Freezing

[valeriedl]

I had a seizure today. I was sitting on the tractor while I had it. My dad helped me off and then my whole body froze up. He had to kick my leg out from under me to get me on the ground so I didn't fall.

Is it normal to freeze up. I think this is the first time it's happened to me, but I'm not positive about that.

[epileric]

I know that I often have seizures when one leg goes rigid. I never thought of it as unusual for a seizure.

[CrunchyFrog]

I think that's fairly normal, I've been told that my entire body goes rigid when I have a seizure. I think (someone correct me if wrong cause I'm not an expert) that the freezing up is the 'tonic' part of a 'tonic-clonic' seizure and the 'clonic' is the rhythmic jerking movements.

[epileric]

I think that's fairly normal, I've been told that my entire body goes rigid when I have a seizure. I think (someone correct me if wrong cause I'm not an expert) that the freezing up is the 'tonic' part of a 'tonic-clonic' seizure and the 'clonic' is the rhythmic jerking movements.

You're right.

Tonic literally translated means tension which is as you've said, the freezing. Clonic (the adjective for clonus) means jerking.

[Jfpinell]

Not sure if this belongs here or not...it's kinda' related. If someone can freeze up during one, can this happen when they are alret and know what is going on? If someone is in this state, how is it possible to avoid hitting or running into objects while walking or driving, or whatever? After reading a report for accident investigation training (Law Enforcement classes) the report I had said "....drove through the backyards of houses and betwen 2 houses to get back onto main road." This sounds a bit strange. The person who wrote that sounds like he may have had a few too many. How can someone, if they were unconscious from "too many" or a diabetic reaction or seizure or whatever suddenly be unable to move while fully awake and alert suddenly be able to steer around objects without hitting anything, and then wind up not being able to move again until, according to the last part of the report "....vehicle struck tree beyond ditch approximately 50 ft. from road center."
Sounds like something was written by someone who's never had or witnessed a seizure or someone unconscious.

[epileric]

I think even when we're in the middle of our seizures and unaware of things our senses still automatically react to things.

My seizure started when I was walking on the sidewalk. That's the last thing I remembered. When I came out of it I was in the middle of the crosswalk with no idea how long I'd been standing there. Despite being in a seizure I had still turned right to cross the road in the direction I was going, crossed at the cross-walk then just froze when the seizure progressed to the next stage.

[valeriedl]

Not sure if this belongs here or not...it's kinda' related. If someone can freeze up during one, can this happen when they are alret and know what is going on? If someone is in this state, how is it possible to avoid hitting or running into objects while walking or driving, or whatever? After reading a report for accident investigation training (Law Enforcement classes) the report I had said "....drove through the backyards of houses and betwen 2 houses to get back onto main road." This sounds a bit strange. The person who wrote that sounds like he may have had a few too many. How can someone, if they were unconscious from "too many" or a diabetic reaction or seizure or whatever suddenly be unable to move while fully awake and alert suddenly be able to steer around objects without hitting anything, and then wind up not being able to move again until, according to the last part of the report "....vehicle struck tree beyond ditch approximately 50 ft. from road center."
Sounds like something was written by someone who's never had or witnessed a seizure or someone unconscious.

I didn't actually know when I started having the seizure. I was driving the tractor and my dad was helping me park it. He realized I was having a seizure when I wasn't reacting to him and not turning to miss the tree I was driving right twards. If he wasn't there I know I would have ran right into the tree, or who knows what else.

I don't remember anything until my dad put me on the ground. I remember everything that I saw was all fuzzy and I was rolling around but I couldn't control what I was doing.

I didn't really get control of myself until my dad asked me if I wanted to sit in the lawn chair. I remember him getting me up off the ground and putting me in the chair, but it was hard for me to move.

Usually when I have a seizure I don't come out of it or know what's going on until people start asking me questions. I'll get confused about the questions but I know what they are saying and I remember all this. I remember them asking me the questions but I really couldn't register the questions and I couldn't move my lips, I just know I was staring off into space trying to get something to come out of my mouth.

After another few minutes I was able to talk. I don't know if I was saying words or just mumbling, but I was registering the questions they were asking.

My mom had called 911 because I hadn't had one this bad for a long time and she wasn't sure when I was going to come out of it. When the ambulance got there I was still a little confused, but I was able to reply to questions.

I talked about some of this in another post and someone had asked if I maybe saw this as an improvement of some sorts. It's funny that they said that because I actually thought of it in that sort of way.

What do you guys think?

[Endless]

Hi, Valerie,

I had a complex partial while driving. (I know, scary) I drove about a quarter of a mile and turned right on the correct street. When I came out of it I was extremely confused and didn't recognize where the heck I was. I pulled over and in a couple of minutes I was un-confused and knew where I was. What I didn't know was how I got there. I was really lucky nothing really bad happened.

My doc explained that sometimes with seizures it's a memory issue, not necessarily a consciousness issue. I'm wondering if that's the explanation. People who have complex partial seizures can also keep doing rote tasks. I'm not sure if driving meets the definition of "rote." If I would have just gone straight it would have. I was the only person on the road. But I turned. So who knows.

[Jfpinell]

O.k., so suppose I came out and said that accident report was actually the one I requested a copy of from the police so I could see if I could figure out what the heck happened that day? (Getting the picture?)
It's been about 9 or 10 years, but I'm still afraid to ask any M.D. about this -even though after 5 years after your last seizure, the D.O.T. in Wisconsin won't bother you anymore. The thing that doesn't quite fit is that, aside from being a bit confused for a few seconds -no doubt due to shock or what have you- I was perfectly able to walk, hold an intelligible conversation, and see and hear everything around me without a great deal of unexplained fear....all of which happen after I have one.