For children
Having epilepsy
There are lots of children with epilepsy. In fact, in the UK alone there are enough to fill Arsenal stadium. There are probably other kids in your school who have it themselves, or who have someone in their family with it.
So what is it? The messages that your brain sends are getting muddled up.
These muddled messages make you do things you didn’t mean to, like fall down, move your body, forget things. The doctors call these seizures. Some people call them fits. There are many types. It all depends on where in your brain the messages are getting mixed up.
The doctor will discuss what is happening with you and your parents. They may give you some special medicine to stop your brain getting muddled up. You will need to take it every day and it will probably stop your seizures. You may even grow out of your epilepsy as you get older but not everyone does.
It is a good idea to tell your teacher and close friends about your epilepsy. Your parents will want to do this with you so they can make sure the teacher understands how to look after you in school.
If you feel worried about your epilepsy remember to tell someone. You could talk to your parents, family, teacher or friends. They will want to help you. You could even write your worries down so you can talk about them with the doctor or nurse.
Keep a diary
One thing you can do is to keep a special diary so that you can remember what you feel like when you have a seizure. It helps the doctors to see if there is a pattern to your seizures.
Remember lots of people – including famous people have epilepsy. Once people have learnt how to look after themselves, to stop the muddled up messages, they get on with their life like anyone else.
We know loads of children who have epilepsy and they do everything. Swimming, skiing, cycling, dancing, football, the list could go on, and on, and on. The important thing is to learn how to look after yourself and get on with your life.
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