Seizure Questions - Epilepsy Message Board

beaconeer · 02-28-2007, 08:00 PM

My main questions are:

1. Can you have epileptic seizures and not be unconscious?
2. Is a spike high or low in blood pressure indicate something when present with seizures? Any kind of disorder that involves blood pressure issues and seizures?

I have 2 types of seizures. The ones I most often have involve strange vocal and breathing noises, usually a warning of visual disturbance or smells or strange sensations in my head, and shaking, sometimes minor and sometimes violent, especially of my right side/right arm. During these seizures my awareness is like a flashlight switched on and off very rapidly, and I get overwhelmed by things around me like more than one person talking to me very easily. When I say overwhelmed, I mean it takes a tremendous effort for me to concentrate to keep ahold of what one person is saying to me, and my verbal abilities are greatly diminished. At the climax, my eyes are closed and I cant talk, but I'm not completely unaware of whats happening around me. My recall of what happened can be sketchy at spots and remembering it is difficult, but I'M NOT UNCONSCIOUS.

The second type I have only had once or twice. I have been having seizures for 6 years, starting from about 6 months after I had a car accident, so once or twice is extremely rare. This one I can only reconstruct from witness accounts, because I fell down COMPLETELY UNCONSCIOUS. This happened during stressful circumstances, but I did not feel distressed at that moment...not at all. Just suddenly I was out, and witnesses said I had minor convulsions while out. It sounds also like it was under a minute, but again I dont know for sure.

I've been told I have pseudo-seizures, like anxiety attacks. The funny thing is I have never found any correlation from my seizures and times of distress, except for the ones in which I have been fully unconscious, and now the doc is saying those are probably more properly epileptic seizures. So again, I'm being referred back to the neurologist and told I cant drive anymore...

The one weird thing I have found is that always my blood pressure rapidly changes either spiking up or spiking down when I've been in the emergency room for seizures. Is this usual? Does it mean something?

SentenceDoing · 03-01-2007, 01:20 PM

Quote:

1. Can you have epileptic seizures and not be unconscious?

Yes. There are many, many different types of sezures. Some are called "auras" or complex/partial sezures, where you're conscious the whole time, and the seizure is anything from shaking in any part of your body; feeling "off" like you can't walk straight, or concentrate, or form words correctly; smelling strange smells or hearing things that aren't there...or many other things.

I actually had a gran mal seizure that I was conscious through a lot of. My doctors said that's impossible, but I know what I went through. Someone else on this board also mentioned being awake through gran mal seizures.

dogmom · 03-01-2007, 04:10 PM

I was having simple partial seizures and some complex partial seizures for close to three years without knowing what they were, prior to my "big one."

As was mentioned above, it can include feeling "off" followed by strange smells, sounds or tastes. I had all of that plus a misbehaving (jerking uncontrollably) left hand that progressed to my entire arm. That was a simple partial seizure. I thought I was overtired or something. You remain conscious the entire time. With a complex partial, you have altered consciousness. Once the simple partial generalizes to a complex, you pretty much lose memory of what is going on around you for up to 2-4 minutes. Those are the kind I have most of all. I just stare quietly, my husband says. Then have a killer headache after all is said and done and remember nothing that had transpired.

When I had my "grand mal," I didn't remember any part of it. Sorry Sentencedoing, but I've never heard of anyone recalling a fragment of their GTC before, as you lose consciousness once the tonic-clonic part kicks in.

soccerschmee14 · 03-01-2007, 07:29 PM

ive been conscious during some of my grand mals and its the scariest thing ever. my neuro said he thought some of them were non-epileptic even w/ my abnormal eeg and stuff, alot in part bc no meds were working. however, i switched doctors and went to an epileptologist(sp??) and he said they were def. real seizures. yea i know alot of ppl say you cant be awake during grand mals but i am sometimes so... it happens, and it sure is scary.

SentenceDoing · 03-02-2007, 09:49 AM

Hey, soccerschmee, I was just doing some research on Epilepsy, and I came across something called "Secondarily Generalized Seizure", which sounds like my Gran Mal seiuzure that I remember a lot of.
It said it starts out as a simple or complex partial seizure, and then becomes more violent and generalized, and can lead to a grand mal. I think this is what happened to me because I was conscious while it progressively got worse until my whole body contracted into a ball and I couldn't breathe, and then I lost consciousness and had a grand mal (I had bitten my tongue, so I know it continued after I passed out).
So, I didn't know if you knew about these types of seizures, and maybe you're having Secondarily Generalized Seizures rather than full-on grand mals, which would explain for both of us being conscious through most or all of it!