Lifestyle Modifications for Epilepsy

Epilepsy is diagnosed when someone has had at least 2 seizures. These seizures also have to be unprovoked, without a known external cause such as a head injury or medication. Having more than one unprovoked seizure puts you into a category of being at risk of experiencing more seizures. Therefore, it is important to treat the condition in order to prevent subsequent seizures.

Seizure Treatment

Epilepsy is a lifelong condition, and needs lifelong treatment. It is essential to be treated with an anti-epileptic medication, which work to “calm down” the electrical activity in the brain and prevent seizures from occurring. There are a number of different medications that are used to treat epilepsy, and everyone needs slightly different medication management to best treat their individualized seizures.

Educating Yourself and Loved Ones

Educating yourself about the risks of seizures and importance of anti-seizure medications is very important for epilepsy management. Understanding the causes and risks of seizures can help people realize the importance of seizure prevention. This helps people adhere to their epilepsy management and help themselves prevent seizures form occurring which is essential. It is also important to speak with your loved ones about your epilepsy, as they can then help support you with your medical condition. It can also help to educate people about what to do if a seizure were to occur in order to keep you as safe as possible if it were to happen.

Alcohol and Epilepsy

Alcohol is not overly unsafe to those who have epilepsy when used in very small amounts. However, when consumed in larger amounts it can be very dangerous. This can be either due to the anti-seizure medications, or the nature of alcohol. Most anti-seizure medications lower your threshold for alcohol, and therefore you will notice the effects of alcohol sooner and can reach dangerous alcohol levels faster than if you were not on anti-seizure medications.

Another possibility is the danger of alcohol addiction and withdrawal. It is thought that alcoholism can lead to the development of epilepsy, and those seizures often present during alcohol withdrawal. It is therefore recommended to avoid large amounts of alcohol if you have been diagnosed with epilepsy, and also for alcoholism withdrawal to be monitored in order to watch for and prevent possible seizures.

Sleep and Epilepsy

Sleep is important for everyone but becomes even more vital when you have epilepsy. This is because it is thought that a lack of sleep lowers the brain’s electrical threshold that has to be crossed to experience a seizure. Therefore, maintaining a healthy sleeping patterns and ensuring you get enough sleep each night can help prevent experiencing seizures.

Special Diets

Certain diets have been thought to help reduce the risk of seizures from occurring in some people. This has to be followed by a healthcare professional and strictly adhered to in order to be effective. In particular the ketogenic diet is thought to be beneficial to some people, specifically children, in managing seizures that are not being well controlled by medication. Speak with your HCP about possible diets to follow if your epilepsy is not being adequately managed by medications.

Service Animals

When someone is at risk of experiencing seizures at any time, it may be beneficial to have a service animal. Service animals are usually dogs but can also be other animals. A “seizure dog” is a dog that is trained to recognize and alert and individual before or during a seizure occurs and “work” while their person has the seizure. For some people, such as children, the dog will alert a caregiver, while for others the dog may alert the person who is about to experience a seizure in order to warn them to get to a safe position before they seize. The dogs may also be trained to support the person while they have the seizure, physically putting themselves near the person to prevent injury to the person. These seizure dogs must be trained specifically for this job, so speak with your HCP if you think you may benefit from a service animal.

Lifestyle Safety Measures

These lifestyle changes will vary from person-to-person depending on the individual and on the magnitude of your actual day-to-day risk of experiencing a seizure. However, in general it is recommended for those with epilepsy to:

• Avoid climbing ladders to prevent a dangerous fall if a seizure were to occur.
• Shower instead of taking a bath in case a seizure occurs while in the bathtub in order to prevent drowning.
• Be careful when caring for a very young child. For example, avoid holding them from a height in case a seizure were to occur, and the child could become injured.
• Have your driving safety assessed by a HCP. For those at the highest risk of experiencing a seizure, driving may not be safe for yourself or others on the road.
• Avoid power tools as it would be very unsafe to be operating or even near power tools when you experience a seizure.
• Avoid bright, flashing lights, as it is thought that being exposed to this can actually trigger seizures in some individuals with epilepsy.

If you think that you or a loved one is experiencing seizures, speak with your HCP in order to diagnose and seek treatment for the condition.