Introduction to Lad Chat
If you’re a teenage boy with epilepsy, you might have all sorts of questions about how epilepsy could affect your health. Will you go through puberty at the same time as your friends? Will you be OK when you have sex? Will you be able to have children? Will they inherit your epilepsy?
In this section, we’ll try to answer your questions. If you still have some unanswered questions, here’s a list of ways you can find out more.
- Ask Debbie or Danny, our agony aunt and uncle for young people with epilepsy
- Text your question to an epilepsy adviser – 07797 805 390
- Send an email to an epilepsy adviser – helpline@epilepsy.org.uk
- Speak to someone on the Epilepsy Helpline, freephone 0808 800 5050 (if you live in the UK) or +44 113 210 8850 (if you live outside the UK). Your call will be totally confidential.
- Speak to your doctor or epilepsy nurse
- Send a tweet to @epilepsyadvice
Remember, no question is silly. It’s your life and you have a right to know how epilepsy might affect it.
Puberty
Puberty is when your body starts to change from a child to an adult. Your body begins to produce sex hormones, causing your body to change. For example, your voice gets deeper, you start to grow hair on your face and other parts of your body and your penis and balls grow. You might also feel stronger emotions and have mood swings.
Most boys begin puberty between the ages of 10 and 15, but some start earlier and some later – everyone grows and changes at different rates.
Can my epilepsy affect puberty?
Having epilepsy doesn’t usually affect puberty. If you had epilepsy as a child, there’s a chance you’ll start puberty a bit later than some of your friends. There’s more chance of this if you take (or have taken) more than one type of anti-epileptic drug.
If you haven’t shown any signs of starting puberty by the time you’re 15, have a talk to your doctor. They’ll look into the possible reasons for this.
Can puberty cause epilepsy?
Puberty itself doesn’t cause epilepsy. However, some epilepsy syndromes usually begin during your teenage years. A syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that, added together, suggest a particular medical condition.
Epilepsy syndromes that may begin during teenage years include [juvenile myoclonic epilepsy] and juvenile absence epilepsy.
Sex
Many people with epilepsy have normal sexual relationships. But, it’s not unusual to worry that your epilepsy might affect your sex life. We hope this information will help.
Before starting a sexual relationship
It’s not unusual to worry that you’ll have a seizure while you’re having sex. The fact is, you’re no more likely to have a seizure during sex than at any other time.
It’s important that you don’t feel stressed or worried about having sex. Stress and worry might make you more likely to have a seizure.
Sexual problems
Most of us have problems with sex at some time in our life. Problems can include having little interest in sex or finding it difficult to get and keep an erection. Common causes of sexual problems for men include stress, tiredness, illness and alcohol. If you have epilepsy and are having problems with your sex life, there could be some other reasons why. Here are some examples.
• Your own feelings about your epilepsy might make you lose interest in sex.
• You may be taking certain anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) which can cause some men to have less interest in sex.
• You might have lower levels of the sex hormone testosterone than other men. This could be due to epilepsy itself or some AEDs.
Becoming a dad
If the time comes that you decide you want to be a dad, there’s lots to think about. For example, will epilepsy affect your chances of getting your partner pregnant? Will your children inherit your epilepsy?
Make sure that you check out our information about becoming a dad on our web pages for men with epilepsy.