About epilepsy
In the UK, there are over 600,000 people with epilepsy.
If you have epilepsy, it means you have had more than one epileptic seizure and could have more in the future.
Electrical activity is happening in our brain all the time. A seizure happens when there is a sudden burst of intense electrical activity. This is often referred to as epileptic activity. This intense electrical activity causes a temporary disruption to the way the brain normally works, meaning that the brain’s messages become mixed up. The result is an epileptic seizure.
The brain is responsible for all the functions of your body. What you experience during a seizure will depend on where in your brain the epileptic activity begins and how widely and rapidly it spreads.
For this reason, there are many different types of seizure and each person will experience epilepsy in a way that is unique to them.
Epilepsy Action has more information about different types of seizures.
The causes of epilepsy
There are many types of epilepsy. Some types start when you are very young, and some in later life. Some types last for a short time and other types can last for the whole of your life.
Sometimes the reason epilepsy develops is clear. It could be because of brain damage caused by a difficult birth, a severe blow to the head, a stroke, or an infection of the brain such as meningitis. Very occasionally the cause is a brain tumour. In around six out of ten people, doctors don’t know the cause of their epilepsy. For many of these people, it is just part of how they are made that makes them more likely to have a seizure.
How epilepsy is diagnosed
There isn’t a test that can prove that you do or you don’t have epilepsy. Tests such as the electroencephalogram (EEG) – which records brainwave patterns - can give doctors useful information. A diagnosis of epilepsy should be made by a doctor with specialist training in epilepsy.
To make a diagnosis, an epilepsy specialist will use their expert knowledge and look at the information from different tests. They will ask you what happens before, during and after your seizures. They might also want to speak to someone else who has seen your seizures.
Epilepsy is currently defined as the tendency to have recurrent seizures. It is unusual to be diagnosed with epilepsy after only one seizure. Around five people in every 100 will have an epileptic seizure at some time in their life. Out of these five people, around four will go on to develop epilepsy.
Epilepsy Action has more information about how epilepsy is diagnosed.
Treatment of epilepsy
Epilepsy is usually treated with epilepsy medicines. You may also hear these referred to as anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Epilepsy medicines act on the brain, trying to reduce seizures or stop seizures from happening. Lots of people with epilepsy find that when they have the right medicine, they have fewer or no seizures. In the UK 70 per cent (seven out of ten) of people with epilepsy could be seizure free with the right treatment.
Epilepsy Action has more information about epilepsy medicines.
If epilepsy medicines don’t work very well for a person, there are some other treatments that may be helpful. These include brain surgery, vagus nerve stimulation and the ketogenic diet.
Epilepsy Action has more information about brain surgery,vagus nerve stimulation and the ketogenic diet.
If you would like to see this information with references, visit the Advice and Information references section of our website. See What is epilepsy?
This information has been produced under the terms of The Information Standard.
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Updated February 2013To be reviewed February 2015
Comments: read the 10 comments or add yours
Comments
Im 28 years old and was diagnosed at about the age of 16 , i used to be on the school playing field and totaly forget what i was doing ( very scary ) i wouldnt have a clue where i was or what i was doing for a while then it would slowly come back to me, it wasnt until i had an actual fit at the airport one day i got it sorted. Ive have 3 bad seizures since which isnt alot atal, i had my son at 21 and had one then aswell, i was on medication but stopped when my son was 2 bacause i didnt think they made any difference. Ive had alot of stress the last few months with my son and yesterday i had a partial seizure? i knew i felt wierd so grabbed my friend and cant remember nothing for about the next 15 min but she said i looked dazed and just kept asking where we was and what we was doing ....this scares the hell out of me and i am now going to have to go back to the docs...one thing i had which i have never had before is the feeling of da-ja-vu and feeling sick this happened a while after ...very frightening ....
hi everyone my 4 yr old got epilepsy and the docters done tests on her we 2 yr old i some times do not no wot to do for her as i do not no about it some time its like she is not whit it and some day are good so if some one can hlep me to no abit thank you .
i would say, don't be embarrassed abut being epileptic and make sure all your friends/colleagues know how to help you when you have a seizure. talking about your condition is good.
Hi all. My husband has been told he is epileptic after having 4 seizures in the space of 3 weeks. He has to have further tests at a neurology clinic to verify. It is so scary.
I've been epileptic since I had an accident at school at the age of 8 and even though it has had me at all time rock bottom lows when I have suffered from seizures over the years I can honestly say that epilepsy has made me the person I am today and I am truely happy. Epilepsy has taught me to value life and appreciate how lucky I am to have what I have.
My mother was told when I was first diagnosed that I would never leave home or go to university by a nieve nurse and instead she has pushed me to go to uni, travel, work hard and become as independant as I can be. Dont get me wrong, there has been times when I have been knocked down and my body has made me stop... but I have always dusted myself back off as quickly as I can and carried on with a "normal" (whatever that is) life.
In my oppinion, the worst thing you can do is lock yourself away, I know it's hard and your conficende gets shaken beyond all belief, you need to take control of your life and lead as normal life as possible.
If you have no one to turn to websites and organisations like epilespy action can help you to understand the challenges you may face. Stick with them and work with them and epilepsy wont seem like such a huge chunk of your life has been taken away. xxx
Very heart warming to read everyone's stories and advice. Hard not to shout out, 'Yeah, that happens to me too!'
Epilepsy after road accident at 36, massive change to myself, family, friends and job. Decided to take on this by getting my own medical bands and cards designed. Much better but still wary going out.
I am male and will be aged 65 years in December 2012. Lucky to survive wrecking my car in April 2011, I have been diagnosed as suffering complex partial epileptic seizures. A few weeks after the accident a colleague witnessed me being unwell on two occasions. Her detailed accounts were sufficient to convince the neurologist of my condition. Symptoms which had occurred since childhood and were diagnosed as migraine in 1992, and which had always responded to migraleve, have not happened again.
After being on lamotrigine for six months, in February 2012, I was not so well. I had retired early to take up voluntary work in Peru. The tests I had there led the consultant to see no evidence of epilepsy. A week after ending the medication I began a series of three episodes of being unwell in five weeks. Back in the UK on home leave, the consultant here has reaffirmed his original diagnosis and put me on keppra. I am hoping to settle to the right dosage for me so that I can return to Peru. Having now reached the prescription of 750mg am and pm, I am feeling very drowsy and full of aches and pains. Getting settled is going to take some time .... time to work out what to say to the consultant in Peru, should I be unwell when I am back there, and come into his care again!
Go well .... have patience, but don't be a patient.
Im 14 and just got diagnosed with Juvinial Myoclonic Epilepsy, which is many caused by stress, lack of sleep and alchohol. I didn't react at first, but when i get told i have to take medication for life, it scared me. For now, i'm taking 1 at night, but that only lasts for 2 weeks. In the 10th week i'll be taking four 75mg tablets, wow.
I'm so glad i know i'm not alone, and i'm considering getting a epileptic ID bracelet, just in case.
I am65 and just three days ago diagnosed w epilepsy. In one I'm happy it is so, because I was walking around thinking I had got Alzheimer's and did not want to live like this. Was praying to my mother to come and take me away. Luckily I contacted my friend who convinced me to see unearth doctor, that is how they found it!
Obviously nobody knows how much worse it would be for each person with epilepsy if they didn't take medications but i am 48 and have taken many many different epilepsy drugs since I was diagnosed when I was 9. What I do know though is that the side effects of the various drugs are different but consistently awful for many if not all people. Probably very unwisely over the last few decades I've tested the theory on myself quite a few times! When i am not taking epilepsy meds I have level of mental acuity that I lose when I start taking them again. A feeling of slight disconnection from the rest of the world is key side effect and I don't think it is much and, if at all, studied