What's the difference between a seizure and a grand mal seizure?

A grand mal seizure causes a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions. It's the type of seizure most people picture when they think about seizures. A grand mal seizure — also known as a generalized tonic-clonic seizure — is caused by abnormal electrical activity throughout the brain.

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.

How serious is a grand mal seizure?

It is possible that a person may sustain a life threatening injury while having a seizure. Also, having a severe, long lasting seizure may prevent enough oxygen from reaching a person's brain, possibly leading to death.

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.

Is grand mal a type of seizure?

Tonic-clonic seizures, formerly known as grand mal seizures, comprise two stages: a tonic phase and a clonic phase. These intense seizures can be frightening to experience or observe, as extreme muscle spasms may temporarily arrest breathing.

Seizures (Generalised)

What triggers a grand mal seizure?

Usually, a grand mal seizure is caused by epilepsy. But sometimes, this type of seizure can be triggered by other health problems, such as extremely low blood sugar, a high fever or a stroke.

How long does it take to recover from a grand mal seizure?

grand mal usually 4-5 a month. recovery time is dependent on many factors.

What is the best medication for grand mal seizures?

What happens to your brain when you have 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.

Can grand mal seizures cause death?

If you're at risk, you can take steps to help prevent a fatal seizure. While still low, the likelihood of dying from a seizure is higher in people who have a history of frequent, uncontrollable seizures, as well as those who have a history of tonic-clonic seizures (sometimes called grand mal seizures).

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.

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.

What does a seizure feel like in your head?

You're not likely to lose consciousness, but you might feel sweaty or nauseated. Complex focal seizures: These usually happen in the part of your brain that controls emotion and memory. You may lose consciousness but still look like you're awake, or you may do things like gag, smack your lips, laugh, or cry.

Can stress cause seizures?

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.

What is the life expectancy of a person with seizures?

Reduction in life expectancy can be up to 2 years for people with a diagnosis of idiopathic/cryptogenic epilepsy, and the reduction can be up to 10 years in people with symptomatic epilepsy. Reductions in life expectancy are highest at the time of diagnosis and diminish with time.

Do all seizures show up on MRI?

Does epilepsy show up on MRI scans? No, not necessarily. An MRI scan can help your doctor understand some of the possible underlying structural causes of your seizures. However, for many people there is no structural cause behind their epilepsy and so the brain scan comes back 'normal'.

Do you need to go to hospital after 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.

What do you do after a grand mal seizure?

Stay with the person until the seizure ends and he or she is fully awake. After it ends, help the person sit in a safe place. Once they are alert and able to communicate, tell them what happened in very simple terms. Comfort the person and speak calmly.

What foods should you avoid if you have epilepsy?

white bread; non-wholegrain cereals; biscuits and cakes; honey; high-sugar drinks and foods; fruit juices; chips; mashed potatoes; parsnips; dates and watermelon. In general, processed or overcooked foods and over-ripe fruits.

What medication stops a seizure immediately?

The names of benzodiazepines that are most commonly used as rescue medications include diazepam, lorazepam, clonazepam, and midazolam. The availability of these medicines in different forms and how they are used may vary from country to country.

Can high blood pressure cause a grand mal seizure?

Results: Severe uncontrolled hypertension increased the risk of unprovoked seizure. Left ventricular hypertrophy without diuretic treatment was associated with an 11-fold increased risk of unprovoked seizure: left ventricular hypertrophy treated with diuretics did not increase the risk.

Can you feel a seizure coming on?

Prodrome: Some people may experience feelings, sensations, or changes in behavior hours or days before a seizure. These feelings are generally not part of the seizure, but may warn a person that a seizure may come.

Should you let someone 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 are three symptoms of a grand mal seizure?

Tonic-clonic symptoms of grand mal seizures

Incontinence (loss of control of urine or stools) Loss of consciousness. Muscle contraction of the entire body (tonic phase, which usually lasts several seconds) Muscle twitching, spasms, or seizures of the entire body (clonic phase, which may last for a few minutes)

What part of the brain is affected by grand mal seizures?

Tonic-clonic seizures, previously known as grand mal seizures, are characterized by both stiffness and jerking motions. A generalized tonic-clonic seizure is a disturbance in the functioning of both sides of your brain.