A woman with epilepsy – who is fed up of being thought of as drunk – is campaigning for more awareness of the condition.

Nicole Boren, 33, from Timsbury was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 14.

She is supporting the Take Epilepsy Action campaign to raise awareness of epilepsy and the difficulties of living with the condition.

Nicole said: "Not enough is known about epilepsy – most think it is just people falling to the floor and shaking.

"People have been awful, thinking I'm lazy and that I am drunk and drugged up due to the amount of medication I have to take.

"Being a hidden condition, it is also a huge problem, as I am not missing a limb or bound to a wheelchair people assume there is nothing wrong with me. The public need to be told so much more."

Nicole suffers from seizures and lives in an adapted flat with a carer.

She is unable to hold down a full-time job and currently does voluntary work at the Citizens Advice Bureau.

She said: "When I left school I did voluntary work for a while but problems arose because of my health.

"I went to university to train to be a PE teacher but I had to leave.

"I am currently doing Voluntary work at CAB, they are a wonderful organisation and have been very kind to me with my health."

The Take Epilepsy Action campaign was launched by charity Epilepsy Action to help people recognise different kinds of seizures and to know what to do.

Campaigns manager Aimee Gee said: "It is worrying that such a large percentage of the British public doesn't know how to deal with seizures.

"Clearly the lack of public understanding of seizures is having an impact on people with the condition, who are anxious about having seizures away from home.

"It would make a huge difference to people with epilepsy if the general public could recognise different kinds of seizure and knew what to do to help.

"We want people to see that dealing with seizures is something that anyone can do and that everyone can learn."

The charity is giving away thousands of free wallet-sized ACTION cards carrying first aid information. People can order their cards by calling the Epilepsy Helpline on 0808 800 5050. For more information visit www.epilepsy.org.uk.