You may have:. Blood tests. You may need blood tests often to check the level of medicine in your body. Based on this level, your healthcare provider may change the dose of your medicine.
You may also have blood tests to check the effects of the medicine on your other organs. Urine tests. Your urine may be tested to see how your body is reacting to the medicine. Electroencephalogram EEG. An EEG is a procedure that records the brain's electrical activity.
This is done by attaching electrodes to your scalp. This test is done to see how medicine is helping the electrical problems in your brain. This treatment sends small pulses of energy to the brain from one of the vagus nerves. This is a pair of large nerves in the neck. If you have partial seizures that are not controlled well with medicine, VNS may be an option.
VNS is done by surgically placing a small battery into the chest wall. Small wires are then attached to the battery and placed under the skin and around one of the vagus nerves. The battery is then programmed to send energy impulses every few minutes to the brain. When you feel a seizure coming on, you may activate the impulses by holding a small magnet over the battery.
In many cases, this will help to stop the seizure. VNS can have side effects such as hoarse voice, pain in the throat, or change in voice. Surgery may be done to remove the part of the brain where the seizures are occurring. Or the surgery helps to stop the spread of the bad electrical currents through the brain. Surgery for epilepsy seizures is very complex.
It is done by a specialized surgical team. You may be awake during the surgery. The brain itself does not feel pain. If you are awake and able to follow commands, the surgeons are better able to check areas of your brain during the procedure. Surgery is not an option for everyone with seizures. A seizure occurs when one or more parts of the brain has a burst of abnormal electrical signals that interrupt normal signals. There are many types of seizures. Each can cause different kinds of symptoms.
These range from slight body movements to loss of consciousness and convulsions. Health Home Conditions and Diseases Epilepsy. Focal partial seizures Focal seizures take place when abnormal electrical brain function occurs in one or more areas of one side of the brain. The 2 types of focal seizures include: Simple focal seizure The symptoms depend on which area of the brain is affected. Complex focal seizure This type of seizure often occurs in the area of the brain that controls emotion and memory function temporal lobe.
Generalized seizure A generalized seizure occurs in both sides of the brain. Types of generalized seizures include: Absence seizure This is also called petit mal seizure. Atonic seizure This is also called a drop attack. Generalized tonic-clonic seizure GTC This is also called grand mal seizure. Myoclonic seizure This type of seizure causes quick movements or sudden jerking of a group of muscles.
What causes a seizure? A seizure can be caused by many things. These can include: An imbalance of nerve-signaling brain chemicals neurotransmitters Brain tumor Stroke Brain damage from illness or injury Epilepsy may be caused by a combination of these. The type of seizure, as well as what part of the brain the seizure impacts, affects the recovery period — how long it may last and what may occur during it.
If you or someone you know has seizures and any of the symptoms listed about, know that you are not alone. Contact Our Helpline. The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives. Skip to main content. What Happens During a Seizure? Donate to Support Our Mission Beginning: Some people are aware of the beginning of a seizure, possibly as much as hours or days before it happens.
Prodrome: Some people may experience feelings, sensations, or changes in behavior hours or days before a seizure. Aura: An aura or warning is the first symptom of a seizure and is considered part of the seizure. The aura can also occur alone and may be called a focal onset aware seizure , simple partial seizure or partial seizure without change in awareness.
An aura can occur before a change in awareness or consciousness. Yet, many people have no aura or warning; the seizure starts with a loss of consciousness or awareness. Common symptoms during a seizure.
Common symptoms after a seizure. Mine usually last around 10 seconds but can go longer sometimes. I go into almost a childish state of mind. I never remember what goes on during these. My friends and family have saved me from things like trying to strip my clothes off in the middle of Walmart, trying to walk in front of a truck coming down the road, trying to put my hand in a pan of hot grease, and even more.
I wander around cluelessly even in storms or other situations and can go into dangerous areas if nobody is with me to help. I come back to awareness later knowing nothing about what just happened.
These are also auras. I remember these and am aware during them. I typically feel like my body is reversed, I feel spacey and floaty. A lot of times I say I feel like an astronaut. I can feel myself fading into it, knowing that I cannot stop it, and then later I wake up on the floor and I always know what happened. Destiny helps us see the vast diversity of seizures.
They can range from very mild to severe, and affect your life in different ways. If you know someone that has epilepsy, perhaps it will inspire you to ask about their seizure types, and the challenges they pose, so you are better informed to help. Do you know someone who has epilepsy? See how you can help them in case they have a seizure in your presence.
We do not guarantee that Embrace and the Alert App will detect every single seizure and deliver alerts accordingly.
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