auras

[mel239]

Sorry guys,heres another question from me.Seems I go to do something and I come right back here with something else.Just trying to understand.Anyway,for 2 years I always had the aura of sewer or human gas[you know what I mean]Lately,my last 2 seizures right in a row have been where I dont lose awareness,but I have millisecond of burnt rubber-always to my right side.Do any of you who have odors,have different ones?Im trying after 2 years to understand what Im looking for,but things seem to shift.At one point,I was having visual hallucinations,they too would be different but always creepy.Guess Im still learning what to look for.THANKS for the answers

 

[Cint]

Hi Mel,

From http://www.epilepsy.com/101/ep101_Symptom

Early seizure symptoms (warnings/auras)

Sensory/Thought:
Deja vu
Jamais vu
Smell*
Sound
Taste
Visual loss or blurring
Racing thoughts
Stomach feelings
Strange feelings
Tingling feeling

Emotional:
Fear/Panic
Pleasant feeling

Physical:
Dizziness
Headache
Lightheadedness
Nausea
Numbness

No warning:
Sometimes seizures come with no warning

 

[Endless]

Hi, Mel.

Your auras are actually Simple Partial seizures themselves. I have temporal lobe epilepsy with simple and complex partial seizures, so what you describe as an aura is often my main seizure. I smell pretty weird stuff, often very unpleasant. My last one was the smell of burnt hair - really acrid.

Here's more from the epilepsy foundation.
http://api.ning.com/files/f3bXq41KN...epticconsciousnessConceptandmeaningofaura.pdf

 

[rangerwvu]

I too have the simple and complex partial, with what I call my "fat free or seizures" (the auras--hey, I got to try and laugh at anything I can) occuring more frequently than the complex, thank God. Earley on, my auras sometimes included smells such as STRONG cigarette smoke, an electrical burning smell and sometimes something akin to a horse farm lol. Anyway, I have not had the smells for a long time now, it seems like that ordor sensations left when I got on my meds. However, the other aura sensations have not changed, just occur much less frequently now that I am on higher med dose. Really just writing to encourage you to keep being reflective on your experiences as it really is the best way to figure out what your specific triggers are...and also so you can note if they change on you at any point. Keep asking questions, I know I am so happy I found this site and have learned so much from folks, even the questions.

 

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

Here are some types of auras that can happen alone or in combinations…

Visual changes

Kaleidoscope effects

Visual hallucinations

Shimmering sensations

Vibrating visual field

Distortions in size, shape or distance of objects

Bright lights or blobs

Zigzag lines

Tunnel vision

Blind or dark spots in the field of vision

Curtain-like effect over one eye

Blindness in one eye

Motionless stare

Dilated pupils

Auditory changes

Hallucinations — hearing voices or sounds that don’t exist

Being unable to understand spoken words

Muffled sounds

Buzzing noises

Loud or whispered volume

Temporary deafness

Physical changes

Weakness, unsteadiness

Changes in heart rate

Sweating

Nausea

Vertigo

Saliva collecting in mouth

Lip smacking

Chewing

Swallowing

Strange smells

Problems speaking

Repetitive movements

Limbs jerking involuntarily

Numbness or tingling on one side of face or body

Feeling of being separated from your body

Needing to urinate

Psychological changes

Confusion

Anxiety or fear

Physical detachment

Déjà vu or jamais vu, a sense of familiarity or unfamiliarity

Resources:

Steven C. Schachter, M.D.
http://my.epilepsy.com/node/58
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(symptom)
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f27/experience-aura-auras-2485/
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1184509-overview

 

[i_have_to_take_pills]

i actually kind of like mine :woot:
unless in a meeting or driving or something, when you have to concentrate. but if sitting in front of the computer or watching TV, who cares.
most of the time i dont remember when they happened or what i experienced. but usually its dizzyness, feeling of an increase of gravity, a little bit of tunnel vision, and the rememberance of a really old video game i played. those are a majority of what i get about once a few days, usually in the morning. :clap:
the ones that totally suck though are the ones at work, when someone talking to me (and me pretending to be paying attention) feeling like im about to puke, sensitivity to sounds increases (as if the person is yelling at me) and then completely forgetting what they said later on. not good when its the boss that requested something be done. :bondage:

 

[peachy]

So an aura may possibly be an actual seizure? Possibly a simple partial seizure? I learn more here than from my doctor. I described what I thought was a aura and she said it was some weird thing...but not a seizure. I just started having them. I can't describe them like others....hard to put into words. Others here have been able to describe them well.

 

[Nakamova]

That's absolutely right -- an aura IS a simple partial seizure (unless it's strictly a migraine aura -- that's one of the gray areas, since many folks have both migraines and e, and they are interrelated conditions).

 

[draggrif]

Migrains are related to seizures? Do you know how exactly? *curious*

 

[Nakamova]

Migraine and epilepsy share the same pathophysiology -- i.e. they are both caused by abnormal firing of the neurons related to an imbalance in the neurotransmitters that inhibit or excite the neurons. Both epilepsy and migraines can be triggered by environmental stimuli like bright or flashing lights, MSG/aspartame, stress, fatigue, etc. The migraine aura -- particularly the one involving swirling or scintillating patterns in the field of vision -- can be indistinguishable from a simple partial.

It's unknown at this point whether migraines and epilepsy are both manifestations of the same underlying brain issues, although that seems likely, with some folks perhaps ending up with epilepsy due to either environmental and/or genetic reasons, and perhaps after reaching a certain "threshold" of overstimulus.