Let’s start off with a little precursor as to why I am writing this article. About two weeks ago I had a seizure. As a girl who is on epilepsy medication and had no real reason to have had a reaction, this came as a real surprise. Going to the ER and being told my diagnoses and bloodwork came back completely fine was a shock. The more concerning part is that neither me nor the doctor had a solution to this problem. So, I decided to take this as a challenge and turn this cautionary tale into fuel for ways that I could better myself.
Tip #1 – Drink More Water
This is the most cliche one in the book. Every single self care article will tell you to drink more water. For me though, it’s not to cure acne or for any superficial reasons. While this tip may work great for those things, it’s also just a good habit to get into. If I don’t drink enough water, it can be detrimental to my own health. Water intake is the one thing that every neurologist will tell you to keep on top of. Therefore, this tip really applies to me and I figured that I would pass it along whether you have epilepsy or not. I’m not here to judge you all on whether you drink soda with meals or not. I’m just saying that on top of that, try your best to drink 11.5 cups of water a day. It’s more beneficial than you even realize.
Tip #2 – Get More Sleep
I’m horrible at this one. I’ll stay up until all hours of the night just watching TikTok videos or texting my friends. I even have this weird rule where I have to go to sleep when the clock hits a minute with either a 0 or a 5 at the end (i.e. 12:00 a.m. or 12:05 a.m.). The most annoying part is that I do in fact always feel better the next day after a good night’s sleep. For this reason, my friend volunteered to text me almost every night at 12:00 a.m. saying “GO TO SLEEP.” Most of the time this method actually works. If you have a person in your life that you can rope into doing something like this, by all means do it. It’s going to keep you energized and keep you from falling under the weather.
Tip #3 – Take Your Medicine On Time
Just set an alarm. It’s simple and easy. While it’s easy to be forgetful, an alarm can keep you on track. I understand that all medications are different and people have different reactions, so sometimes you may be more inclined to not want to take it. Even if your medicine makes you more sedate or feel a certain way, there’s a reason why you’re on it and taking it will help you in the long run. Get in a pattern of taking your medicine on time and it will help tremendously. For me, I can actually feel the effects of my medicine because my brain is trained in a way that when I don’t take it, I feel less productive. Of course, if you are really having trouble getting yourself to take your medicine, that can warrant a talk with your doctor.
Tip #4 – Make A Notes List For Your Therapist
I just started doing this one. I have therapy once a week and I always feel like there’s so much to talk about but I can never remember what I have actually been thinking about. It makes my time spent with her feel a little useless and so I’ve decided to make a list on my notes app to keep track of any semi-monumental thing that happened to me over the course of each given week. On this note, I suggest that if you don’t have a therapist and there’s any reason you might need one — try looking into it. I’m not one to talk about my feelings much and I usually let them all bottle up, and then start to cry at the smallest inconvenience. Therapy has helped me so much in trying to cope in healthier ways. I had a lot of anxiety at the beginning of last semester and since doing therapy I’ve taken almost a full 180. It may take trying out a few different therapists, but it’s the best thing to do and there are many options if money is tight.
I hope you try out some of these tips and tricks. Stay tuned for a part 2!
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