Is it normal to turn blue during a seizure?

Yes, people usually turn blue or red or purple (cyanosis) during a tonic-clonic seizure. This reflects the anoxia that is present (lack of oxygen). This anoxia acts as a stimulus to restart the breathing and needs no human intervention.

Can your lips turn blue during a seizure?

During the seizure, your child's lips may become tinted blue and his or her breathing may not be normal. After the seizure, your child may be sleepy or confused. The symptoms of a seizure may be like those of other health conditions.

How do you know if a seizure is serious?

Generally speaking, a generalized tonic-clonic seizure lasting 5 minutes or longer is a medical emergency. If seizures can't be stopped or repeated seizures occur one right after another, permanent injury or death can occur.

Can seizures cause cyanosis?

Apnea and cyanosis are common during tonic–clonic seizures and prolonged tonic seizures. Brief apnea occurs during many complex partial seizures (3,18).

What is a color seizure?

Photosensitive epilepsy is when seizures are triggered by flashing lights or contrasting light and dark patterns. Photosensitive epilepsy is not common but it may be diagnosed when you have an EEG test. Flashing or patterned effects can make people with or without epilepsy feel disorientated, uncomfortable or unwell.

How to help if someone has a tonic clonic seizure - Epilepsy Action Employer Toolkit

What can cause seizures out of the blue?

Anything that interrupts the normal connections between nerve cells in the brain can cause a seizure. This includes a high fever, high or low blood sugar, alcohol or drug withdrawal, or a brain concussion.

What can trigger a seizure?

How long can a seizure last before brain damage?

A seizure that lasts longer than 5 minutes, or having more than 1 seizure within a 5 minutes period, without returning to a normal level of consciousness between episodes is called status epilepticus. This is a medical emergency that may lead to permanent brain damage or death.

What does an autonomic seizure look like?

Autonomic Seizures – These seizures are accompanied by autonomic symptoms or signs, such as abdominal discomfort or nausea, which may rise into the throat (epigastric rising), cause stomach pain, the rumbling sounds of gas moving in the intestines (borborygmi), belching, flatulence and vomiting.

What is a head drop seizure?

Atonic seizures are a type of seizure that causes sudden loss of muscle strength. These seizures are also called akinetic seizures, drop attacks or drop seizures. The sudden lack of muscle strength, or tone, can cause the person to fall to the ground. The person usually remains conscious, and may not always fall down.

What are the 3 main phases of a seizure?

Seizures take on many different forms and have a beginning (prodrome and aura), middle (ictal) and end (post-ictal) stage.

What does a grand mal seizure look like?

Jerking movements affect the face, arms and legs, becoming intense and rapid. After one to three minutes, the jerking movements slow down and the body relaxes, sometimes including the bowel or bladder. The person may let out a deep sigh and return to more normal breathing.

Can seizures cause brain damage?

Most types of seizures do not cause damage to the brain. However, having a prolonged, uncontrolled seizure can cause harm. Because of this, treat any seizure lasting over 5 minutes as a medical emergency.

What happens to breathing during seizure?

During a tonic-clonic or grand mal seizure (think convulsive seizure), it may look like the person has stopped breathing. This is because the chest muscles tighten during the tonic or “stiffening” part of seizure. The person will usually start breathing on his or her own after the seizure.

When should you call 911 for a seizure?

Seizures do not always require urgent care. But call 911 or other emergency services right away if: The person having a seizure stops breathing for longer than 30 seconds. After calling 911 or other emergency services, begin rescue breathing.

What does a non epileptic seizure look like?

Non- epileptic seizures may appear to be generalized convulsions, similar to grand mal epileptic seizures, characterized by fall- ing and shaking. They also may resemble petit mal epileptic seizures, or complex partial seizures, characterized by tem- porary loss of attention, staring into space or dozing off.

What are the symptoms of a focal seizure?

What does your heart rate do during a seizure?

The electrical activity in the brain during a seizure can also change our pulse and usually causes an increase in heart rate. However, during some seizures, the heart can slow or even stop temporarily, which is referred to as ictal asystole.

What happens to blood pressure during a seizure?

Focal seizures, with or without impaired awareness, were associated with a seizure-related rise in systemic blood pressure with a parallel increase in heart rate. The time course of the blood pressure and heart rate changes were similar and proportional to the severity and duration of focal seizures.

Are seizures painful?

In general, the actual experience of having a seizure does not hurt. Pain during seizures is rare . Some types of seizures make you lose consciousness.

Can you go into a coma after a seizure?

Repeated seizures can prevent the brain from recovering in between seizures. This will cause prolonged unconsciousness and coma.

Can you survive a seizure alone?

By taking care of your overall well-being and making lifestyle changes to lower the risk of seizure, you can live safely and independently with epilepsy.

What is the most serious type of seizure?

Tonic-clonic seizures.

Tonic-clonic seizures, previously known as grand mal seizures, are the most dramatic type of epileptic seizure and can cause an abrupt loss of consciousness, body stiffening and shaking, and sometimes loss of bladder control or biting your tongue. They may last for several minutes.

What can make seizures worse?

What does a seizure look like?

Seizures symptoms vary and can include a sudden change in awareness or full loss of consciousness, unusual sensations or thoughts, involuntary twitching or stiffness in the body or severe stiffening and limb shaking with loss of consciousness (a convulsion.)