How quickly do you bounce back from a simple partial?

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LJ-Bain

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This came up in a recent thread and I was curious as to what
other people experience.
I get simple partials. Some where I can carry on as if nothing is happening, like if my arm flies up for a second, and others I can bounce back quite quickly from and yet there are others that really mess me up and leave me confused and sleeping (and not by choice) for hours.

What about everyone else?
 
If it's just a simple partial, I generally bounce back pretty quickly, within 30 seconds. Of course it's not always that way with clusters, that's a bit different, where I feel fairly out of it most of the day and just try to sleep it off.

With complex partials, I have a couple minutes of slight confusion and weird feeling, then a couple hours of feeling tired and lethargic.
 
I agree. Clusters are a whole different story. I hate clusters.
What did you do today honey? Oh, I clustered. Then I crashed on the couch, slept and watched bad daytime tv.
So no dinner then?
Nope.
 
For me it depends on its duration. The very brief ones I ignore and carry about my bussiness. The longer ones ushaully don't give me a noticable postical... although I may be taken back by the experience. Clusters also make me tired and get a headache.
 
Hmmm...clusters definitely make me feel horrible, but with SP's it depends on what I'm doing at the time. I've done well lately, because I haven't had to leave work once. It also depends on how long my body has been "warning" me, and if I've listened, or just run around like a hamster on speed!
 
Pretty easily. Actually, I act as though I'm not having one. If I have one while playing badminton, you'd have to look real close to see the difference and even then a person would just attribute it to being tired since all they would see is me not moving as fast as normal. I played a full game of badminton while in the middle of a simple partial and even won the game to boot. The post-ictal was stuttering and having the muscles on the right side of my face twitch for a few minutes after the game was over and then I was good to go. Even the post-ictal would barely be noticed by other people if at all.
 
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It's nice to hear that the simpler the partial, the easier it is to bounce back. They still are a pain in the caboose though.
 
Are complex partial seizures always associated with epilepsy?

Hi
I have had one definite simple partial seizure leading to a complex partial seizure. Started with strong strong deja vu feeling, and progressed to a period of loss of conscious awareness, and a behaviour and spoken words that I repeated twice that was purposeless, then followed by extreme facial flushing, nystagmus (my eyes were moving side to side apparently), and arrested behaviour for about 90 seconds. This was followed by my telling the person I was with and witnessed this, that I was "tired and done", and then she directed me to lay on a mat on the floor to recover, at which time I did, and stated to her that my heart was "fluttering" (even though I have no memory of laying on the floor or stating this). Apparently then I looked panicked momentarily, and was "confused", as stated by my witness. I have absolutely no memory of any of these actions, but simply remember the deja vu part as suddenly having a realization that I had dreamt all of this the night before, and then everything just became foggier like I was in some sort of a dream state. After that I have no memory up until a point that I remember sitting up from lying on the floor, and my companion told me all about what happened and wanted to drive me home. I then was assessed in emergency department and progressed to develop a terrible headache for two days, as well as very sore neck and shoulder muscles, and generally feeling unwell. I have been seen by neurologist, and two MRI's later I have venous angiomas that may or may not have caused the problem, and a normal EEG. I have not had another episode like this for almost 2 months. The neuro people do not want me to drive until February, and then only locally. I have not been prescribed medication.
I have not actually been diagnosed with anything at this point, except to have driving priveledges suspended because this "looks like" a seizure (I would have to agree)...but what I wonder is whether this would occur in any other condition except epilepsy, when the MRI does not show disease or tumour or other blatant reason for the seizure, except for the angiomas that might have leaked blood and irritated tissue to cause the event....but even that microbleed does not show. What does anyone think of this? I am happy not to be medicated right now, and would just like to carryon with my life, but it is hard not to wonder what really did happen on that day two months ago, and whether or not it will come back again....you know what I mean? Thank you for your input.
 
1/2 hour up to 4 hours, pending on duration of simple partial, then again, heck, i cant tell simple from complex, but it has wiped me out for the entire day depending on time of day and again duration.
 
Are complex partial seizures always associated with epilepsy?
Click to expand...
Epilepsy is just the term used when someone has had two or more seizures. Technically, you've only had one event. That, coupled with the normal EEG means that there's no way to make a conclusive diagnosis. It's possible that your seizure was a one-off, but if there are ongoing vascular issues I would play it safe. Be proactive with your general health, and be alert for "warning signs" when you are under any kind of stress (fatigue, illness/infection, exertion, low blood sugar, etc.).
 
thanks for reply

Hi there:
Thank you again for your information and reply...I have to apologize first to all, because I meant to start a new thread and ended up not doing that properly :(

But in response to you, I realize that I may have vascular issues, that I would need to be astute about, but I just really wondered if the complex partial seizures preceded by an aura of "deja vu" that was so incredibly strong would be more commonly seen in temporal lobe epilepsy. I would have thought that a supposed blood leak from a dilated vein would create more of a generalized seizure. I do realize epilepsy is a term defining more than one seizure, and it is impossible right now to make a definitive diagnosis....I think it is just unsettling to think I had this event and cannot quite put a finger on its cause, and know whether or not it will recur! My neurologist is just following me now for a few months, even though it seems I have returned to normal at this point....so I suppose he would like a more clear answer as well....Even though the event has passed, I found it was unsettling enough to make it hard to shake it off. Thank you again for your reply :)
 
Hi Nakamova:
thanks for the reference, I do know that it would not be usual to have a seizure because of the angioma, but I think because of the location of one of mine, they are wondering if there is a causative thing going on there. So basically he has said it would not be usual, but a vein in the formation may have dilated and leaked and the blood caused irritation to create the episode. It can happen. But this is also what makes me wonder if it will come back, was it caused by angioma in my case or is there some other etiology going on that we have just not identified. I also have a history of a metastatic melanoma 5 yrs ago, (misdiagnosed, but by the time it was correctly diagnosed it had started to spread to the lymph nodes :( ), but I have been quite well, since my 2 surgeries to remove it and my lymph nodes, except for lymphedema of my leg caused by the cancer surgery :( So my first MRI was set up very quickly after the event to search out brain metastases as a causative factor, but thankfully that has been ruled out. The second MRI was set up using a different technique by the neurologist to specifically look for focus of seizure, but did not show anything but the venous angiomas. So we will just wait and see...this just came out of the blue, more or less, and hopefully goes away on its own. I have had some odd circumstances happen in the past that have got me thinking lately that there may have been more simple partial seizures before this episode, but nothing in the past that has interfered with my life in a big way. But I thank you for looking up the reference, there is some interesting literature out there. I appreciate your response!
 
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