Need info on seizures and convulsions

I'm posting this on behalf of my friend Mick.

Mick has a brother called Simon who was diagnosed with a epileptic condition about two weeks ago.
He does not have epilepsy but its a brain disorder that affects some young kids. He's holding up and has had a seizure since then but can't remember much.
Micks his big brother and he is afraid incase anything happens to him. It sounds soppy but he wants to know answers to theses questions:

1. What is it like to witness a seizure?
2. What sort of things happen during it?
3. Is it painful?
4. What should he do?
5. How does it feel for the person?

Mick wants to be able to know what is going on with Simon so he can show that he understands. He basically wants a lowdown on convulsions or seizures?

 

"Help with seizures/convulsions? for my friend. "

I don't know that I can actually help him have them, but I am willing to try.

 

I think one of the most important things is to make sure the person having the seizure doesn't swallow their tongue.

 

I have worked in a profession for three years now, that allows me to see seizures firsthand.


They are damned scary the first time you witness them, sad to say, espically if it is a full blown Grand Mol seizure.

What sort of things happen? well they thrash about quite abit, and run the danger of breaking limbs or other appendages from it. The spasms of a seizure are surprisingly strong, and it is hard to hold in arms or legs during one.

Your best bet would to be to tell your friend to get his brother on his side in a wide open area, and simply let it happen. Or if he is an in inclosed area PROTECT HIS HEAD!!! Try to keep his arms from flaing if he can, but if he cant.

Is it painful? Well, to the person having one, maybe maybe not. It depends. Sometimes they will lose control of thier bladder, be out of their head for a few minutes, or come to with a headache. There is no one set of rules. More than likely, your brothers friend will be out of it for up to an hour, perhaps less, and will not remeber the seizure or the events leading up to it.

Your friend over time will learn the warning signs of an impeding seizure, (acting quiet, takes awhile to respond to questions, etc.) and will develop a sense as to when his brother is going to have one, and will be prepared firsthand.

Good luck to your friend and his brother.

 

do a search in google/yahoo.

watching a seizure is scarey.
depends on how intense the seizure is.
get him to a doctor or emergency room, if the doctor advises you to.
don't stick your fingers in his mouth to keep him from swallowing his tongue. I stuck my fingers in a child's mouth once while she was having a seizure, and she clamped her jaws down on my fingers and almost broke them from the impact; prying her jaws open to let go of my fingers took 2 other adults.
they may not necessarily be aware of their surroundings when hit by an attack.
it is a serious medical condition.

 

Basil - I did a quick Google search. I found a site that seems oriented to non-medical people and it might answer your friend's questions. Try
Kidshealth
. It is oriented toward epilepsy but it seems to have some good info on seizures on children.

 

Thanks everyone

 

My bro had seizures when he was younger. Every time he had a fever he'd have one. They went away as he got older.

 

Frothing at the mouth = bad.

 

Okay, half this is from what my friends have witnessed since I'm the one with Epilepsy. It's a lot of uncontrolled muscle spasms and the best thing to do is turn the person on their side so they can't choke on their own vomit and get something soft, like a coat or something under them. It's not painful unless you hit something when you're thrashing or you bite your tongue. Be careful when whoever it is this is happening to doesn't hit their head or anything of the sort. The person may become non-responsive and for at least the seizures that I get I am not aware of it at all and usually wake up on the floor. I'm not aware of what goes on or anything. Hope that helps you.

 

Well, I can't really comment on what it's like to watch a seizure occur, but I might be able to help with the experiencing one since I'm epileptic.

My seizures have always occured during my sleep so I don't know how I feel when it's happening. I *do* know what it's like to come to after one and it's not a good feeling.

There is always a moment or two of feeling disoriented. It takes me a bit to realize where I am and what has happened. My arms and legs are extremely sore from thrashing about, and my tongue is always bruised because I bite down on it during the seizure. Headaches are a given for me, and although I've not lost control of my bladder or frothed at the mouth, I have thrown up a couple times.

It's a weird feeling to describe - it's like the onset of a fever, if I had to describe it afterwards. I feel hot, I feel cold, I'm shivering. And I'm tired. Really, really tired.

I only started having seizures in 1994 and in 1996 I was diagnosed. It took them that long to determine what it was because in the beginning it was very rare and only happened in my sleep.

My ex-boyfriend was with me when they occured and aside from calling 911, he just let the seizure play out, he didn't try to stop it from happening. He kept my head from whacking anything and also prevented me from swallowing my tongue.

I don't know how much of that will help. Good luck to your friend's brother.

 

I too am epileptic and everyone who has posted thus far have made statements that are correct so I will not repeat my experiences that coincide. I have never witnessed a seizure before. I have heard that it is terryifying to watch. From what I have read, epilepsy and seizures are different for every person. Some people experience vastly different things than others and the onsets can vary from flashing lights to stress. I am compelled to write to share my experiances to help your friend. I generally have had two sorts of seizures, both being grand mal but both very different experiences. The first is literally being aware one minute and the next being ultra confused with people standing around me telling me I had a seizure. Immediately afterwards I have no idea whats going on at all and like what was said before, I am extraordinarily sore with abrasions on my toungue. I have even come to before with a broken nose and large gashes on my face. The soreness comes from all of your muscles clinching tightly for the duration of the seizure. Imagine flexing as hard as you can, every muscle in your body for a few minutes. While the seizure is happening, I am unaware and so I feel no pain. I hope that can be of some comfort. The second type has a technical term to it that I don't remember but my neurologist has told me that it is a somewhat common occurence as well. I am not trying to frighten you and I am not even going to pretend like this is the case for all people who experience this sort of thing but it kinda goes like this. I am conscience and than I feel my head uncontrollably tilting upwards towards the sky. Since I am conscience still I try to force my head back down to no avail. I start making a moaning sound which I have been told is my diaphragm expelling all of the air out of my lungs. This all happens within seconds or less but the only thought in my head until I am unaware is that I am dying. That I am dead and that this is it and it scares the hell out of me. Like I said, I'm not trying to be callous or to frighten you but that has happened to me a few times and it has had a very strong impact on my life. I am saying this so if this ever happens to your friend you might be able to understand. There are the grand mals you don't know about and then there are ones that you know are coming. Even though I should know by now that if I get that feeling where my head tilts up, its only a seizure, It doesn't compute, all I think is that I am dying. I apologize for writing so much but I have very few people who I can talk to about these sorts of things and I guess it feels good to get it out. If you have any other specific questions I would be happy to try and help. Later Days

 

I'm a RN, and I thought I'd give some information on seizures.

When someone is having a seizure, let them have the seizure without interfering while remembering to keep the affected safe from harm (away from objects which could hurt them while they're having it).

It's a myth that you 'swallow your tongue' when you have seizures.

DO NOT place your fingers anywhere near the person's mouth. We had a moronic MD do that in the ER once where I used to work, the patient had a seizure, and the doctor ended up with a broken thumb.

Do not place anything in the person's mouth.

Wait a few minutes for the seizure to pass, and when it does the patient will go into a postictal state where they may be drowsy while the brain recovers.

The patient will not recall what he or she experiences when the seizure is taking place because generally consciousness is lost during that period.

If the patient continues seizing uncontrollably and will not come out of it, call 9-1-1.

Here is a bit of info on seizures:

Epilepsy/Seizures

Overview

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition characterized by recurrent seizures that are caused by abnormal cerebral nerve cell activity. Epilepsy is classified as idiopathic or symptomatic. Idiopathic epilepsy has no known cause, and the person has no other signs of neurological disease or mental deficiency. Symptomatic epilepsy results from a known condition, such as stroke, head injury, poisoning, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and cerebral palsy.

Incidence and Prevalence
More than 2 million people in the United States and over 50 million worldwide suffer from epilepsy. In the United States, more than 300,000 people with epilepsy are under the age of 14, and more than 500,000 are over the age of 65.

Seizure
A nerve cell transmits signals to and from the brain in two ways by (1) altering the concentrations of salts (sodium, potassium, calcium) within the cell and (2) releasing chemicals called neurotransmitters (gamma aminobutyric acid). The change in salt concentration conducts the impulse from one end of the nerve cell to the other. At the end, a neurotransmitter is released, which carries the impulse to the next nerve cell. Neurotransmitters either slow down or stop cell-to-cell communication (called inhibitory neurotransmitters) or stimulate this process (called excitatory neurotransmitters). Normally, nerve transmission in the brain occurs in an orderly way, allowing a smooth flow of electrical activity. Improper concentration of salts within the cell and overactivity of either type of neurotransmitter can disrupt orderly nerve cell transmission and trigger seizure activity.

Certain areas of the brain are more likely than others to be involved in seizure activity. The motor cortex, which is responsible for body movement, and the temporal lobes, including the hippocampus, which is involved in memory, are particularly sensitive to biochemical changes (e.g., decreased oxygen level, metabolic imbalances, infection) that provoke abnormal brain cell activity.

Seizure Phases A seizure often has three distinct phases: aura, ictus, and postictal state. The first phase involves alterations in smell, taste, visual perception, hearing, and emotional state. This is known as an aura, which is actually a small partial seizure that is often followed by a larger event. The seizure is known as ictus. There are two major types of seizure: partial and generalized. What happens to the person during the seizure depends on where in the brain the disruption of neural activity occurs. Following a seizure, the person enters into the postictal state. Drowsiness and confusion are commonly experienced during this phase. The postictal state is the period in which the brain recovers from the insult it has experienced.

Types

The International Classification of Epileptic Seizure identifies seizure types by the site of origin in the brain. The two main categories of seizures include

 

Thanks very much, DM. Yes, in my college years, I also had heard that victims could swallow their tongue, hence, I did put my fingers around the child's teeth, so she wouldn't chomp down on her tongue, either. Well, she chomped down on my fingers, and even a 3 year old can just about chomp them off !!!!!

 

Thanks,
I once read about a man who nearly died when he took a fit when on life support, can that happen? Apparently he had a stroke and he began to convulse and began to chooke on the tubing in his mouth. How do hospitals stop people from dieing like that?