Please do NOT ignore fatigue. I kept placing my constant need to sleep on seizure meds. NOPE, one day I'm sitting and talking to my Epileptologist during a visit and he asked "What's going on with your neck". He noticed a bump, my general physician had been giving me antibiotics after I showed it to her. He gets me to an ENT, Biopsy done and damn it I had a squamous cell carcinoma growing off my right stermastoid muscle. I was so focused on these seizures that had made their way into my life at age 43 I forgot I had more than a brain to worry about. PLEASE GET COMPLETE PHYSICALS EVERY YEAR AND IF YOU NOTICE SOMETHING NEW OR OUT OF THE ORDINARY MAKE ISSUE OF IT. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY.

On top of having epilepsy I also work a 40 hr. work week. Therefore, I experience extreme fatigue a few days each month. One way I combat this is by taking vitamin B12. The other is by sticking to my sleep schedule and not eating junk food.

The BEST advice I heard about battling fatigue, came from a book I read called "LIGHT'S OUT: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival" by T.S.Wiley and Bent Formby

Getting in tune with the circadian rhythm, with the sun and moon, has made a big impact.

Not watching television or looking at screens at least an hour before bed, made an impact also.

What I eat and how I eat seems to make the biggest impact for me though. Dancing in between ketogenic(eating mostly fat, moderate protein, low or no carbs) dieting and using one or two days every so often to "carb up"(eat carbs, moderate protein but avoid fats)...has also helped me.

Sugar is the BIGGEST enemy if you want to avoid fatigue. It boosts your energy for short term but makes you crash long term. Especially refined sugars. Although, ironically perhaps, starting the day with fruit before eating anything else also helped a little- especially apples. Apples wake me up more than coffee.

Physical exertion is also counter-intuitive for me. Seems the harder I push myself sometimes, the better I feel after but that depends A LOT on what part of my diet cycle I am on.

I also couple the diet pattern with intermittent fasting which has also exploded my energy levels during the day. It is pretty simple, roughly 80% of our energy is spent digesting foods we consume. If we eat better, it lightens the load. Eating healthy fats is like brain fuel, also....the brain runs on fat. Getting the right balance is HUGE.

Good Luck Everybody! ! ! ! ! ! !

I find the more active I stay, the less fatigue I feel so I walk two miles or ride 10-20 miles on my bike five times a week.

I find that when I get fatigued I tend to get into a bit of a vicious circle of blaming myself for not having enough energy, getting really tired and various other issues. Even although I know that this does me no good whatsoever - everything and anything is my fault to the point, if I’m very tired, I just end up sobbing because everything is my fault! When I’m well rested I know that this is complete nonsense but I just can’t seem to get a hold on it anymore. Despite the fact that I left school with epilepsy at the age of 17 and went straight into full time work Monday to Friday as well as doing voluntary work all day Saturday. On top of that, I even had a social life! Looking back, I honestly don’t know how I managed. These days, the majority of the time, I’m in bed by 8pm! It’s pathetic. A couple of my friends have told me that I have to stop making things more difficult for myself and if I need a break, don’t feel guilty about having it. I really don’t know the answers anymore. Doesn’t really answer the question - sorry! If I very fatigued I have started taking naps in the afternoon.