What does a seizure feel like?

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.

What does a seizure physically feel like?

Some people have nausea or unusual feelings that are difficult to describe. These seizures may also result in difficulty speaking, involuntary jerking of a body part, such as an arm or a leg, and spontaneous sensory symptoms such as tingling, dizziness and seeing flashing lights.

How do I know if I had a seizure or not?

Electroencephalogram (EEG) – Using electrodes attached to your head, your doctors can measure the electrical activity in your brain. This helps to look for patterns to determine if and when another seizure might occur, and it can also help them rule out other possibilities.

What does a mini seizure feel like?

Simple focal seizures: They change how your senses read the world around you: They can make you smell or taste something strange, and may make your fingers, arms, or legs twitch. You also might see flashes of light or feel dizzy. You're not likely to lose consciousness, but you might feel sweaty or nauseated.

Can you feel when you have a seizure?

Basically, those feel like a big electric jolt to my mind and body, and my body jerks - or spasms - and I have no control of it. They usually come in clusters, almost like hiccups. I often describe them to people as being like when their foot jerks when they are trying to go to sleep.

Seizures

Does a seizure hurt?

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.

Are seizures scary?

When most people think of seizures, they think of someone unconscious and convulsing. This type of seizure – known as a grand mal seizure – is the kind of seizure portrayed often in television and movies, and it's not hard to figure out why: It looks dramatic and scary.

Can you hear during a seizure?

This type of seizure affects your consciousness. During a focal impaired-awareness seizure, you may not be able to move, talk, or hear as you did before. You may also not be able to remember the event. Focal impaired-awareness seizures can last for up to 2 minutes .

What can trigger a seizure?

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.

Can anxiety cause seizures?

If you have already been diagnosed with epilepsy then yes, anxiety can cause seizures. Severe stress is a very common seizure trigger, and those with severe anxiety often experience severe stress. However, it should be noted that this is far more common with those who already have epilepsy.

Is it OK to sleep after a seizure?

After the seizure: they may feel tired and want to sleep. It might be helpful to remind them where they are. stay with them until they recover and can safely return to what they had been doing before.

What is a simple seizure?

Overview. A partial (focal) seizure happens when unusual electrical activity affects a small area of the brain. When the seizure does not affect awareness, it is known as a simple partial seizure.

Can stress cause a seizure?

Emotional stress also can lead to seizures. Emotional stress is usually related to a situation or event that has personal meaning to you. It may be a situation in which you feel a loss of control. In particular, the kind of emotional stress that leads to most seizures is worry or fear.

How long does a seizure last?

Although seizures seem to last a long time, they usually last less than 3 minutes. A seizure can be scary to watch, especially if you've never seen one before. A seizure temporarily interferes with muscle control, movement, speech, vision, or awareness.

What happens to your body during a seizure?

During a seizure, there is a sudden intense burst of electricity that disrupts how the brain usually works. This activity can happen on one small part of the brain and last for just a couple of seconds, or it can spread right across the brain and keep going for many minutes.

Do people remember seizures?

In focal aware seizures (FAS), previously called simple partial seizures, the person is conscious (aware and alert) and will usually know that something is happening and will remember the seizure afterwards. Some people find their focal aware seizures hard to put into words.

How do you feel after a seizure?

During the postictal period, you may be sleepy. You may have problems with vision or speech, and may have a bad headache, fatigue, or body aches. Not all of these phases occur in everyone with this type of seizure.

Should I go to the hospital if I have a seizure?

Most seizures last between 30 seconds and two minutes and will not require any emergency medical attention. However, if someone is experiencing a seizure that lasts longer than two minutes, or they lose consciousness and it does not come back right after the seizure, you should call 911 right away.

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.

At what age can you get a seizure?

Seizures are bursts of electrical activity in the brain that temporarily affect how it works. They can cause a wide range of symptoms. Epilepsy can start at any age, but usually starts either in childhood or in people over 60. It's often lifelong, but can sometimes get slowly better over time.

Can you survive a seizure?

Some people eventually outgrow seizures, or go years in between seizures. The key to managing attacks is understanding your risk and taking steps to avoid common triggers. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, with treatment, nearly 6 out of 10 people living with epilepsy will become seizure-free within a few years .

What are the 4 types of seizures?

There are four main types of epilepsy: focal, generalized, combination focal and generalized, and unknown. A person's seizure type determines what kind of epilepsy they have. Different types of seizures affect the brain in different ways.

What to do if you have a seizure for the first time?

The type of seizure depends on the cause. If you have a seizure for the first time, get medical attention as soon as possible. A healthcare professional can help determine the underlying cause and provide a treatment plan, if needed.

How long are you confused after a seizure?

More than 70% of people with epilepsy report post-ictal (after-seizure) complications, including confusion, fear, exhaustion, headache, emotional reactivity, memory problems and behavioral changes. Some last an hour; others can last for days.