How to Prevent Seizures

While any person can have a seizure, people who have had two or more seizures without an identifiable cause are at higher risk of having additional seizures. Other conditions may also increase the risk of seizures. If you are at high risk for seizures or you have a child who is considered high-risk for seizures, you may be looking for seizure treatment New Jersey. Not all measures work for all people, and you may only be able to reduce the number of seizures rather than eliminate them. However, many people find the following things help reduce the number of seizures that they have.

Take All Medication as Prescribed

Anti-epileptic medications can be very effective at helping some people reduce or even eliminate seizures. The problem is that, once the seizures stop happening people often stop taking their medicines. That can actually cause withdrawal seizures. Trying to self-medicate by increasing dosages can also cause toxicity. That is why it is important to take the prescribed dose at the same time or times each day, and to follow your doctor’s instructions about what to do if you miss a dose.

Sleep

Lack of sleep is a big contributing factor to seizures. Getting enough sleep can help you avoid seizures and reduce overall stress. Helping your kid get enough sleep can be difficult, especially for older kids who naturally want to stay up later but have to wake up early for school days. Enforcing an early bedtime for you or your kids may seem difficult, but it could help reduce seizures.

Eat Regular Meals

Skipping meals can lead to hypoglycemia, which can trigger seizures in some people. Eating meals at regular times and having healthy snacks between meals can help reduce your risk of seizures.

Avoid Alcohol and Drugs

When your children are small, it is easy to keep them from drinking or taking recreational drugs. However, as much as parents may want to ignore it, drugs and alcohol are often part of teenage life. You need to make sure your children are aware that alcohol and drug use can contribute to seizures. In addition, they may have negative interactions with anti-seizure medications. Even for adults, avoiding these triggers can be difficult. However, they simply are not worth risking triggering a seizure.

Exercise

Exercise may be the single most-effective “medicine” that a doctor can suggest. It has overall health benefits that can tackle a variety of different conditions. While exercise is not directly linked to a reduction in seizures, it is linked to reducing stress levels. Stress is a known trigger for seizures, so incorporating regular exercise can help you manage that stress and avoid seizures.

Pay Attention to Fevers

While epilepsy and seizure disorders put people at high risk of having seizures, many children are at risk of having seizures if they have high fevers. If your child is experiencing a high fever, contact a medical professional for help on how to bring down body temperature.

Avoid Flashing Lights

Flashing lights are a commonly known seizure trigger. However, they actually only impact about 3% of people with epilepsy. If you have photosensitive epilepsy, you need to limit exposure to flashing lights. That can include video games.

Find a Good Neurologist

If you have epilepsy or another seizure-disorder, you need a pediatric neurologist to manage your care. A neurologist can investigate why the seizures are happening and help create a treatment protocol for you.