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Eitanb

Eitanb

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Hi, I'm an 18 year old male from Australia, I found out I have Complex partial epilepsy when I was driving a year ago in 2010 4 days before I started my final year at school.

I'm new here and was looking for some advice to help me with studying for my final exams in a few weeks in terms of concentration and memory as well as stress. When I write an exam/test or when I've been studying I often feel as though I am about to have another seizure and it makes things hard to work with.

I'm currently taking Epilim 400mg twice a day and have been on various meds over the past year.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and thank you all for any advice you could provide.
 
Hi EitanB, welcome to CWE!

Any chance you can get any dispensations because of the epilepsy? Maybe a longer test time?

Aside from that, try studying in small blocks -- study for half an hour, then take a ten-minute break. Can you do any practice tests too? Those will help. If you need to memorize a lot of stuff, use all the basic memory aids -- flash cards, color association, etc. The more connections you can make between the information and other cues, the easier it will be to retrieve.

Studies show that it's best to take the tests in the same state as when you studied for it. So if you had a cup of tea while studying, have a cup of tea before you take the test. If you were listening to certain music while studying, have a listen again before the test.

Make sure you get a good night's sleep before the tests.

And not too long before the test, take a moment to write down everything you are worried about for the test ahead -- issues you might get stressed about, concerns about your concentration and memory, areas that are particularly difficult. This process actually helps to get some of this stuff out of your system and out of the way so it won't distract you during the test itself.

Best,
Nakamova
 
Thank you very much for the tips, hopefully they will help out.

And the board of studies here does recognise that it's a disadvantage but the privileges provided definitely aren't equal to the effects the meds and the nature of having epilepsy have during exam times.

I personally notice that subjects that require me to do a lot of processing such as the ones I personally do (e.g. maths, chemistry, physics..) I feel completely 'brain dead' after and as if my head won't work. It's definitely the worst with math where each question is just pure, intense thinking.

I'm no expert on neurology/neuroscience but my MRI showed it is on the left side of my brain which is more maths etc, and I've noticed that after an english exam (which I don't think is left side of the brain) for example I don't really have that 'brain dead' feeling. Out of curiosity does that have any relevance or am I talking nonsense?
 
There are different areas of the brain associated with different kinds of thinking the right side is generally associated with logical thinking and the left for creative thinking, really you would need to use both sides Here is a link to an article about it all.
Medication will definitely have an affect on your thinking. If the board of studies will at least offer you extra time to do the exams it may help relieve a little bit of stress. When I did the HSC you could apply for extra points (When I did it, it was the UAI don't know what it's called now:ponder:) based on location/misadventure etc, a girl in my year got a few extra point because her parents divorced during the HSC and it caused her emotional distress. I don't know whether you can still do that, if that option is still available you should be able to apply for extra points due to Epilepsy.
Good luck with your exams :)
 
Hi! I'm a 19 year old girl whose had epilepsy 6 years and know exactly how you feel! I have 8 different triggers, 5 of which cause exam time issues. Sleep deprivation, staring at computer screens more than an hour, hunger (I used to skip meals to study more), caffine, and just plain stress. The best thing I do is take "power naps". 20 min can make a HUGE difference, especially if you're stressed. Also, don't spend more than 30 min at a time on the same thing. It helps, I promise. I don't know what caffine does to you, but it tends to be a nightmare waiting to happen for many epileptics, so you might want to avoid that temptation. Good luck on your exams!!! :)
 
I think my triggers are practically the same, whenever I get really hungry, tired, been doing work. Anything like that I feel it coming on so I rush to find something to eat even if its just plain bread just so I can say 'crisis averted'
 
If low blood sugar is a trigger, it's a good idea to eat or drink something to give you a quick sugar boost -- like a glass of OJ -- along with something more substantial, in order to avoid crashing. OJ is easily absorbed an can help you more quickly. It can help to eat many small meals throughout the day, rather than a few large ones.
 
Haha I eat like a horse, all my friends always challenge me to eating competitions so I dont think thats a concern. Its more if for some reason I havent eaten yet and I start getting really hungry I start feeling the warning signs I get before a seizure so I try eat anything straight away
 
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