Many things about epilepsy are unclear, such as what causes it, what the most effective treatments are, why the medications work (when and if they do) and so on. Sadly, even the descriptions of seizure types are defined somewhat differently depending upon whom you ask or where you look. The broadest categories are simple and generalized. Partial seizures affect only a part of the brain, so only certain actions are disrupted. A generalized seizure pretty much takes the entire brain completely "offline" for the duration of the seizure. Generalized seizures can be further divided into tonic, clonic, tonic-clonic, or atonic depending on how the body is affected. Wikipedia has a pretty fair discussion of that, and some of the above posts addressed it, so I won't go into it any more here.
Partial seizures are more nebulous and it seems to me that there is a continuum of symptoms. The understanding I have arrived at after 30 years of reading and pondering and talking to people is that with simple partials the disruptions are pretty much all sensory. I copied and pasted sperlo's comments on how those are:
One common experience during a simple partial seizure is a feeling of deja vu. Dizziness is also pretty common. I experience both of these. What others may experience can range from stomach aches, headaches, familiar smells, visual hallucinations, etc. One of, multiple of, or none of these may be present during a simple partial.
Sometimes people will equate simple partial seizures with auras. The definition I like best is that an aura is a simple partial that develops into a generalized seizure. If it doesn't precede a generalized seizure, it ain't an aura. I did a quick google search and that seems to be the predominant definition. They also talk about auras preceding migraine headaches.
With complex partials, a sticking point in the definition seems to be the level-of consciousness issue. Most of the definitions I have seen refer to an
alteration of consciousness, not a loss of it. I have lots of complex partials, and I remain fully aware of almost everything. I have driven during them (though I don't like to!) ridden a bike, walked, talked to people, look at the clock to see what time it is so I can enter is in my seizure diary, etc. Pretty much the ONLY alteration of consciousness I have is that I am completely unaware that I will be smacking my lips throughout the seizure. Even when I think about it during the seizure I am not aware of it. (My internal dialogue: "I'm having a seizure. I'm eating dinner. It's 3:47. Am I smacking my lips now? Nope, I guess not because I can't feel that I am. No one will notice that I'm having a seizure.") Right about then, someone in my family will tell me that I'm having a seizure, and when I ask how they new they will tell me that I was smacking my lips and looking a little spacey and turning pale. I've even taken to putting a finger on my lips to see if I can feel them smacking. I don't feel anything, but I suppose I could be doing it anyway. That's how my consciousness is altered. It's different for others, as you have seen. Physically, the seizures make me really fatigued. I recently wrote a thread about how after over 30 years, I finally saw myself having a seizure. It was really interesting, if a bit disturbing. Here is the link:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/finally-saw-myself-having-seizure-22861/
I know I wrote a lot and I hope it helped some. You can see how definitions differ and you will probably arrive at your own best definition for yourself in time.
Onward!
