Very short postictal stage

[skyfire322]

While I was at work yesterday, I had what seemed to be a tonic seizure. It began as auras and a few tremors, then all of a sudden, it felt like a ton of bricks hit my chest and stomach. Phantom smells and loss of breath followed shortly thereafter. I started to seize a little bit, and drifted in and out of consciousness. I was responsive most of the time, but for a few seconds I wasn't.

The odd thing was that about two minutes later, although I did have a pounding migrane, I was responsive and answered questions (such as date of birth, and place of employment) while in the ambulance, albeit slowly. One of the emergency responders told me once I got to the ER that I really wasn't in a postictal state, and that my pupils were perl.

Has anyone had a very short postictal state as described above?

 

[Nakamova]

Maybe it actually was a migraine? People with epilepsy often also get migraines...

 

[skyfire322]

Migraines can mimic seizures?

 

[Nakamova]

Simple partials can be very similar to migraine auras -- sometimes it can be hard to tell them apart. Migraine doesn't usually feature full loss of consciousness, but there can be dizziness and fainting and cognitive problems. Below are migraine symptoms:

-- Visual phenomena, such as seeing various shapes, bright spots or flashes of light
-- Vision loss
-- Pins and needles/tingling sensations in an arm or leg
-- Speech or language problems (aphasia)
-- Pain on one side or both sides of your head
-- Pain that has a pulsating, throbbing quality
-- Sensitivity to light, sounds and sometimes smells
-- Nausea and vomiting
-- Blurred vision
-- Lightheadedness, sometimes followed by fainting

 

[skyfire322]

Wow! I would have never guessed that. Thank you for the info, Naka!