How to Talk to Your Doctor About Your Seizures

Seizures are a frightening medical condition. If you or someone you love suffers with seizures, find a doctor you have confidence in to help you through these difficult times.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Tell your doctor about the circumstances that preceded your seizure. What were you doing before your seizure began? Did something seem to trigger the start of a seizure, like a distinctive smell, or a sound sleep?
2. Report whether or not you were conscious through the seizure.
3. Provide any eyewitness reports of what you did while seizing. Tell what parts of your body moved, whether or not your eyes were open during the seizure, and how long the seizure lasted.
4. Mention to your doctor if you experienced any weakness or paralysis in your arms and legs after the seizure.
5. Tell your doctor if you were able to speak after your seizure.
6. Share your fears with your doctor. Because he is most likely a neurological specialist, he has known thousands of people just like you, and may be able to offer emotional support that is especially meaningful and helpful.
7. Ask your doctor to keep you informed about your anticonvulsant medications. Will he be adjusting the dosages, adding a different drug to your regimen, or needing to draw blood to monitor the circulating drug levels?
8. Report any medication side effects to your doctor.
9. Use your doctor as a clearinghouse for information and support groups. If he doesn't know the answer, he or his staff will find out for you.
10. Talk to your doctor about surgery for epilepsy. Depending on the cause of your seizures, and how well they can or cannot be controlled through medication, surgery may be a possible solution.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't like your doctor, or don't have confidence in his decisions, switch to another physician. Epilepsy can be an agonizing condition to live through, and without a doctor you have complete trust in, the condition can become almost unbearable.