Some one asked the following question on twitter:
If you are a person with #epilepsy do you think that the amount of exercise you get (or lack thereof) affects the frequency or intensity of your seizures? #EpilepsyAwareness
Certainly is a good point of discussion that has its issues for those with #epilepsy and a few more problems for those with #encephalitis.
One of the first things I did when I got out of hospital was to stick a pair of trainers on and head out for a run. There’s a big park in Glasgow called Pollok Park. It’s just down the road from my house and it has the most amazing, massive wooded areas.
I then horrified my wife when I arrived home an hour later with grazes all down my legs, ripped shorts and blood running down the side of my face. To add to that, I was oblivious to the fact that any of this had happened. Once I'd had a sit down and a think about things I did start to wonder why people were looking at me strangely and trying to stop me as I was running down the street back to the house. It was evident that I'd fallen over (i’m not sure how many times) and got up thinking that I could still make it home in record time!
I also tried to start playing five-a-sides with the old crew and wound up wandering aimlessly round the pitch, banging off the side boards. So that was sadly out.
I did start an indoor exercise class and that did start to go ok as I could take things at my own pace with loads of people there to help out if anything went wrong. Sods law was that when I’d just started to settle into that one,#COVID broke out and every class imaginable was cancelled!
Hill walking had previously been my passion and there was no greater feeling for me than standing alone at the top of a munro. That one was out as it was clearly a bit on the dangerous side for me and to add to that my wife’s uncle had died when he lost his footing one day when he was out walking on one, and he had nothing in the slightest wrong with him!
So, having said all this, I think that exercise is actually good for you in the long run and will help you manage your seizures better. Being fitter is always going to benefit you in the long run. I did end up getting a lovely dog (a Cockapoo named Cookie!) and walking around the place a couple of times a day seems to be the key. As I'm going about the place, talking to other dog walkers, I now find that I know so many people who stay around the area and I only know them by their dog’s names!
Although it is probably the key to keeping in good health without having too many seizures it does have a down side in that my daughter now claims that all of her friends accuse her of having an ‘old-bloke’ for a dad. But hey-ho i’m actually starting to find it all quite nice….