How To Track Your Seizures - Plus Why You Should

Most of you will be pretty familiar with the act of tracking things. Whether that be your menstrual cycles, your sleep, the amount of steps you take per day, etc. But some of you might be surprised to learn that people with epilepsy often track their seizures as well! Or at least… they should.

Because tracking seizures can actually be a huge help, for multiple reasons. All of which we’ll be getting into in today’s post! And don’t worry, I’m also going to be talking about how to get started with the process.

How To Track Seizures

Depending on how many seizures someone has in a day, tracking them could seem overwhelming. But there are ways to make the process more manageable. And of course, it will also become easier as you get used to it.

All you need to get started is a place to store your data, and a method of collecting the information in the first place. Plus, a list of additional information that you log alongside each seizure entry.

Where You Can Keep Track Of Seizures -

In terms of the place where you actually keep your information written down, there are a few different options. And which one you choose will come down to personal preference.

You could store your seizure log in a…

• Notebook

• Spreadsheet

• Or even an app!

Personally, when I track my daughter’s seizures, I use a notebook. Because it’s easy for me to access at any given time, and that’s just what I’m used to doing.

But there’s nothing wrong with using a spreadsheet or app if that’s what is more comfortable for you. In fact, many seizure-tracking apps actually have loads of other features that make them great for people with epilepsy! Such as notifications for taking medicine.

How To Monitor How Many Seizures You’re Having -

The next thing you’ll need is a method to actually track the seizures, so that you can write them down. Options for this include…

• Remembering everything yourself and trying to write it down as quickly as possible afterwards (this won’t work for everyone, as some types of seizures make this impossible)

• Purchasing a device that will take note of your seizures

• And having your caregiver keep track of your seizure activity for you

What To Log Along With Your Seizure Activity -

For the best results, you’ll want to write down some extra information about the seizures in addition to logging them. Because this will leave you, and your doctor, with more details later on.

So aside from logging your seizure, you should also take note of…

• What type of seizure you had (if you don’t know then simply write down how it felt and presented)

• How long the seizure lasted

• Whether or not you lost consciousness during the seizure

• If you came out of the seizure naturally or required rescue medication

• How you felt after the seizure ended

• And any other information you find relevant; injuries, potential triggers, etc..

The Benefits Of Tracking Seizures

Now that we’ve talked about how you should track seizures, let’s discuss why this is important…

Tracking seizures can be a massive help, regardless of which stage of epilepsy you’re in! For instance…

In the diagnosis stage, tracking the seizures can help you and your doctor identify what types of seizures you’re having, what kind of epilepsy you have, and what treatment plan you should start with. Sometimes it could even help determine the cause!

After the diagnosis, tracking seizures can help you weed out which medications and treatments work for you versus the ones that don’t. And it can also help you start identifying things that trigger your seizures, so that you can avoid them or at least know what to expect.

I have a few personal examples of how tracking seizures has helped me and my daughter, to really illustrate my point!

First of all, we were able to identify a few of my daughter’s main triggers. Including annatto (a common food additive), lack of sleep, and emotional distress. Upon figuring each trigger out, we were able to make small changes that helped control her seizures. Such as tweaks to our diet and sleep routines.

Secondly, when she was prescribed Keppra, tracking her seizures let us be more exact when we reported her reaction to the doctor. Because although it would’ve been obvious that she was having more seizures anyway…

Without actually tracking them, we wouldn’t have been able to show the exact correlation between the dose of Keppra going up and her seizure activity increasing.

Conclusion

Tracking seizures does present a little bit of extra work, but the benefits make it all worth it! From helping to make a diagnosis, to gaining more seizure control, to finding the right treatment plan… tracking seizures is an important aspect of life to someone with epilepsy.

I hope this article was helpful, and if you’d like to learn more then please check out my many other articles about epilepsy! We’re raising awareness one person at a time.