Dear Hevsta4444 I’m really sorry to hear your story. You describe a very familiar scenario, which is often frustrating for patients and difficult for them to navigate. What you really need is to see an epilepsy expert, who can look at all the clinical information, listen to you, try and give you a d...

Dear janewill This is quite a difficult question to answer. You’re absolutely correct that alcohol, stress, and lack of sleep are common provoking factors for seizures in people with epilepsy, particularly JME. Dehydration is often mentioned by patients as a potential trigger for their seizures, but...

Dear blackalaro That's a new one on me! No-one's ever asked me that before. I'll admit I've just gone and done a very quick bit of research. From a preliminary look at the scientific literature, there seems to be no consensus on the effects of caffeine on seizures and epilepsy. It seems unlikely tha...

Dear Julie SUDEP is important because it can be preventable. It is also extremely rare. The exact chances of it affecting your son are small to very small, and are dependant on lots of factors, such as his type of epilepsy, how often he has seizures, what types of seizure he has etc. The most import...

Even if Epanutin isn't the cause of your symptoms, there are likely to be some good treatments to reduce the severity of the discomfort, so another good reason to get them checked out

Andrew

Hi Diane There's also load of fascinating research going on into alternative treatments for epilepsy, including some exciting work looking at electrical stimulation of the brain, and detection of seizures so that they can be prevented before they become established. Few of these exciting advances ha...

Frustratingly, "it depends". Some people's epilepsy goes away after a few years, whereas in some people it remains a lifelong problem, albeit often well controlled on medication. Sometimes we can predict whether epilepsy is likely to resolve (some types of childhood epilepsy go away in adu...

Anti-depressants are theoretically associated with a very small increased risk of seizures. However, in patients that are treated with anti epileptic drugs, this risk is tiny, and in reality makes very little difference to your seizure control. Balanced against this, depression can be a nasty and de...

Hi Elaine Also think about bringing someone else with you that's seen your son's seizures. It can be difficult to remember everything you've observed in the heat of the moment, and often some else's perspective is really helpful. Additionally, they can help remember what the doctor says to you - mos...

Hi Michelle I agree completely with everything Hannah's said. I'd also advise you ask your GP to prescribe you folic acid 5mg if there's even slightest chance you might become pregnant, even accidentally. Folic acid is a vitamin and is though to be protective against some of the potential risks of a...