“No John…I’m not proud of or happy to have epilepsy, I’m not going to celebrate having this awful, restrictive condition that negatively impacts not just my life, but the lives of millions worldwide. Do you think that I should celebrate it if I had, for instance, a limb amputation? I don’t understand…!” 😂

Now, pills taste gross, full-stop. Why do they have to be so bitter?! Anyway, rarely these days do I ever experience the detestable “flavour” of medications.. I knock them back like a croc…

It turned out, very, unfortunately, that Joe’s mum had had a brain tumour. But, due to marvellous treatment, all of the tumour was gone (well, fingers crossed) and she just had to take some Anti-Seizure Medications. Oh. The joyful epilepsy rears its ugly head…

The focus of my lab is working on finding new treatments for epilepsy, both genetic and acquired epilepsy. As for my background, I am a biotechnologist. I studied in Milan Biotechnology, and then I did a master's in Vienna, both in Italy, on Medical Biotechnology. Then I did also my Ph.D. in Experimental Neuroscience in Italy.

Research into epilepsy excites me.

I’ve always loved the sciences, but, understandably, I grew a particular interest in neurology and neuroscience. I wasn’t able to study both at school, let alone at university: the negative impacts of anti-seizure medications (ASMs), seizures themselves, and mental health comorbidities on my cognitive function were just too much.

Deirdre* felt a need to announce that she’d experienced her first, self-diagnosed; nocturnal, tonic-clonic, epileptic seizure. I can comprehend why she self-diagnosed, but doing so isn’t useful. It’s potentially dangerous.

Have you ever met someone who truly believed that they were an expert in their field, but who you found to be relatively uneducated* on the topic in question?

It can be ourselves, a politician, a family member, a colleague, some random from Facebook...

I’m talking about The Dunning-Kruger effect; a cognitive bias hypothesis described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger.

Plants are incredible for improving mood. I personally discovered this by chance. 7 years ago I was very unwell, but I purchased a few plants. All I can say is: “Wow”. Back then and to this day, they have continued to help me chill, distract me from awful thoughts, and give me focus.

It’s important to recognise that we should not define people by their title or their profession. After all, we meet people of the same job title (whether that be doctor, cleaner, plumber, blogger (!), or whatever), some of whom we like, and some of whom we think: “urgh”.

Loads of illnesses can cause lethargy. With epilepsy, it’s not the diagnosis itself that causes it, but the seizures, the medications, and often the all-too-common comorbidities including sleep disorders and psychiatric illnesses.

As soon as I started Anti-Epileptic Drugs (AEDs), overnight I went from being an energised sprinter to a ghost who attempted eyelid-opening.

This week on the podcast we are talking about Sodium Valproate, aka Epilim, its feature in the UK Government's "Cumberlege Review", and why it has been called a "public health scandal" by some.

You'll find it referred to mainly as Valproate in this podcast. I shall be talking with Dr. Jim Morrow, a former Neurologist from Ireland, with whom I did a live video interview a few weeks ago (check it out on my YouTube page if you haven't already!).

I used to drink. I wasn’t supposed to drink because of my epilepsy. I knew that I wouldn’t sleep well afterward and really knew that I might as well scream from the rooftops "Give me a seizure, darling!”.

The night before last I had an epileptic seizure. It was the first focal-aware seizure that I’d had in a few months, and I was scared. Hey, the seizure could have been heaps worse, but I was scared that it would develop into a tonic-clonic seizure.

I admit it: I’m a bit of a plant fiend. My love of plants started 6 years ago, shortly after my brain surgery and stint in psychiatric hospital (joyous times). I commend my incredible friend Helen for my introduction to plants - who upon discharge suggested that I get plants to make my new home more welcoming.

Time and again, week after week, I hear of comments such as “You have no reason to be depressed”, or “You should count yourself lucky, look at the starving children out there.”. Now, this is nuts and a clear expression of ignorance.

Sometimes people presume: “She’s typed this piece, she is fine!”. Do you know that many people with mental illnesses can appear fine one moment and quite the opposite the next?

I was still only half-dressed when I started walking down the corridor in only my underwear. It wasn’t until I was about to enter the classroom that I came out of the seizure. 

People with epilepsy, mental health issues, and pretty much any medical condition or disease can find a social media group out there regarding it. But…

On Facebook, I witness competitions between those with epilepsy for how much medication they take. Sometimes it’s regarding the number of…