Symptoms of Epilepsy
Symptoms of Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a serious disorder that affects millions of people all over the world. While it is quite common, a number of people are not aware of the symptoms of epilepsy. As individuals who suffer from epilepsy are known to lose consciousness or even forget that they have seizures, it not uncommon that most of these individuals rarely notice the symptoms. To understand epilepsy, you will need to understand its symptoms.
Epilepsy is often defined as random or disorganized electrical firings in the brain cells. This misfiring often results in improper functioning of the brain which in most cases will cause the main symptom of epilepsy, seizures. Epileptic seizures are known to be recurrent. However, the type of seizure will vary from one individual to the next. Some individuals may have seizures which cause them to lose consciousness while others may have grand Mal seizures in which the whole body experiences violent muscle contractions.
Just like the seizures differ from person to person, the symptoms of epilepsy also vary in the same manner. Understanding the symptoms will help the physician determine the best treatment to help one cope with their seizures. As most individuals do not remember their symptoms before and sometimes after the seizures, it is important to have your friends or loved ones involved. They will help provide an accurate account of the symptoms of epilepsy in a particular case.
One of the most common symptoms of epilepsy is weakness. This may be general in a number of cases but in most cases, it is weakness in a local area i.e. it affects an arm or a leg. At times it can even affect both. Weakness is known to be a symptom that precedes a seizure.
With a number of seizure types, anxiety is another common epilepsy symptom. Individuals who have had a number of recurrent seizures normally feel a dark aura or a feeling of impending doom right before they suffer an epileptic attack.
For individuals who have recurrent absence seizures, staring is a common epileptic symptom. Known to occur right before and during a seizure, staring involves an individual looking out into space in manner that may seem to others to be daydreaming. Staring as a symptom only lasts a few seconds. Other minor symptoms may accompany staring such as repetitive movements.
Loss of consciousness as well as muscle contractions are some of the other common symptoms of epilepsy. Loss of consciousness is known to vary from one individual to the next with some recovering in seconds while others take much longer to regain consciousness. Aside from grand Mal seizures, muscle contractions have been known to occur in isolated muscles throughout the body. These muscle contractions have been known to cause further harm to the individual thus it is important for someone who feels a seizure coming on to try and have it in an open environment free from any dangerous objects.