In this chapter, the author shares her personal experience and perspective on what it has been like to live with epilepsy. The author explains how she navigated the medical system, the questions she asked and how she become an effective self-advocate. Women who are coping with seizure disorders are making decisions and living their lives without adequate information, sometimes with false information and, all too often, with fear. Everyone who takes medication for epilepsy has concerns about possible side effects. Besides the visible side effects of various antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), there are two areas in which women may have epilepsy-related fears. The first is child-bearing and raising. The second area of concern is that of physical safety, especially the risk of sexual assault during, or just after, a seizure. In the author's view, taking responsibility for one's own well-being is essential to living well as a woman with epilepsy.

This chapter discusses some of the sexual symptoms experienced by some people with epilepsy and reviews appropriate diagnostic tests and treatments. To help understand why sexual life might be impacted by epilepsy, it discusses the biology of sexuality. Sexual dysfunction may arise in as many as one-third to one-half of men and women with epilepsy. The dysfunction appears to occur because of disruption to the brain regions controlling sexual behavior, disturbance of the hormones supporting sexual behavior, and the effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Specific therapies can be directed toward specific sexual problems. Treatment will focus on seizure control, including alternative medications and the provision of directed therapies, which may include biofeedback, behavioral medicine techniques, newer medications to improve physiological sexual arousal, and more traditional couple or individual counseling. In sexual therapy, couples practice sexual exercises according to a schedule established by the therapist.