Seizures: Preparing For Your Appointment

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Preparing For Your Appointment

To prepare for your appointment, see the topic Making the Most of Your Appointment

You can help your doctor diagnose and treat your condition by being prepared to answer the following questions:

How was your health and behavior before the seizure?
Did you have any unusual symptoms before the seizure (aura)?
What happened during the seizure? Ask the person who witnessed your seizure to either record this information for you or come to your doctor's appointment with you.
- What kind of body movement occurred?
- How long did the seizure last?
- How did you act immediately after the seizure?
- Have you noted any injuries from the seizure?
Have you ever had a seizure before? If so, what was the diagnosis and how were the seizures treated?
If you have epilepsy:
- What antiseizure medicines have been prescribed?
- Has the dosage of your antiseizure medicine changed recently?
- Have you taken your antiseizure medicine exactly as prescribed?
- Have you taken other prescription or nonprescription medicines or consumed alcohol recently?
- Have you used any alternative medicine products recently?
- When was your last seizure?
- On the average, how often do you have a seizure?
Have you had other health problems in the past 3 months?
Have you ever had a concussion (traumatic brain injury) in the past?
- How long ago?
- How severe was it?
- Was there loss of consciousness?
- What tests were used to evaluate your head injury?
Have you had problems with headaches?
Have you recently taken, stopped taking, or changed the dose of any medicines, including nonprescription medicines or illegal drugs?
Have you suddenly reduced or stopped drinking alcohol?
Have you recently traveled to a rural area or an undeveloped country?
Do you have any health risks that may increase the seriousness of your symptoms?

Be sure to ask your doctor what you can do to prevent another seizure and what to do if you have another seizure.

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Last updated:	October 14, 2005
Author:	Sydney Youngerman-Cole, RN, BSN, RNC
Reviewed By:	William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine, H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Lisa Shaw

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