The person may experience changes in sensation, mood or emotion leading up to the tonic-clonic seizure. If you are with someone who has a tonic-clonic seizure: Do not put anything in their mouth. Turn them onto their side. Make sure the area around their body is clear of objects that could hurt them.
Time the seizure. Treatment for tonic-clonic seizures can involve medication, surgery, nerve stimulation, dietary therapy or a combination of these approaches. The seizure may start with a simple or complex partial seizure known as an aura.
The person may experience abnormal sensations such as a particular smell, vertigo, nausea, or anxiety. If the person is familiar with having seizures, they may recognize the warning signs of a seizure about to begin. When the tonic-clonic seizure begins, the person loses consciousness and may fall.
Strong tonic spasms of the muscles can force air out of the lungs, resulting in a cry or moan, even though the person is not aware of their surroundings. There may be saliva or foam coming from the mouth. If the person inadvertently bites their tongue or cheek, blood may be visible in the saliva. Jerking movements affect the face, arms and legs, becoming intense and rapid. Absences An absence seizure, which used to be called a "petit mal", is where you lose awareness of your surroundings for a short time.
During an absence seizure, a person may: stare blankly into space look like they're "daydreaming" flutter their eyes make slight jerking movements of their body or limbs The seizures usually only last up to 15 seconds and you will not be able to remember them. Myoclonic seizures A myoclonic seizure is where some or all of your body suddenly twitches or jerks, like you've had an electric shock. Clonic seizures Clonic seizures cause the body to shake and jerk like a tonic-clonic seizure, but you do not go stiff at the start.
They typically last a few minutes and you might lose consciousness. Tonic seizures Tonic seizures cause all your muscles to suddenly become stiff, like the first stage of a tonic-clonic seizure. This might mean you lose balance and fall over. Atonic seizures Atonic seizures cause all your muscles to suddenly relax, so you may fall to the ground.
They tend to be very brief and you'll usually be able to get up again straight away. Status epilepticus Status epilepticus is the name for any seizure that lasts a long time, or a series of seizures where the person does not regain consciousness in between. It's a medical emergency and needs to be treated as soon as possible. Seizure triggers For many people with epilepsy, seizures seem to happen randomly.
But sometimes they can have a trigger, such as: stress a lack of sleep waking up drinking alcohol some medicines and illegal drugs in women, monthly periods flashing lights this is an uncommon trigger Keeping a diary of when you have seizures and what happened before them can help you identify and avoid some possible triggers.
Read more advice about living with epilepsy. Want to know more? Epilepsy Action: common seizure triggers Epilepsy Action: epileptic seizures explained Epilepsy Society: epileptic seizures Page last reviewed: 18 September Next review due: 18 September Up to 50 out of people with epilepsy report bothersome side effects of seizure medications.
A positive response means that seizures do not recur and the person is seizure free. No known history of brain injury or abnormality A normal neurological exam and EEG No family history of epilepsy Having an unknown cause of epilepsy Will I have to stay on seizure medicine all my life? For example, Do you drive a car and what is the risk of driving if you have another seizure? What type of work do you do? Would you be at risk of injury coming off of medicine?
Are you ready and willing to make changes in your medicines? The length of time a person is seizure free before stopping medicine depends on many issues. The longer the time a person is seizure free on medications, the better chance of coming off medicines. More than 50 out of children outgrow their epilepsy. Twenty years after the diagnosis, 75 out of people will have been seizure free for at least 5 years, although some may still need to take daily medication.
People who have surgery and become seizure free may be able to come off seizure medicine. However, some people may need to stay on their medication to prevent seizures from coming back, even after surgery. What if I am still having seizures while taking seizure medications? If you continue to have seizures while taking seizure medications, ask the following questions. Is your diagnosis correct?
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