Symptoms, complications, and triggers
The principal symptom of epilepsy is seizures, which are bursts of abnormal electrical activity that affect how the brain works. Seizures happen in attacks or episodes, and their symptoms vary, depending on where it begins in the brain and how it spreads. In most cases, the patient has the same type of seizures in each episode; thus, the symptoms will be the same each time.
Seizure symptoms may include:
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- Staring look into space
- Transient confusion and loss of awareness
- Unusual sensations, smells, tastes, sights, or sounds
- Jerky movements of the limps
- Stiff muscles
- Unusual behaviors and feelings like lips smacking, fear, and anxiety
Seizures may be focal or generalized, as follows:
Focal (partial) seizures:
Focal seizures occur due to abnormal activity of one brain area, and it may occur in two forms:
1. Simple focal seizers (with preserved awareness):
These seizures don’t affect consciousness but may alter sensations like taste, smell, hearing, and sight. You may feel tingling and dizziness and see light flashes. This type may also lead to involuntary stiffness or jerky movements of part of the body. You are awake and aware during the attack.
2. Complex focal seizures (with impaired or lost awareness):
During complex seizures, you seem like being in a dream. You lose your sense of awareness and can’t respond to your environment. You may stare blankly and do random and repetitive movements, such as chewing, swallowing, lips smacking, hand rubbing, making noises, and walking in circles.
You are unaware and can’t respond to anyone during the attack. After the attack, you can’t remember anything about it.
Generalized seizures:
This type involves the whole brain and affects all brain areas. Generalized seizures may occur in six forms, as follow:
1. Absence seizures (petit mal epilepsy)
This type typically occurs in children but may occur at any age. It causes a brief loss of consciousness, staring look, and repetitive movements like lips smacking and eye blinking. The attack of absence seizures usually lasts for 5 to 10 seconds and may occur in clusters (up to 100 times daily).
2. Tonic seizures:
In this type, your muscles become suddenly stiff and rigid in your arms, legs, and trunk. You may lose your balance and fall to the ground, which may be dangerous in some situations. This type may also affect consciousness.
3. Atonic seizures (drop seizures)
In this type, you lose your muscle tone (strength). Your muscles suddenly relax, including those of the legs, then you will collapse and fall. Atonic seizures are usually brief; you will stand up again and go, but falling may be dangerous.
4. Myoclonic seizures are sudden, brief, and jerky twitches that affect the arms and legs muscles. These seizures may occur in clusters.
5. Clonic seizures
In this type, your body shakes in a rhythmic jerking movement, including face, neck, and arms.
6. Tonic-clonic seizures (grand mal epilepsy)
It’s the most dramatic type. Most people think about it as typical epilepsy. The attack -of this type- usually passes by two stages, tonic then clonic.
At first, you lose your consciousness, then your muscles stiffen, and you may fall. Then, your limbs shake in jerky movement.
During the attack, you may lose control of your bowel and bladder, bite your tongue, and feel breathing difficulty. It lasts for a few minutes and sometimes longer. After the attack, you may have a headache and feel exhausted or confused for a period. You may not remember what happened.
