Tim Ulmer

When a neurologist told my parents in 1970 that I was epileptic, he assured them it was nothing to be concerned about, despite the fact he was prescribing a strong...

In the nearly 60 years that I've had epilepsy, I've been able to identify a lot of triggers. But besides the usual – i.e., being negligent in taking my medicine...

After half a century on medications to control my epilepsy, I've had enough "cocktails" to stump a bartender! Haha! Kidding aside, no mixture of medications or juggling the amounts or...

A new friend of mine who doesn't have epilepsy but reads my columns replied, "Boy, you've really done a lot of things with epilepsy!" He went further and said that...

Frequently, colleagues at my support group (and plenty of complaints in social media groups I watch) assure me that I'm not alone about getting inadequate support from my family. If a...

Ever spend much time wondering what is your very first memory? My long-term memory is exceptional even if my medications aggravate my short-term. But since many early memories include my...

I'd experienced all of epilepsy's weapons for nearly 40 years – lost jobs, car wrecks, humiliating pharmaceutical side effects, broken romances. But in 2002, I was engrossed in a "reconstruction...

I grew up in Sullivan, Illinois, a small farm town which obviously limits the number of prospective friends. The smaller the town, the mightier the reign achievable by individual bullies...

"All we have to fear is fear itself," spoken by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, America's commander-in-chief during World War II. Wise words to follow when neurologists diagnose someone with epilepsy. Their...

I would argue that getting plenty of sleep is perhaps the single greatest of all things you can do to control your epilepsy. My greatest improvement in the reduction of...

Nothing in my life has been as terrifying as when I didn't know if I'd hit someone with my car during an epileptic seizure and then drove off. Hit and...

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work," Thomas Edison once said about his quest to invent the light bulb. Good words. The more experiences I...

Many people worried about what epilepsy will do to loving relationships, but I think the majority are very genuine with the marital vow, "In sickness and in health." Actually, for...

Nothing – and I repeat nothing – has provoked more hatred from me than a particular restriction that was imposed upon me because of epilepsy. Likewise, nothing has aroused the...

"What does it feel like to have an epileptic seizure?" People have asked me that and I've returned them glances probably like I thought they were morons. Isn’t it simple?...

My mom had a nickname for me during my teen years, but she didn’t mean it in a doting way: "Dr. David Banner." Some of you are familiar with that...

There's a job opportunity for the epileptic community with the nation's drought of teachers – and substitute teachers. From all the people I've gotten to know, I think that a...

Mathematics was my worst subject in school, but let me show you what appears to be a cool algebra formula for life: (S x T = P) (P + L)...

I've been epileptic for 57 years, but it wasn't until social media blossomed that I came to know so many other people with epilepsy! It wasn't until the 21st century...

There are plenty of people like me, who if they don't make a determined effort to laugh and mix with others, can easily feel themselves swapped into a cold, dark...