Behavior during an absence seizure

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

A

Alysha35

New
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
0
My husband has epilepsy and it is pretty controlled by medication but today he had what I believe was some type of absence seizure. I have seen him have two prior to this but this one was a little different and I'm not sure if it's normal for this type of seizure or if it's something else.
We were in the store and he was pushing the cart and all of a sudden he just starts walking faster like he's on some sort of mission. My daughter and I were walking behind him and I didn't notice anything odd at first, other than him not responding to a question I asked (I assumed he may have not heard me), but he eventually turned the corner and I realized that he had opened the pack of markers we had in our cart and had put one in his mouth. It was at that point I realized what was happening. I caught up to him and took the marker out of his mouth and made him stop pushing the cart. He then started acting strangely. He's a goofy, joking around guy by nature but he started teasing our daughter and juse acting really goofy in the store, hiding behind the wall and pretending to jump out at her and things like that. It scared our daughter(6) because he doesn't usually act that way in the store. I had to hold his hand the rest of the way out of the store to stop him from wandering off. It seemed to last way longer than the two I had seen before as well. Once we got home I told him that he had had a seizure but of course he remembered nothing. He still seemed a little "off" even after we got home but mostly normal. He immediately fell asleep when we got home and is still sleeping. I've never posted here before so I'm sorry about the wall of text but the whole thing has me pretty upset as it was very stressful seeing my daughter so freaked out at the store along with having to get both of them out of the store safely. I appreciate any insight on if this behavior during a seizure is typical or if this is something else.
 
Hi, Alysha and welcome to CWE;
My guess is that your husband had a complex partial seizure, which as you observed is a seizure in which the person seems to be conscious but is completely unaware of what is going on and what s/he is doing (and when told about the seizure doesn't remember any of it). This seizure should be recorded in your husband's seizure journal, and it would probably be a good idea for your husband to let his neurologist know of this new seizure type if he does not have an appointment coming up soon. Suggest to your husband that he be particularly vigilant about keeping track of his seizures in case his seizure type is changing on him and a medication adjustment is required.
 
I had a seizure in a grocery store when I was with my dad. I was pushing the buggy beside him then all of a sudden started walking really fast and putting everything that I went by in the buggy. When my dad finally caught me we left the store and when home. Of course I don't remember any of it.

There have been times during a seizure I've started looking for people in the house who weren't there but I thought were. Once I 'knew' my dad was in the house and went crazy looking for him. My husband had to keep me from going outside or walking into the basement to find him. All this time I was arguing with him. I don't remember any of this.

It does sound like he had a complex partial as masterjen said. Defiantly write down when the seizure happened and what he did during it and let your dr know. His meds may need some sort of changing by dosage or even trying a new med.

It's nice to meet you!
 
Alyssa,

This may seem like a stupid question but what store were you in......was it WALMART?

That store has weird lighting and can trigger seizures (as several people (including myself) have posted on this board during the past several years).
I think it has something to do with photosensitivity with the lights.
Most WALMART stores and other big chain stores, while being built, try to save money by getting cheap lights.

Maybe this is something to consider.

Randy
 
Thank you all for your responses, I appreciate all the information. Once he woke up yesterday evening we were able to talk about it a little more. He is going to contact his neurologist today and let him know about what happened. Until yesterday, I don't even know what a Complex Partial Seizure was or that it was even a thing. In the years that I've known him, he has only had a couple of absence seizures and two grand mals so I didn't even know that complex partials were a thing.
And RanMan, we were in a Target store but the lighting is something I will definitely look into.
Once again, I appreciate everyone's responses. When I posted yesterday I was still pretty shaken up and your responses made me feel better about the situation once I knew what I was looking at.
 
I hope your husband gets some answers from the neurologist, and that you will consider keeping us posted on how things go.
 
Hi Alysha,
Welcome to CWE! I have to agree with everyone else and say this sounded a lot like a complex partial seizure. I've had this type and absence seizures for over 40 yrs. Take note and see if your husband just starts wandering around, is smacking his lips, or pulling at his clothing these are all signs of a complex partial seizure. As Ranman mentioned bright lights can trigger seizures for some people but what I have found triggers seizures for me when I'm at the stores is when a lot of people are using their cell phones all at the same time. I had a special e.e.g. done and the Drs. purposely turned on their cell phones but I didn't know it and each time it fired up the neurons triggering seizures for me during the e.e.g. My Dr. told me this happened because I'm cell phone sensitive meaning the frequency the cell phone is using bothers me if a lot of people are using their phone at the same time and it triggers seizures. I wish your husband and you only the best and May God Bless All of You!

Sue
 
Last edited:
Pocket,

Good point about the cell phones. I hadn't thought of that one but it makes total since.
 
Alysha35 said:
Until yesterday, I don't even know what a Complex Partial Seizure was or that it was even a thing. In the years that I've known him, he has only had a couple of absence seizures and two grand mals so I didn't even know that complex partials were a thing.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your husband's seizure(s). But since you've never heard of Complex Partial seizures until now, here is a great website to learn more about all different types of seizures:

http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/types-seizures
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom