Will my epilepsy ever get better?

The question I kept asking myself: Will it ever get better?

Because epilepsy wasn’t staying quiet.

Even if I wasn’t having a seizure, I could still feel the side effects.

After years of underwhelming doctor’s appointments, I realised I’d been asking the wrong question all along.

Maybe my epilepsy wouldn’t be “cured” and seizures could return at any minute, but I didn’t need to wait for that.

Changes in my life that I’d made for epilepsy were actually ones that benefitted me in ways I hadn’t realised before: Better sleep, no/limited alcohol, reducing stress, staying hydrated… all of these things are what ideal health looks like.

And focusing on that has taken the pressure off epilepsy.

For years I asked this more times than I can count.

And I couldn’t see a way out.

Seizures kept coming.

Medication side effects weren’t improving.

I started wondering what a “better” life even meant...

Only 60-70% of people with epilepsy can control their seizures I realised I couldn’t make my life conditional on the day seizures stopped I had to start living now source: Epilepsy foundation epilepsy makes sleep critical I rely on sleep more than I’d like to it’s frustrating to go home early, and to feel scared when I get less than I need the reality is, most people need more sleep, I just have to prioritise it more medication and seizures impacted my memory but memory problems aren’t unique to epilepsy everyone forgets names, or loses their train of thought and memory can be managed with lists, notes, recording meetings perfect memory isn’t required!!

Epilepsy may be on my mind every day, but it doesn’t take up all 24 hours.

Your life doesn’t start when seizures stop.