A. What should the patient and family do after the diagnosis of epilepsy?
After the diagnosis of epilepsy, either the patient or the family should first treat epilepsy correctly and build up the confidence to fight with epilepsy for a long time and to overcome epilepsy. Therefore, they need to learn and master the basic knowledge of epilepsy and learn to take care of themselves or the epilepsy patients at home.
Second, epileptic patients should pay attention to daily life
1, avoid accidental injuries: epileptic seizures are often very sudden and prone to accidents such as falls, drowning, burns, traffic accidents and so on. Therefore, attention should be paid to the safety of the workplace and living environment. Epileptic patients should not be engaged in high-altitude work, near-water work, contact with harmful substances or dangerous work.
2, to ensure adequate sleep: lack of sleep, staying up late is a common seizure triggering factor. Some patients, who have controlled seizures after taking medication, but stay up late for work or other reasons, or play late on holidays to sleep, and are very excited, often causing seizures. Be sure not to watch TV or play video games for a long time.
3, do not drink, do not overeat, and avoid overexertion.
4, maintain an optimistic attitude, do not let epilepsy excessively restrict their lives.
5, actively participate in a variety of social activities or appropriate physical exercise, fully mobilize their subjective initiative to eliminate internal anxiety, tension, pessimism and disappointment, to overcome psychological barriers, which is conducive to physical and mental recovery.
6. Patients or family members who are in a position to do so should record the seizures.
Detailed records and descriptions of seizures are important references for doctors to make a clear diagnosis, grasp the progress of the disease and observe the effects of drug treatment. The record should include the date and time of the seizure, the performance of the seizure, its duration, severity and other accompanying conditions.
Do not conceal your condition too much when you are out and living independently
Patients should tell their relatives and friends who are in regular contact with them about their condition, especially when the condition is not fully controlled, so that others can better understand them and dispel misconceptions about epilepsy; they can also become closer to their relatives and friends. You can tell your relatives and friends what to do in case of seizures.
IV. Measures that should be taken in case of seizures
Seizures are self-limiting and usually stop automatically after a short period of seizure. One should maintain a normal state of mind and take some of the following measures.
1. To prevent the patient from airway obstruction, lay the patient on his or her side and unbutton the blouse to keep the airway open.
2.Do not forcibly restrict the patient’s twitching when convulsing, if forcible restriction may lead to fracture or injury.
3.Do not put anything into the patient’s mouth. Some people make the mistake of putting something in the patient’s mouth or even prying open the patient’s teeth to prevent the patient from biting through the tongue. This often causes injury or broken teeth, and broken teeth may cause asphyxia or aspiration secondary to lung infection.
4. The patient is confused and shows some abnormal physical activities such as lip smacking, pouting or appears to be mentally confused and should not interfere with it. You should stay with the patient and observe the condition, such as the start site of the twitching, duration, expression, state of consciousness and the presence of urinary and fecal incontinence. After the patient wakes up, give comfort.
5. If the seizure lasts for more than 10 minutes without relief, the patient should be immediately sent to a nearby hospital for treatment.
V. How should epileptic patients face their condition?
Although there has been great progress in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, due to the fear and resistance of some patients and their families to the disease, and on the other hand, due to the prejudice and indifference of society towards epileptic patients, a considerable number of patients and their families cannot face the facts. In order to get better treatment for epilepsy patients, every epilepsy patient should do the following.
1. Actively consult an epilepsy specialist or epilepsy expert.
2. Actively undergo relevant special tests that can help clarify the diagnosis, such as EEG, cranial MRI scan, etc.
3. After a clear diagnosis, standardized treatment should be actively carried out. If conditions allow, try to go to a regular epilepsy specialist medical institution equipped with epilepsy specialists and specialized examination instruments.
4. Get information about your condition and understand the impact of epilepsy on your work and daily life.
5. Women of childbearing age with epilepsy should undergo preconception counseling.
6. Parents of children with epilepsy should have information about epilepsy in children.
During the course of taking medication, it is important to follow medical advice and not to change medication or stop it suddenly at will. Sudden discontinuation of medication may cause seizures or even persistent status epilepticus. The medication should be discontinued under the guidance of a physician, and the dosage should be gradually reduced over a long period of time, often six months or longer, before the antiepileptic drug is completely discontinued.