Going home after your visit
After a first seizure (fit)
Simple safety advice to follow at home until you have been seen by a specialist.
You have had a seizure (a fit). You will be referred for tests to find out why it happened. Until you have been seen, please follow this safety advice — some everyday activities carry more risk after a seizure.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
this Emergency Department your nearest A&E other:
none needed
Call 999 straight away if any of these happen
These can be signs of a more serious problem and need help urgently.
- A seizure lasting more than 5 minutes
- One fit straight after another, with no recovery between
- Trouble breathing after the fit stops
- A serious injury during the fit
- Someone has their first-ever seizure
- They do not wake up properly afterwards
CALL 999 if you are too unwell to get to hospital, or someone collapses or has a fit.
Staying safe until you are seen
- You must stop driving and tell the DVLA — this is the law, even if you feel fine.
- Take showers, not baths, and do not lock the bathroom door.
- Do not swim alone.
- Take care near heights, roads, fire and machinery.
- Tell someone close to you what to do if it happens again.
If someone has a seizure
- Cushion their head and move hard objects away.
- Do not hold them down or put anything in their mouth.
- Time how long the fit lasts.
- Once it stops, roll them onto their side.
- Stay with them until they have fully recovered.
How you may feel afterwards
For a short while after a fit it is common to feel:
Very tiredConfusedA sore tongueAching musclesA headache
You may take paracetamol or ibuprofen if you can take them. Rest until you feel back to normal.
If you have another seizure
- Stay calm and note the time the seizure starts — how long it lasts matters.
- Move anything hard or sharp out of the way and cushion the head. Do not restrain them and do not put anything in the mouth.
- Once the jerking stops, roll them onto their side in the recovery position and check they are breathing normally.
- Stay with them until they are fully awake and know where they are.
- Call 999 if the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes, another starts before they recover, they are injured, or they do not wake up properly.
- If it stops quickly and they recover fully, they still need to be seen the same day — but this does not always need an ambulance.
Specialist assessment and follow-up
- You should be seen by a specialist within 2 weeks of a first seizure — the ED team will refer you to the local first-fit service.
- Take someone with you who saw what happened, or a phone video if one was taken. This is often the most useful part of the assessment.
- Do not drive until the DVLA rules have been explained to you. A first seizure means a minimum period off driving, and it is your responsibility to tell the DVLA.
- Until you have been assessed, avoid swimming alone, bathing alone (shower instead), working at heights, and operating machinery.
- Avoid the things that make a seizure more likely: missed sleep, heavy alcohol, and recreational drugs.
Where to get help
999
Life-threatening emergency, or a severe breathing or circulation problem
ED / urgent service
A warning sign above that needs same-day reassessment
111
Urgent advice when it is not life-threatening, or you are unsure — call or visit 111.nhs.uk, 24/7
Your team / GP
Use the number and follow-up plan in Your care details above