

You may want to avoid situations where a seizure could cause serious harm, such as swimming or traveling alone. For example, you may no longer be able to drive. People with epilepsy typically have more physical issues, such as bruising and fractures, than people without the condition.īeing prone to seizures may also affect your quality of life. This can lead to falls and other movements that can result in injury. Some seizures can cause you to lose total control of your body. These can range from a drop in quality of life to increased risks of mental health conditions. Living with epilepsy and experiencing repeated seizures can have both short- and long-term effects. Learn more about what a seizure feels like here. losing control of bladder or bowel function.making unusual noises, such as grunting.losing consciousness, followed by confusion.Signs that indicate a seizure is in progress include: a jerky movement of the arms and legs that may cause you to drop things.a feeling of being sick to your stomach.a sudden feeling of fear or anxiousness.Sometimes symptoms occur before the seizure takes place. The symptoms can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes per episode. You can experience both focal and generalized seizures simultaneously, or one can happen before the other. In these instances, they will define the seizure as an unknown onset seizure. This often means there’s insufficient evidence for medical professionals to diagnose the root cause of a seizure.

For example, someone may wake up in the middle of the night and observe their partner having a seizure. Sometimes no one witnesses the beginning of a seizure. People may refer to these seizures as drop attacks. Atonic seizures are brief, lasting about 15 seconds. Your head may nod, or your entire body could fall to the ground. During atonic seizures your muscles suddenly go limp. Other people may mistakenly think you’re daydreaming. They can cause you to blink repeatedly or stare into space. Absence seizures last for only a few seconds. People may also refer to these as petit mal seizures. Myoclonic seizures may be of generalized onset as well as focal onset. These are typically too short lived to affect consciousness and pass quickly. During a myoclonic seizure you may experience sudden muscle spasms. Tonic-clonic seizures include a combination of both tonic and clonic symptoms. You will likely lose consciousness during these seizures that can last for a few minutes. The convulsions in clonic seizures may cause abnormal, jerky movements of your limbs. Tonic seizures will result in your muscles stiffening up. Among the more common types of generalized onset seizures are:

These seizures start in both sides of the brain simultaneously. This type of seizure typically affects a larger portion of the brain than focal aware seizures. You may also not be able to remember the event.įocal impaired-awareness seizures can last for up to 2 minutes. During a focal impaired-awareness seizure, you may not be able to move, talk, or hear as you did before. This type of seizure affects your consciousness. For this reason, people often refer to them as warnings or auras. The symptoms of a focal aware seizure will depend on which part of the brain the seizure starts.įocal aware seizures may be singular events but can also develop into other types of seizures. Focal aware seizureĭuring a focal aware seizure, you’ll remain fully conscious and be aware that something is happening, even if you do not recognize it as a seizure. Medical professionals typically split focal onset seizures into two types: focal aware seizures and focal awareness-impaired seizures. People may also refer to these as partial seizures.įocal onset seizures can start in small areas of the brain, such as a single lobe, but can affect large areas. Focal onset seizuresįocal onset seizures occur in only one area of the brain. The three major types are focal onset seizures, generalized onset seizures, and unknown onset seizures.
