Is a person aware they are having a seizure?

The person is aware of what is happening, and may notice unusual sensations and movements. Focal seizures

Focal seizures

Focal epilepsy is a neurological condition in which the predominant symptom is recurring seizures that affect one hemisphere (half) of the brain.

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Focal Epilepsy | Johns Hopkins Medicine

can evolve into major events that spread to the entire brain and cause tonic-clonic seizures

tonic-clonic seizures

Tonic-clonic seizures involve both tonic (stiffening) and clonic (twitching or jerking) phases of muscle activity. Tonic-clonic seizures may start with a simple partial seizure or aura. The person may experience changes in sensation, mood or emotion leading up to the tonic-clonic seizure.

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Tonic-Clonic (Grand Mal) Seizures | Johns Hopkins Medicine

. These seizures are important to treat and prevent since they can cause respiratory problems and injuries.

Can you be aware during a seizure?

When people have focal aware seizures, they are fully awake, alert, and able to recall events during the seizure. Some are "frozen" during the seizure, so they may or may not be able to respond to others during the seizures. Overall, these seizures are brief, usually lasting less than 2 minutes.

Do you notice when you have a seizure?

People with partial seizures may experience the following signs seconds or minutes before the actual seizure: Unusual smells, tastes, sounds, or sensations. Nausea. A Déjà vu feeling (you feel like you are experiencing something that has occurred before)

What does a person feel when having a seizure?

Some seizures cause the body to jerk and shake (a "fit"), while others cause problems like loss of awareness or unusual sensations. They typically pass in a few seconds or minutes. Seizures can occur when you're awake or asleep. Sometimes they can be triggered by something, such as feeling very tired.

Can someone have a seizure and not know it?

You may not remember the seizure or even know that it occurred. Focal seizures without loss of consciousness. These seizures may alter emotions or change the way things look, smell, feel, taste or sound, but you don't lose consciousness.

A patient's experience with epilepsy

How do you know if someone is having a silent seizure?

An indication of simple absence seizure is a vacant stare, which may be mistaken for a lapse in attention that lasts about 10 seconds, though it may last as long as 20 seconds, without any confusion, headache or drowsiness afterward.

What can be mistaken for a seizure?

Movement disorders such as Tourette's syndrome or other uncontrolled tics are sometimes mistaken for partial seizures. People with Tourette's syndrome may grunt, clear their throats or even curse involuntarily.

What triggers seizures?

Missed medication, lack of sleep, stress, alcohol, and menstruation are some of the most common triggers, but there are many more. Flashing lights can cause seizures in some people, but it's much less frequent than you might imagine.

What would cause a seizure all of a sudden?

Seizures in adults with no seizure history can be caused by a number of factors ranging from high blood pressure, drug abuse and toxic exposures to brain injury, brain infection (encephalitis) and heart disease.

What happens to your body before a seizure?

Often, before experiencing a seizure, someone may experience an “aura.” Auras may cause sensations of strange tastes and smells, nausea, anxiety, or a fluttering feeling, and they can serve as a warning for someone who has endured many previous seizures.

What are the first signs of a seizure coming on?

What strange behavior happens before a seizure?

Some patients may have a feeling of having lived a certain experience in the past, known as “déjà vu.” Other warning signs preceding seizures include daydreaming, jerking movements of an arm, leg, or body, feeling fuzzy or confused, having periods of forgetfulness, feeling tingling or numbness in a part of the body, ...

What are the 4 stages of a seizure?

Can you all of a sudden have a seizure?

A seizure is abnormal electrical activity in the brain that happens quickly. It may go nearly unnoticed. Or, in serious cases, it may cause unconsciousness and convulsions, when your body shakes uncontrollably. Seizures usually come on suddenly.

What are 5 things that can cause a seizure?

Can a doctor tell if you've had a seizure?

High-density EEG

During a high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) test, electrodes are placed on your scalp closely spaced together. Like conventional EEG , high-density EEG records brain activity. A high-density EEG test can help your doctor locate the area in your brain where seizures occur.

Where do most seizures start?

The temporal lobes are the areas of the brain that most commonly give rise to seizures. The mesial portion (middle) of both temporal lobes is very important in epilepsy — it is frequently the source of seizures and can be prone to damage or scarring.

What's happening during a seizure?

A seizure is a medical condition where you have a temporary, unstoppable surge of electrical activity in your brain. When that happens, the affected brain cells uncontrollably fire signals to others around them. This kind of electrical activity overloads the affected areas of your brain.

What is like a seizure but not a seizure?

PNES are attacks that may look like epileptic seizures but are not epileptic and instead are cause by psychological factors. Sometimes a specific traumatic event can be identified. PNES are sometimes referred to as psychogenic events, psychological events, or nonepileptic seizures (NES).

What does an anxiety seizure feel like?

These can include heart palpitations, sweating, trembling and shaking, headaches, dizziness, hot flashes and chills. They are accompanied with a feeling of intense fear. Many of these symptoms can appear similar to epileptic seizures.

Can you talk during a seizure?

Patients with simple partial seizures remain aware and awake throughout the seizure, and some patients can even talk during the episode.

What does a mild seizure look like?

shaking or twitching, either of the entire body or parts of the body. suddenly falling and losing control of motor functions. rapid blinking or twitching in the face. changes in sensory perceptions , such that a person may smell or hear something others do not.

When should you go to the ER for a seizure?

Call 911 or seek emergency medical help for seizures if: A seizure lasts more than five minutes. Someone experiences a seizure for the first time. Person remains unconsciousness after a seizure ends.