Track Your Seizures in the New Year!
We can’t believe that the end of 2019 is so close and that it is almost 2020! The New Year is a time when many people make New Years Resolutions, and this is the same for people living with epilepsy. In fact, some people living with epilepsy may have a resolution of wanting to manage their epilepsy better than they had in the previous year.
Something that can help you achieve that resolution is tracking your seizures through a seizure log because in order to understand how to help a person better manage their epilepsy, it is important to know when seizures occur, what they look like and any factors that could potentially be associated with the episodes.
Seizure logs can aid in helping people see any patterns that occur and may also help identify potential auras or seizure triggers. You can also use a seizure log at your medical appointments as it not only helps people living with epilepsy remember important information to bring up at their medical appointment, the information provided in the seizure log may aid their doctor in seeing how effective their current treatment is and ways to plan a future course of treatment.
Here is what you should include in your seizure log:
- The date and time of the seizure
- The length of the seizure
- Your medication dosage at the time of the seizure
- Possibilities with auras and/or seizure triggers
- Your movements (with your body, your eyes, etc.)
- Any change in your muscle tone, colour or breathing pattern
- Any other details, such as times of stress or major changes to your lifestyle and schedule
- For women, it may also be useful to record the dates of the menstrual cycle
If you want to make your own seizure log, check out the BC Epilepsy Society’s Seizure Journal package here. You can also try recording your seizures with the help of one of the Smartphone apps listed below:
- Epilepsy Journal – Available on Android only
- Seizure Journal – Available on iPhone only
- Seizure Tracker – Available on both Android and iPhone
- Epilepsy Health Storylines – Available on both Android and iPhone
- EpiDiary – Available on both Android and iPhone
- My Seizure Diary – Available on both Android and iPhone
We hope that people living with epilepsy will keep track of their seizures using a seizure log in the New Year. Here’s to a great end to 2019 and an even better 2020! Happy New Year everybody!