Epilepsy is currently defined as a tendency to have recurrent seizures (sometimes called fits). A seizure is caused by a sudden burst of excess electrical activity in the brain, causing a temporary disruption in the normal message passing between brain cells. This disruption results in the brain’s messages becoming halted or mixed up.
The brain is responsible for all the functions of your body, so 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.
What causes epilepsy?
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. Epilepsy with a known cause is called ‘symptomatic’ epilepsy. For most people - six out of ten, in fact - there is no known cause and this is called ‘idiopathic’ epilepsy.
How is epilepsy diagnosed?
There is no conclusive test for epilepsy, although tests such as the electroencephalogram (EEG) – which records brainwave patterns - can give doctors useful information. Epilepsy should be diagnosed by a doctor with specialist training in epilepsy. An epilepsy specialist will use their own expert knowledge, along with test results and the patient’s or witness’s accounts of the seizures, to make the diagnosis.
Because epilepsy is currently defined as the tendency to have recurrent seizures, it is unusual to be diagnosed with epilepsy after only one seizure. In the UK around one in 20 people will have a single seizure at some point in their life, whereas one in 103 people have epilepsy.
Treatment of epilepsy
Epilepsy is usually treated with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). They act on the brain, trying to reduce seizures or stop seizures from happening. Lots of people with epilepsy find that when they take their AEDs properly, they have fewer or no seizures.
If AEDs 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.
- More information about brain surgery
- More information about vagus nerve stimulation
- More information about the ketogenic diet
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
-
Updated February 2011To be reviewed February 2013
Comments: read the 13 comments or add yours
Comments
I have just come across this site and its nice to hear that there are people out there like me,
i had my first seizure when i was 9 yrs old they said that it was down to a head injury i had a few months before, i am 32 now and have delt with this all my life but what i find harder to deal with other that the seizures are the days when im so tired that i cant even remember what i did an hour ago and being scared that i could go at any point , does anyone eles get this ? and people dont understand they think im putting it on which upsets me even more , i do take meds for it and it helps i get the fuzzy head more than fits, but being a single mother is so hard having this and trying to explain to my little one when shes old enough to understand what she has to do its not fair that she should have to deal with it aswell
Hi Annette
i've just very recently started to get these simple partial seizures and i recognise what you are saying to a tee. i find the loss of near memory worse than the actual seizure at times, i haven't yet started medication, that's how new this is. i'm 47.
i was worried the other day because i understood that i'd had a complex partial seizure, and unless my wife had mentioned it i would never have known.
T/
Hi annette,I have had epilepsy since I was 12yrs old .I had fell out of a tree 10mths before I started to have seizures.I can have grand mals or petit mal seizures.I take Gabapentin,vimpat,keppra and lyrica each day so I understand about being tired .I also have memory problems which seem to be getting worse as I am now 33yrs old and have been on aed druds a long time.I found keeping a diary helps this reminds me of things i did a few wks ago or future appointments e.g neurologist or even hairdresser.I am a single mother and used to be afraid of taking a seizure when my son was young as he could be left unattended while i was recovering.I got an alarm fitted to my telephone through Help the aged,this red button when pressed will call an operator who can call for assistance.The only problem was that my son pressed it a few times when it was'nt needed,so i kept repeating that you only pressed the button if mummy fell down and was unwell.He soon understood.When adam was a toddler i just told him that mummy had epilepsy which meant that her brain switched off for a few mins and that i did'nt know and could'nt stop this from happening.When he was about 3yrs 6mths old i explained more about epilepsy.He is now 10yrs and understands how to help me if i have a seizure e.g turn the cooker off if i take one while cooking.He also knows to tell people if i take a seizure while we are out in public so they know what is wrong with me.I know it is maybe easy for me to say but i have found that through me explaining my condition and not trying to hide it from adam he has adapted well to my epilepsy and is actually very protective of me .Hope this may in some way help you.
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