Perhaps it’s my personality, or maybe it simply comes with the territory…STRESS! For those of us, young and old, who live with Epilepsy, stress can be a huge contributor to seizures. I wrote about how to manage stress during holiday-time, but after the week I just endured…it seems like it’s a good topic to re-visit.

I lost my grandmother at 97 last weekend, then we had the funeral a few days later…then visitors to the house for a day-and-a-half, not to mention putting together the house for hosting visitors. It was a lot to take, and admittedly…I didn’t do a great job of taking care of myself. I am one who lets stress get to her, and typically, it will lead to seizures.

After the week I lived through, and once I counted up all of the seizures I suffered in a period of 6 days (18), I decided to look into how to better manage my stress. I found some great, and relatively basic tips on the great health site I write for, EverydayHealth.com. If you remember the 10 basic de-stressing tips, I think you can probably better control your seizures and manage your Epilepsy. And, the great thing…some of them are so basic!

Exercise…even if it means just a 1/2 mile walk around the block. How many of us neglect this part of our lives? Laugh…I love this one. I figure…log into a comedic web site and get a good dose of humor, or watch a sitcom! Write…granted all of us don’t write blogs, but you can certainly pen a nice letter or card to someone who means a lot to you. Socialize…even if it means chatting with a neighbor or making a phone call to a good friend. I’ve always felt that surrounding yourself with friends and family who understand your Epilepsy and care about you can make a big difference in how you feel. Be kind to yourself…do something for YOU! It sounds silly, but for me, browsing through Target on my own is so much fun! (And, you can find virtually everything at Target!) I have my husband drop me off on a weekend morning and he will take Hayden to breakfast or to the car wash. It’s just something nice I can do for me!

I just wrote my de-stress list and tucked it away in my Blackberry. I figure…every time something begins to get to me, I will open up my list and remind myself of how I can better take care of myself and my stress so as to control my Epilepsy. So, my goal for the week is to ‘beat’ 18 seizures!