A young person’s experience of living with epilepsy

<p>In this first of a podcast series from the <a href= "https://www.medicinesforchildren.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">Medicines for Children</a> team, we speak with Fiona, a young person with epilepsy, and her mum, Karen. It's an honest and lively discussion from their fear at first diagnosis to working out the right medication, to learning to live well with the condition.</p> <p>The Medicines for Children team is pleased to share this first episode in a series of podcasts on epilepsy. With thanks to a grant from the Alison Hillman charitable trust, the podcasts will aim to improve the resources available for young people with epilepsy. </p> <p>We publish this episode just before <a tabindex="93" href= "https://www.purpleday.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Purple Day</a> this Sunday, 26 March, an annual international event dedicated to increasing awareness of epilepsy.</p> <p>Evalyn Usher, a medical student who interned with the Medicines for Children team in summers 2021 and 2022, interviewed Fiona and Karen. Fiona was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 11 years old. Her seizures have no obvious trigger and she's tried different anti-epileptic drugs to manage these, and help her live a full and sociable life. Her mum, Karen was at first worried about the misconceptions and stigma around epilepsy, the 'terrifying seizures' and how the condition would affect her daughter's future. But now she's learned more and what to do. </p> <p>It's a fascinating discussion, and we hope it's both reassuring and inspiring to families. </p> <p><a href= "https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-03/medicines-for-children-podcast-1-transcript.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download transcript</a></p> <p><strong>More about the podcast</strong></p> <p>Fiona was diagnosed with epilepsy at around 11 years of age, which is much later than for some children, and her seizures have no obvious trigger – Fiona doesn’t know when she is going to have one. Fiona has tried five or six different anti-epileptic drugs