When a person develops epilepsy, they may have to make some adjustments in their life, but in general the chances are excellent that they will be able to live, work and function in society just like everyone else.

Epilepsy is what a person has, not what they are.

While there may be many challenges to life with epilepsy, and many frustrations, too, for most people it is possible to go weeks, months and even years without seizures.

When seizures are more frequent, the difficulties may be greater. Even so, most people with epilepsy want to live active, fulfilling lives just like everybody else. They see epilepsy as a part of their lives, and that's how they want others to see it as well.

An active life

Being physically active is just as good for people with epilepsy as for everyone else. Except in rare cases, vigorous exercise is not going to make seizures worse, and is good for a person's mood.

Jogging, tennis, golf, walking hiking, touch football, skating - there are lots of physical activities that people with epilepsy enjoy. There are also some which could be hazardous if a seizure were to take place during the activity - such as water skiing, scuba diving and sky diving. Swimming involves some risk if they are still having seizures. A good rule of thumb is for a person with epilepsy to swim only with a buddy who knows the person has epilepsy and is strong enough to rescue the person if they should have a seizure.

Taking care

There's no special food that will cause or prevent seizures, although there

is a special ketogenic diet that is one of the treatments for epilepsy. However, it's not a do it yourself diet. It's serious medicine and it has to be followed very, very carefully (see the Treating Seizures sheet).

In general, a healthy diet and regular meals are as good for people with epilepsy as everyone else; there's no proof that vitamins or minerals will prevent seizures unless the person has seizures linked to vitamin deficiency - rare in this part of the world.

People with epilepsy should be careful about drinking beer, wine or hard liquor. They should definitely stay away from illegal drugs. Some of them can cause seizures in people who don't even have epilepsy and they may contain all kinds of other harmful substances as well.

Going without sleep increases the risk of having a seizure. A person who has epilepsy should talk to their doctor if they are getting enough sleep at night but are still sleepy all of the time. A change in medicine may help.

People with epilepsy should always let their doctor know if they are taking any herbal products, diet or mineral supplements, or mega doses of vitamins, or if they are planning to take any. It helps if the doctor knows the names of all the medicines and other products.