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Epilepsy Blog Relay: 6 Tips for Combating Stress While Living With Epilepsy

This post is part of the Epilepsy Blog Relay™. Follow along all month!

Stress is a normal part of life for everyone. But, a stressful situation can turn life upside down for a person with epilepsy. There are a few tips for combating stress while living with epilepsy. These tips can help you manage stressful situations in your life.

There are different types of stress: emotional, physical and mental stress.  During the happiest times of my life I have encountered stress that brought on seizures.  For example, the holidays have always been stressful for me.  Making the Christmas dinner always made me tired and being tired is a major seizure trigger for me. So I’ve found a few ways to manage the stress during the ups and the downs.

If you’re a person who tends to worry (like I am) over little things, that can also bring on seizures.  Thankfully I’ve learned not to worry like I did in the past. So what do we do in these situations?  Well, I have learned a few tips that have helped me and if you are having problems with stress maybe these tips will help you.

Tips for Combating Stress

  1. Pace yourself.  Don’t try to do everything at once.
  2. Ask for help during the holidays. Try planning a potluck Christmas dinner. You might be surprised how many people want to contribute a dish to the meal. Or you could consider going out to dinner. Alternatively, just have the family over for dessert instead of a big meal.
  3. Learn relaxation techniques. Meditation helps me.
  4. Have a good sleep schedule. (this one is important!) Waking up and going to bed at or close to the same time everyday helps your body recover.  If you suffer from insomnia (which is common in people with epilepsy) contact your doctor for help. I suffer from insomnia and the treatment and advice from my doctor helped me.
  5. See a therapist.  Don’t be afraid to see a therapist if you find that you are overwhelmed with dealing with your epilepsy or other life situation.  Dealing with epilepsy can cause depression and sometimes professional help is what we need.
  6. Have a annual check up with your general practitioner.  Stress can cause health problems that we may not know we have.  High blood pressure is just one of them.  Your doctor may come across something during your exam.

These are just a few tips that have helped me.  It’s hard to deal with any type of stress when you have epilepsy, but there is hope.  There is always hope.


NEXT UP: Be sure to check out the next post tomorrow at https://livingwellwithepilepsy.com.

Follow Heidi Shafer:
I have been living with uncontrolled seizures for 40 yrs. I am the mother of 2 wonderful boys and married to a wonderful husband. I am the administrator of the Epilepsy Education and Support Facebook and twitter page.

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