Seizures take all different forms. When you say Epilepsy, or Seizures, most people automatically think about Hollywood's depiction of them. A person on the floor, convulsing violently. Honestly, this was my impression until recently.
The truth is, there are over 40 different types of seizures and seizure disorders.
I'll start with the type of seizures Emma has. (sorry if this is a repeat from previous entries)
Her official diagnosis is "Primary Generalized Non-Convulsive Epilepsy"
Lets break that down.
Primary Generalized - Means that there are electrical discharges that don't radiate from one side of the brain, rather they start from both sides of the brain. These can take on a wide form of physical charateristics, which I have listed below.
Absence - The type that Emma has. They can commonly be mistaken for daydreaming. They usually last 10-20 seconds, and can occur as many as 50 times a day. Another name for these might be petite-mal. They can be simple - just staring, or complex, when muscle changes occur, such as contracting, or relaxing muscles. Emma experiences both types.
Atypical Absence Seizures - the same staring that occurs with a regular absence seizure, but the person experiencing it is somewhat responsive.
Myoclonic Seizures - These are more or less similar to muscle spasms. One part of the body "jerks" and it make occur a few times in a row. These occur in several different Epilepsy Syndroms.
Atonic Seizures - In these seizures, muscles loose their tone, usually causing the person to "drop" The head may nod, and your head may drop. Sometimes they are simply called "drop seizures". Although not part of her "official diagnosis, I have noticed these in Emma, more frequently latley. Just another thing to ask the Neuro when I call next week!
Tonic Seizures - Muscles stiffen, instead of loose tone. They usually occur during sleep. They are common in a syndrome called Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome.
Clonic Seizures- These are pattern of rythemic Jerking movements limbs, sometimes affecting both sides of the body.
Tonic-Clonic Seizures - These are the seizures people most commonly think of. They use to be called "Grand-Mal" and some people still refer to them as that. The person falls to the ground, and experiences rapid muscle jerking. The person generally looses consciousness. They last between 1-3 minutes, although if they last longer than 5 minutes, it usually requires emergency help. They posses qualities of both Tonic and Clonic seizures.
Partial Seizures - These seizures begin in one particular part of the brain, instead of all over.
Simple Partial - They are described many ways, and the person stays alert through them, it can start with an "aura" such as an odor. They are sometimes followed by a Generalized Seizure. They are divided into categories, depending on the symptoms that are described. They are classified into Motor, Sensory, Autonomic, and psychic.
Complex Partial - These start in a small area of the temporal or frontal lobe, they then quickly involved other parts of the brain, affecting Alertness. The symptoms of these are very subtle, and like absence seizures, someone may just think the person is day dreaming
Secondarily Generalized Seizures - These start as a Partial seizure and then spread to the rest of the brain.
All of the information here was found on Epilepsy.com
I realize that you could find this information for yourself, but I had a request from a friend to blog about this today, because she wanted to be aware of the broad spectrum of seizures. I have not listed all disorders related to Epilepsy, there are many, many more. But I hope that I have summarized it fairly well.
And unfortunatley, I will not be able to get the bracelets, the site I was going to get them from ended their sale. If anyone has any other requests they would like to learn about, let me know!
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