Where in the body does a seizure start?

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.
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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.
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What are the first signs of a seizure?

Seizure signs and symptoms may include:
  • Temporary confusion.
  • A staring spell.
  • Stiff muscles.
  • Uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs.
  • Loss of consciousness or awareness.
  • Psychological symptoms such as fear, anxiety or deja vu.
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What does your body do before a seizure?

Common symptoms before a seizure:

Déjà vu (a feeling that a person, place or thing is familiar, but you've never experienced it before) Jamais vu (feeling that a person, place or thing is new or unfamiliar, but it's not) Smells. Sounds.
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What are 4 signs of a seizure?

Seizure symptoms may include:
  • Temporary confusion.
  • A staring spell.
  • Jerking movements of the arms and legs that can't be controlled.
  • Loss of consciousness or awareness.
  • Cognitive or emotional changes. They may include fear, anxiety or a feeling that you've already lived this moment, known as deja vu.
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What Happens in Your Brain During a Seizure | WebMD



What does a mini seizure feel like?

A simple partial seizure can cause: a general strange feeling that's hard to describe. a "rising" feeling in your tummy – like the sensation in your stomach when on a fairground ride. a feeling that events have happened before (déjà vu)
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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.
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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.
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What are the 3 signs of a seizure?

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.)
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How do you stop seizures before they happen?

How to Prevent Seizures
  1. Take All Medication as Prescribed. Anti-epileptic medications can be very effective at helping some people reduce or even eliminate seizures. ...
  2. Sleep. ...
  3. Eat Regular Meals. ...
  4. Avoid Alcohol and Drugs. ...
  5. Exercise. ...
  6. Pay Attention to Fevers. ...
  7. Avoid Flashing Lights. ...
  8. Find a Good Neurologist.
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When do seizures typically start?

Epilepsy can begin at any time of life, but it's most commonly diagnosed in children, and people over the age of 65. Some children with epilepsy will outgrow their seizures as they mature, while others may have seizures that continue into adulthood.
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Can dehydration cause a seizure?

Seizures can result from severe imbalances in electrolytes due to dehydration. Dehydration can reduce the amount of blood in the body, which can put strain on the heart and cause shock. Shock is a dangerous decrease in blood pressure, which can be fatal.
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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, ...
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Can a doctor tell if you've had a seizure?

Tests for diagnosing seizures

If this is your first seizure, your doctor may want to do some scans to look at the structures in your brain. A common form of imaging is MRI. Your doctor may also want to assess how the naturally occurring activity in your brain is functioning. To do this, an EEG is performed.
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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).
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Can an EEG detect past seizures?

An EEG can usually show if you are having a seizure at the time of the test, but it can't show what happens to your brain at any other time. So even though your test results might not show any unusual activity it does not rule out having epilepsy.
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Is a seizure a mini stroke?

In short, no. While a stroke can lead to seizures, seizures don't lead to strokes. But right after someone has a seizure, they can have symptoms that look like a stroke. The medical term for this is Todd's paralysis.
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What does a simple partial seizure look like?

Symptoms of simple partial seizures are: Muscle tightening. Unusual head movements. Blank stares.
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Can you suddenly develop seizures?

Epilepsy and seizures can develop in any person at any age. Seizures and epilepsy are more common in young children and older people. About 1 in 100 people in the U.S. has had a single unprovoked seizure or has been diagnosed with epilepsy.
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What foods to avoid when you have seizures?

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.
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What are 5 things that can cause a seizure?

Causes of seizures can include:
  • Abnormal levels of sodium or glucose in the blood.
  • Brain infection, including meningitis and encephalitis.
  • Brain injury that occurs to the baby during labor or childbirth.
  • Brain problems that occur before birth (congenital brain defects)
  • Brain tumor (rare)
  • Drug abuse.
  • Electric shock.
  • Epilepsy.
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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.
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