Treating Epilepsy

When you’re diagnosed with epilepsy, we understand that you may wonder how it will affect your ability to work, drive and participate in other activities. We provide highly advanced care along with compassionate support to help you manage your condition and live well.

Why Choose Us for Your Epilepsy Care?

With the right treatment and support, many people with epilepsy can live with a limited effect on their daily lives. Providence offers leading-edge treatment – and hope – to patients with epilepsy. Learn why so many people choose us for their care.

At Providence, we take a team approach to treating your epilepsy. Our epilepsy doctors collaborate with other experts to find the right treatment for you. This means you don’t have to travel outside your region to see other specialists. Our epilepsy doctors nurture a long-term relationship with you to help control your seizures and manage your care. In many cases, you can conveniently check in with your team through video appointments.

Our epilepsy doctors have fellowship training and are board-certified. This means you can trust that you’re getting the best care. We also work closely with your other doctors, like obstetricians if you’re pregnant or thinking about having a baby, to make sure we take care of all your health needs. Providence also has special units to monitor patients with hard-to-treat seizures. In these inpatient centers, you meet with a team of experts to address all parts of life affected by seizures. Your team could include neurologists, neurosurgeons, technologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, case managers and social workers.

We partner with the national Epilepsy Foundation and various regional organizations to help support our patients and their families. These partnerships provide access to educational resources, tools to help manage your seizures and a clinical board of experts that shares the newest treatments and research. You can also join support groups to connect with fellow patients with epilepsy and share your stories and successes.

At Providence, we are committed to providing access to the best epilepsy care across our diverse community. We respect and support the racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual and spiritual identities of our patients. We offer location-specific translation services for non-English-speaking patients, telehealth opportunities and help with transportation. In keeping with our Mission, Providence also offers financial assistance programs that provide free and low-cost care to those who are eligible.

As a patient at Providence, you benefit from one of the largest networks of neuroscience experts in the country. We have award-winning physicians, including renowned epilepsy doctors, scientists and researchers. Our network includes 51 hospitals in seven states. It’s one of the reasons we care for patients with epilepsy through more than 10,000 appointments every year.

Patient Stories

“It’s been about six months seizure-free [after brain surgery at Providence]. Every day I wake up and say, ‘Today is a great day.’”

Tiffany Costello

More About Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes seizures. They occur when the electrical signals in the brain are disrupted or don’t work properly.

Seizures may cause uncontrolled muscle movements, loss of awareness, stiffness in the body or even unconsciousness. Some people with epilepsy have seizures that are triggered by certain events or circumstances, such as lack of sleep, stress, fever, and flashing lights or patterns. For others, seizures are unpredictable. With the right treatment and support, many people with epilepsy can live with limited disruption.

Types of Epilepsy We Treat

  • Genetics-based epilepsy disorders
  • Idiopathic generalized epilepsy
  • Localization-related epilepsy
  • Post-stroke/post-TBI epilepsy
  • Primary generalized epilepsy

Testing and Diagnostics

Doctor talking to patient

Your neurological team will use the most advanced methods to diagnose your epilepsy. These may include one or more of the following:

  • Electroencephalogram (EEG)
  • Epilepsy monitoring unit
  • Long-term monitoring

Personalized Treatment for Epilepsy

No two patients are the same. This is why your care team works with you to create a treatment plan based specifically on the type of epilepsy you have and your symptoms. Treatment may include one or more of the following:

  • Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
  • Management with anti-seizure medications (ASM)
  • Responsive neurostimulation (RNS)
  • Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)

Find Neurological Care Close to You

Meet the Team

At Providence, you'll have access to a vast network of dedicated and compassionate providers who offer personalized care by focusing on treatment, prevention and health education.