are all tonic clonics created equal?

[AndrewIrish]

Here's my thought,

I rarely have a TC... 1 a year on average... but everytime I've had one... I feel like I've been hit by a mac truck... i'm weak and sore and can't stand up after one or really for hours afterwards... and then that day and the next... i'm confused and disoriented... i lose memory of pretty much the entire day upon waking... it's a really, really traumatic event for me and i'm a big, young, tough 26-year old guy... some i almost feel as if they have a TC and bounce right back like a yoyo within 6 hours or so... i dunno... does everyone have just 'knock you out' put you in the meat grinder tcs? are some (relatively) less draining? I'm interested because I'm now breaking my own bones during them lol...

 

[BlueCat]

Of the 4 (over 12 years, I'm a 54 yr old girl who refuses to grow up) - 1st one bounced rather nicely - physically - flew 253 ft through the desert off my Harley, only had a black and blue mark. Was a bit spacey for a couple of days, though part of that was the dilantin. 2nd and third (2009 & 2011), bounced right back within a few hours. This one (4/8) has still kicked my butt. Doc says it means it was a much bigger event, whatever that means. I'm very tired, weak/shaky feeling, and feel like my memory is completely unreliable right now. I sure hope this is the last one...

 

[Jack's Mom]

My son, whose now 21, sounds like you. His first one made him very sore for a couple of weeks. He was pretty confused for the rest of the night, slept most of the next day and his brain finally felt back to normal the second morning after. The second one didn't make him as sore, but since he fractured his skull on the concrete and had a subdural hematoma, he had many other symptoms - headaches, blurred vision, tinnitus, short term memory loss, etc. that are still with him at times, as well as being a bit loopy for quite some time. The latest one happened just over a week ago and he ended up with a fractured sternum so is still walking very stiffly because he's hunching forward and sleeping uncomfortably which both result in back pain. His brain came back faster this time though.

 

[notime]

I was averaging a seizure once a month from May to September, and when I was put on lamictal it stopped and so far I have not had one. The last one I had strained my arm for like 4 months and sometimes I still feel it hurting just a little.

I don't know what happens when I have a seizure since I've never caught it and my father gets in and says I would make a loud strange sound like trying to breath or something. Usually I fall to the ground laying there unconscious, once he said I was foaming out of the month, but that's it. Usually first day or so I feel tired, really weak like lifting my legs weights a ton, sore all over, and after it's just sore tongue and being sore which lasts for 4 to 5 days.

I can't stand having a seizure like that, I cannot even eat when I have a seizure because my tongue hurts so much... Stupid epilepsy, hopefully lamictal will work and I won't have anymore.

 

[C0urt]

not at all, I had one of the mildest ones of a while today, and the main reason I had it is because i didnt eat right today, and I went out and trained on my bicycle. and if there wasn't un-eaten food under my kitchen from a tomato I ate during the seizure, and the fact I lost a little bit of time and waking up on my kitchen floor, I could just chalk it up to being sore from my current work out regimen.

It was the first of 6 weeks, which is a long time for me.

 

[Cint]

Of the many TCs I've had over the years, they are not all equal. Several have lasted 5 minutes, once I ended up with a black eye, several times strangers have called 911 because it scared them so bad, I've broken my glasses during the seizure, ended up with bad burns.......

Thankfully, I haven't had a TC for a long time now. Hope it stays that way.

 

[valeriedl]

On average I have one TC a year and 7 partials a month.

I don't remember anything that happened before and during the TC seizure. It takes me a little while to get back to normal again. Luckily I've never hurt myself and don't have any pain the next day.

The last TC I had I was in a hospital waiting room while my husband was having surgery. I remember sitting in the waiting room then next thing I knew I was on a gurney with someone trying to put a IV in my arm and a dr asking me if I knew where I was. I thought it was the stupidest question because I knew I was in the hospital (because my husband was having surgery) I just didn't know I was in the ER. I had a partial too while I was in the ER. I'm surprised that I remember these things, I mush have been coming in and out of it or having more seizures than I thought I had. I don't remember too much about being in the ER in general though.

It was pretty funny because my husband and I both left the hospital in wheelchairs.

I was totally out of it the next day and slept most of it.

 

[N Sperlo]

I think I've had three T/Cs and only one was really bad. It kept me down for two days or so. The others may have effected me for an hour or so. One was making me freak out via jamais-vu, but it went away after my father talked me down. I thought I was supposed to be at work, but the sun was rising, not setting.

Anyway, no. I think of seizures on a step scale. As the steps go up, you move through partial, generalizing, to T/C. There are many steps between each seizure, but they may individually be just as bad, so my diagram may not work in a sense.

 

[rich956]

nope, every one of my tonic clonics were differant ,with the finding your self in strange places, injuring yourself or just the way you start to come out of it. I must say that my recovery rate from last Fridays tonic clonic was much faster than before I was on lamotrigine.

 

[kirsten]

Every time I have a tonic clonic, it knocks me badly. I feel crazy sleepy, and I'll need to rest for two or three days. The headaches vary, though. Sometimes I have horrible ones after and sometimes not so much. Also, there are some tonic clonics that don't really make my body feel as muscle-sore. I had one in the last couple of weeks and felt the body pain but it was so mild and passed so quickly I didn't even see it go. What makes tonic clonics worse than others for me is when they're not at home. If someone has moved me, or there are faces staring down at me, I freak out completely. I get really scared. If they happen when I'm home alone I don't get scared when I come to. I really do wish people would not move me before I wake up from a tonic clonic and that people wouldn't crowd around me. Also, if I injure myself it makes me so angry about having epilepsy, but when I have one that doesn't really injure me too badly, I take it as par for the course and don't feel angry.