you may know how uncomfortable and dangerous it is! Treating unprovoked, recurrent seizures, medically named “epilepsy”, is a tricky subject. Hence, epileptic patients and their caregivers will greatly benefit from my 10 tips to treat epilepsy!

• Correct Medication

Getting the correct medication that suits your epilepsy type is very important because all the epilepsies are not the same. Broadly, there are two types of epilepsies named “focal” and “generalized”.  In focal epilepsy, one spot of your brain releases abnormal discharges, and this could be treated with all types of antiepileptic medications. Yet, in generalized epilepsy, all the brain cells can cause the seizure, and therefore, certain medications like Sodium channel blockers (e.g.:  Carbamazepine, Phenytoin) can make the condition worse.

• Take Medications Regularly

For epilepsy, it is imperative to take medicine always on time. For most other diseases like high cholesterol, it may be enough if you take the medication only 80% of the time. Unfortunately for epilepsy, it does not work that way. Missing a single dose can lead to the risk of having a seizure. Therefore, make sure that you do not miss your doses.

• Make Up the Missed Dose

What if you missed the dose anyway? Then you should immediately take it as soon as you remember it! If you forgot it the whole day and remember it at night, you can just double the dose at night. If you remembered it only the following day, double the morning dose again, but do not ever triple the dose. By this method, you could maintain a steady medication level in your body, or else it may take a long time for your body to get to this level to maintain a seizure-free life.

• Seizure Calendar

It is an excellent practice to maintain a “seizure calendar,” including all the details about every seizure you have. You can mention the circumstances that followed the episode, the trigger, and whether you missed your dose before it. All this information is super helpful for your doctor to decide your future management.

• Regular Sleep

Getting enough sleep is another crucial tip. Your brain is like a warehouse that needs cleaning at the end of the day. Sleeping is the cleaning that it needs. You could take another step forward and make a sleep schedule and stick to that so that you could get a good eight-hour sleep each night. Discuss with your doctor if you snore or feel tired when you wake up or if you have conditions such as sleep apnea because these need treatments.

• Slow Titration

When you start a new medication, it is like a new pair of shoes. Tight at the beginning but loses up with time. Likewise, your body needs to get adjusted to this new chemical and therefore start up with a lower dose and increase it gradually. Meanwhile, know the side effects that the new medication can give rise to.

• Take Enough Medicine

It is equally important to get to the maximum tolerable dose. If not, it is like we are expecting to be full by having just one bite of your meal. We cannot expect the maximum control without having the maximum tolerable dose, and this is one of the common problems behind recurrent seizure attacks.

• Avoid Triggers

Identifying the triggers and avoiding them play a major role in controlling epilepsy. The trigger could be anything like light, a particular food, physiological stress like fever or dehydration or even psychological stress. 

• Treat Psychiatric Conditions

Psychological conditions are known to coexist with epilepsy as both occur due to abnormal electrical discharges. These conditions can also occur as an adverse effect of certain medications like Keppra. Controlling these underlying psychological conditions such as anxiety and depression is beneficial in controlling seizures. This could be achieved either by psychotherapy and counseling or by pharmacological therapies.

10) Avoid alcohol

Alcohol has been recognized as a major trigger for seizures. Both consumption and withdrawal can precipitate epilepsy. It might be acceptable to consume a minimal amount, but the problem is, we cannot be certain about its limit, and thus, it is better to avoid it altogether.

If your seizures keep occurring even after you tried all the above steps and if you have already tried two medications, you could be suffering from “drug-resistant epilepsy”. Then you must seek medical attention from Epilepsy Specialized Center. It will first take an electroencephalogram (EEG) of your brain to confirm whether you truly have epilepsy, and subsequently, you will be subjected to definitive treatment such as surgery.

Conclusion

Even though epilepsy is not a new topic to the world of healthcare, treating it is still not an easy task. Yet, modifying a few of your behaviors and sticking to regular medication could help you cease your seizures!