New Girl Here!

[ajewce]

Hi everyone! :hello: I am new to this site and am trying to get some clarification from others with auras and seizures. Let me tell you a little about my history. When I was about 9 or so, I had a grand mal seizure. Since then I have had problems with seizures through out my life. Two years after highschool I had surgery, a right temporal lobectomy. It worked for about three years and then I began to get the really bad stomach aches again. Ever since then I get these feelings of a really bad stomach ache or something similar to a sinus issue, maybe tightening in my face. I don't get the funny taste in my mouth but have other weird feelings. I feel my mouth filling up with an extreme amount of saliva and my tongue moving rapidly in my mouth. Let me say this is a very strange feeling. I do not loose consciousness, can usually talk the whole time and continue doing whatever I am doing. Sometimes it hits a lot stronger than others and I have to stop doing what I am doing at that time. After about a minute or so it stops and I feel like I have been run over by a freight train, completely exhausted and sometimes dazed. I have these episodes all the time but recently had another one at work. I work in a jail and the person I was working with knew I had this happen but never saw it. Monday he experienced this and as to be expected, he FREAKED out. I talked to my Dr. and explained what happened and he said "You had an aura not a seizure". I asked all kinds of questions about what he was saying. I have this feeling about once a month, sometimes once every other month. Now I find out they are just auras is confusing to me. He said they are auras, and can be called simple partial. Isn't that still a seizure and has anyone else experienced this? Please give me any information on this. Thank You in advance! :e:

 

[Nakamova]

Hi ajewce, welcome to CWE!

Yes, you had a Simple Partial Seizure. They can also be called auras when they precede a generalized seizure (one with loss of consciousness), but basically, they are the same thing. Simple partials can take many different forms, but they all involve unusual sensations. You can read more about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_partial_seizure as well as here on CWE:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f27/simple-partial-seizures-epilepsy-4858/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f20/new-simple-partial-seizures-12093/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f20/simple-partial-seizures-10930/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com...who-have-simple-partial-seizures-auras-15293/

Best,
Nakamova

 

[CQ:)]

Hi ajewce,

Welcome to CWE, you will find some really helpful information & meet some great people on here. Congratulations on being 3 years seizure free, have you worked out any triggers for your auras (eg - stress).

I had left front temporal lobe surgery in March 2011, I have been seizure free since the surgery & currently aiming for my 2 year mark.
Before my surgery my main seizure was an aura which was usually followed by a complex partial seizure. The way my neurologist explained an aura to me was that it is a warning seizure, I learnt alot about auras from talking to other CWE members .

When I had an aura I used to have a strange dream come in my head & felt a bit strange. The strange dream I'd have was always the same type of dream & I would usually only remember this dream when I had the aura. All I ever remembered was that it had something to do with going somewhere.

When I had an aura I would usually have this feeling that I needed to go to the toilet. I would usually remember the aura 1st coming & heading to the toilet then not remember anything until after I had the seizure. I had people who witnessed my auras tell me that I would freeze up & my eyes would look glassy or I would not make sense when I talked. I would also do strange things but I think the stranger things were the complex seizures.

I'm sure you will get some more responses from other members who also have auras.

 

[nana1]

Welcome to CWE. Sorry i can not help you on this. I never had an aura that i remember. When i come to after i had a seizure, i can tell i had one ( seizure). I have had seizure over 50 yrs, and i am on a cocktail of meds at this time.