Epilepsy and work/study

[jenagade]

I know there are probably tonnes of threads about this subject but I'm in a bit of a rut and would like some opinions.

I attend Uni full time, and work 16 hours a week in an IT job. I've recently been hospitalised for my epilepsy, recently as in I'm writing this from my hospital bed, and I'm starting to think that in addition to making other changes, I may need to reduce my workload.

Does anyone have any advice on how you've dealt with this decision, I know there are many of you who have also had to face the hard decision of having to drop things to maintain your health. I'm struggling because I really like my job, and I really want to complete my degree, but I think if I don't reduce my workload somewhere then its just going to come back and bite me in the ass.

 

[marika853]

Yes, stress is a very big trigger for many of us. YOU have to decide what is most important for YOU and then make that decision. Obviously, you can't do all and so you have to choose. Do you have friends that can perhaps help you with making this decision or family? I've always asked my friends for their honest opinions about what I should do and then decided.
Good Luck!
M

 

[notime]

Don't stop your education regardless of how many seizures you have since it's really important. You should consider talking to your neurologist by upping your medicine or finding another which may suppress your seizures with higher stress levels? But, please don't drop out of college.... I wish I could go, and even if I had extra seizures it'd be worth it.

Could you try reducing how many hours you work per week? At least this would help a little. You could also consider seeing a therapist couple times a month to reduce stress levels as well may be? I don't know, you should talk to your neurologist.

For me, I don't really care about my health, if I want to do something in life I'll do it regardless of what my lame brain does. I rather enjoy life, and do things I love even if it causes dangerous seizures, to me I'd rather live the quality of life that I wish despite what the danger is to me, as long as it harms nobody else. That's my choice, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody, but it's up to you.

 

[Phredhead]

Personally, I would not drop out of school, if you can go to part-time, maybe that will help. I have seen too many people drop out for various reasons and never return. Your education is too important to your future. When I get too stressed I meditate, just close my eyes, sit in a quiet place and forget about everything. I become aware of myself and remove all the tension from my body. When I feel as if I'm ready to re-join the world, I slowly re-introduce all the stress back into my thinking. But I assess each stressful factor one-by-one and decide if it's really worth stressing over. By doing that I usually reduce my stress by half. In the end, it is your life and your decision to make. Sit down and write out all the pros and cons, it seems simple but it has helped me make many big decisions in my life. Good luck.

 

[Matthew74]

I have overdone it at school more than once. Things can get out of control faster than you realize. If you think you are trying to do too much, I would encourage you to cut back and not worry about it. It's ok.

There are other things you can do. I found that if I had a comfortable place to live, wholesome food to eat, and got enough rest it helped enormously. Peace and quiet, and walking everyday are also essential. All the little stresses, like noise, nowhere to relax, or anything that never goes away really add up.

 

[jenagade]

Thanks everyone, I had a HUGE wake up call, been in hospital for the last 8 days and still have another 2 weeks off work and uni. I would love to be able to cut down my hours at work but I have talked to my boss and unfortunately it just isn't viable so I just have to cut my losses there. The upside is that he has said when my health improves or during semester breaks we could discuss me doing some work for them.
I have also reduced my paper load which should take the weight off a bit. I'm just struggling at the moment because I've been fairly stable until a few months ago and now I've lost a lot of independence and much of my dignity thanks to being under 24 hour watch. I'm also finding it hard to accept that I don't have as much control over my body as I used to.

I definitely realise how quickly seizures can get out of control and I certainly don't want to repeat this any time soon