more than one kind of seizure?

[holly]

hey guys yes back to annoy you all with my questions.... sorry in advance lol

so went to my appointment today and my dr is suspecting epilepsy, amongst a list of more sinister scarier causes... but i tried to explaine to him the 'auras' and he was good at trying to follow what i was saying but he thinks im having absence sezures... i had one in the appointmnt mid conversation with him, and as he said it was great that it hapened because he could document what he whitnessed! wasnt that luky? anyway, if im having absence seizures, are the auras conected?!?! confusd sorry

 

[holly]

and i forgot what i was going to ask in relation ugh

 

[Sandie]

Hi Holly. My experience is that the auras can be connected. My 'aura's are seizures in themselves. You are confused because epilepsy IS confusing. There are so many aspects of it and so many different types of epilepsy. I only thought there was two until I was diagnosed myself. Take care, you will learn a lot from being on this forum...I did x

 

[holly]

thank you sandie, i have already learnt alot but every day brings something new it seems, i guess i just gotta carry o theway i did before i know this is posibly epilepsy and trust i will get there and undersstand soon haha the understanding part may take a while ........ bring on the blood work and tests lol

 

[Cint]

"Auras" are actually simple partial seizures. I have several types of seizures myself. They start out as "auras" and then often times they proceed into a Complex partial seizure--where I stare into space and someone may speak to me and I do not respond. I may look at the person and speak jibberish. Once I come out of the seizure, I don't remember a thing I did. It lasts for 1-3 minutes. And then sometimes I have gone into a Tonic/Clonic seizure, otherwise known as a grand mal. These last for up to 3 minutes, with the full blown seizure like everyone imagines when you say "seizure". If they last more than 5 minutes, call 911. It is called "status" and can be dangerous. I've been there, too.

Check this out for the types of seizures;
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/types_seizures

 

[holly]

cint as always thank you, im just very confused with this becoming apparent ..... in the back of my mind i always knew something wasnt quite right, but my after explaining my aras to the dr he only focused on absence seizure... this is what happened in his office, i guess its just a waiting game now to see what exactly im dealing with just hope it is not some of the more scary stuff he said 'could be' ...... no driving, kinda blows but i like walking so its ok haha

 

[holly]

im also suffering really bad with headaches since the increase of episodes.... anyone else experience this?

 

[debqu]

I have only been diagnosed since around 2000 but I remember as a child going other` places in my head. Sometimes I slept walked and ended up in other family members beds.i believe I was epileptic as a child but never had bad seizures till I turned 40 and was under a lot of stress.imaginative I was called,secret friends I had.now I realize they were auras.prerecognition? used to see what wasn't there,thought I was seeing the future.i spent two years getting my life back after a very bad seizure that almost wiped my memory and thankfully had a good husband who helped me recover .he took away all stress and let me make my own way back.i didn't even know my children,grandkids.

 

[holly]

thank you debqu,

im having a bit of an off day altogether today nothing seems to be processing right, im almost tearful because im frustraited that im having a hard time concerntraiting or absorbing anyhing today, it took me an hour and a half ish to finall fall asleep because every time i was about to sleep my body jerked and yep have to start trying again, my husband love him is doing hs best to understand my feelings without understanding what im feeling and keeps telling me that its just because im exhausted, and i said to him yesim exhusted and then i cant fall asleep ... so im beyond exhustd, he keps trying to be supportve now he nows the dr is serious about getting this under controll.... ugh

 

[cadsgj]

Holly, yes on the headaches. While for the most part seizures with me were kinda gone (compared prior to surgeries anyhow), they certainly came back roughly 2 months ago, and since they have come back headaches are rather frequent. Prior to my "increase of episodes" I would get minor headaches right behind my left eye frequently, but these were minor and now my frequent headaches are bad ones. :-(

 

[kirsty1327]

Hi holly,what is happening during the auras as opposed to when you have absent seizures.does your neuro think they are just absent seizures???

 

[holly]

hey when i have an aura, i know i have to get down, even tho i have never had a GM seizure, i get the deja vu, smell that i dont know what it is! i always feel like im falling to the left, i feel like im in a dream everything is surreal its weird, scary, and only lasts maybe 20 seconds or so i dont really know but altered consiousnes not total loss, the one in the dr's office was not an aura, i appaently compleatlyzoned out for like 10 seonds couldnt remember what we were talking about then was fine was staring at the wall apparently

 

[Jessie]

Holly, I was told by my new neurologist in fall 2009 absence seizures and complex partial seizures are similar to each other. Though with absence seizures they come out of the blue and you have no aura or warning sign. Versus Complex Partial seizures you have an aura before they occur. I have both of these types along with others.

During my absence seizures I suddenly space out and may flutter my eyes for a few seconds usually between 10 to 15 seconds. Then I'm back to what I was doing before it occurred.
Before a complex partial seizure I usually have an aura. Most often its a bad gut feeling something's bad is going to happen, I get a really grotesque smell and taste of metallic in my mouth that gets stronger to the point I am very lightheaded, nauseous and get the feeling I can't breathe. I can't call for help all I can do is gag(sorry to be gross). During this time my head feels really weird(the only way to explain in is if it were in a vise). During my complex partial seizures I was told I turn very pale and space out. Sometimes during these space outs I may blink my eyes, swallow or talk but I won't make any sense. While other times I may wander around without knowing so and why. Usually these last up to 1 minuet. Usually after these seizures I may be tired or have difficulty concentrating and difficulty thinking.