Due to the unpredictability of seizures, doctors don’t often see their patients having a seizure. Instead they rely on information from the person living with epilepsy, or information from others such as family, friends, teachers or carers who have seen the person have a seizure.
There are many different types of seizures, which differ from person to person. Clear descriptions or recordings of seizure activity are useful for epilepsy diagnosis, as well as ongoing treatment and care.
Maintaining a seizure diary can also help you and your doctor to monitor seizure activity, frequency, duration, triggers, and recovery behaviour. Recording seizure activity and maintaining a diary can help you to track your progress and assist doctors to determine the most appropriate treatment for you.
There are many ways of recording seizures and maintaining diaries, ranging from electronic computer or smartphone apps through to traditional paper-based journals/notebooks. It can also be helpful for your seizures to be recorded with a video camera or smart phone, as this can assist your doctor to learn more about your seizures and epilepsy.
Our Epilepsy New Zealand Educators have Seizure Diaries to give to clients. If you require one, please ring 0800 374537 during office hours.
For an example of a hard-copy seizure diary, click the link below for a copy of an Epilepsy New Zealand Seizure Record