CONTROLLING YOUR OWN EPILEPTIC SEIZURES: LOOKING FOR LINKS

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If you want to try to learn to control your own seizures, the first step is to learn to identify the things that are most likely to precipitate them. It will help you to keep a ‘seizure diary’ for at least a few months; and it will also help your doctor to have a record of your seizures and of what seems to trigger them off.
Best of all is to try the ‘ABC programme, which is the driving force of any programme of behavioural treatment carried out in hospital.
ABC CHARTS
An ABC chart is a detailed record of every seizure, describing what happens immediately before the seizure (A = Antecedents); behaviour (B) during the seizure; and what the consequences (C) of the seizure are for you. All you will need is a special A4 notebook to write your account in – and some honest observation. As well as this, mark every seizure you have on a wall chart or calendar which shows you the years at a glance. If your behavioural programme works, you should be able to watch your seizure frequency fall.
Antecedents
The antecedents of a seizure are particularly important. Try to remember exactly what was happening just before the seizure started. It will help if you ask yourself these questions:
What were you doing just before the seizure/at seizure onset?
How did you feel just before the seizure/at seizure onset?
What were you thinking just before the seizure/at seizure onset?
It is important to be as precise as possible when you are answering these questions. If you can recognize and record your emotions it may help you identify those that may give rise to a seizure. Supposing, for example, that you had been looking at photographs of a previous summer holiday. It is not enough simply to say, ‘I was looking through an old photograph album.’ A more precise answer might have been: ‘I was looking at a picture of Bob and me holding hands. I was feeling a bit sad.’ If you can recall just what you were thinking at the moment the seizure started, so much the better: ‘I was feeling jealous because Bob’s got a new girlfriend now.’ By analysing what happened in this way, you may be able to pinpoint the thoughts or feelings that led directly to the seizure.
Behaviour
You need to note down in as much detail as possible how your behaviour changed at the onset of the seizure. This will be important when you are trying to find a counter measure to inhibit your seizures. For example, the first change in behaviour might have been the movement of a limb, or a thought or a feeling, or perhaps a strange feeling like butterflies in the pit of your stomach which moved up into the chest. To fill in the details you may have to ask someone who was with you at the time. List everything you can.
If you are worried about your behaviour during a seizure – the fact that you may have been incontinent for example – do discuss this with your doctor or someone close to you. Sometimes video monitoring of a seizure can reassure you that whatever aspect of your behaviour in a seizure worries you is not so terrible after all.
Consequences
Consequences are important. Try to note down in detail not only what happened immediately after the seizure, but how it may have changed the situation for you, and also how you felt. People quite often feel despondent, even guilty, about having had another seizure, and, again, if your doctor knows how you feel he can help you tackle these feelings.
If, as a parent, you are trying to keep an ABC chart for a child who has seizures, you may find that consequences are especially significant. The child who has a seizure in class, for example, and is taken out of class and given milk and biscuits by a sympathetic teacher, is being given a strong message – seizures are likely to be rewarded! It is far better to encourage the child to return to the classroom as soon as they have recovered, and to withold the milk and biscuits. But adults too are sometimes ‘rewarded’ by a seizure. If you discover from your chart that you regularly have a seizure after an argument with a partner for example, and always find that he or she is remorseful and attentive towards you afterwards, you could learn something useful!
Interpreting your charts
Once you start looking for links, it is very likely that you will be able to find some sort of relationship between the likelihood of a seizure occurring and your physiological state: whether you were particularly tired or hungry, for example, your emotions, what you were doing, or what was going on in your life with family and friends.
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CONTROLLING YOUR OWN EPILEPTIC SEIZURES: LOOKING FOR LINKSIf you want to try to learn to control your own seizures, the first step is to learn to identify the things that are most likely to precipitate them. It will help you to keep a ‘seizure diary’ for at least a few months; and it will also help your doctor to have a record of your seizures and of what seems to trigger them off.Best of all is to try the ‘ABC programme, which is the driving force of any programme of behavioural treatment carried out in hospital.ABC CHARTSAn ABC chart is a detailed record of every seizure, describing what happens immediately before the seizure (A = Antecedents); behaviour (B) during the seizure; and what the consequences (C) of the seizure are for you. All you will need is a special A4 notebook to write your account in – and some honest observation. As well as this, mark every seizure you have on a wall chart or calendar which shows you the years at a glance. If your behavioural programme works, you should be able to watch your seizure frequency fall.AntecedentsThe antecedents of a seizure are particularly important. Try to remember exactly what was happening just before the seizure started. It will help if you ask yourself these questions:What were you doing just before the seizure/at seizure onset?How did you feel just before the seizure/at seizure onset?What were you thinking just before the seizure/at seizure onset?It is important to be as precise as possible when you are answering these questions. If you can recognize and record your emotions it may help you identify those that may give rise to a seizure. Supposing, for example, that you had been looking at photographs of a previous summer holiday. It is not enough simply to say, ‘I was looking through an old photograph album.’ A more precise answer might have been: ‘I was looking at a picture of Bob and me holding hands. I was feeling a bit sad.’ If you can recall just what you were thinking at the moment the seizure started, so much the better: ‘I was feeling jealous because Bob’s got a new girlfriend now.’ By analysing what happened in this way, you may be able to pinpoint the thoughts or feelings that led directly to the seizure.BehaviourYou need to note down in as much detail as possible how your behaviour changed at the onset of the seizure. This will be important when you are trying to find a counter measure to inhibit your seizures. For example, the first change in behaviour might have been the movement of a limb, or a thought or a feeling, or perhaps a strange feeling like butterflies in the pit of your stomach which moved up into the chest. To fill in the details you may have to ask someone who was with you at the time. List everything you can.If you are worried about your behaviour during a seizure – the fact that you may have been incontinent for example – do discuss this with your doctor or someone close to you. Sometimes video monitoring of a seizure can reassure you that whatever aspect of your behaviour in a seizure worries you is not so terrible after all.ConsequencesConsequences are important. Try to note down in detail not only what happened immediately after the seizure, but how it may have changed the situation for you, and also how you felt. People quite often feel despondent, even guilty, about having had another seizure, and, again, if your doctor knows how you feel he can help you tackle these feelings.If, as a parent, you are trying to keep an ABC chart for a child who has seizures, you may find that consequences are especially significant. The child who has a seizure in class, for example, and is taken out of class and given milk and biscuits by a sympathetic teacher, is being given a strong message – seizures are likely to be rewarded! It is far better to encourage the child to return to the classroom as soon as they have recovered, and to withold the milk and biscuits. But adults too are sometimes ‘rewarded’ by a seizure. If you discover from your chart that you regularly have a seizure after an argument with a partner for example, and always find that he or she is remorseful and attentive towards you afterwards, you could learn something useful!Interpreting your chartsOnce you start looking for links, it is very likely that you will be able to find some sort of relationship between the likelihood of a seizure occurring and your physiological state: whether you were particularly tired or hungry, for example, your emotions, what you were doing, or what was going on in your life with family and friends.*48\193\2*

February 23, 2011 · Posted in Epilepsy