![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Muscle-Pain.jpg\")
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A seizure is a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain, which causes the sufferer to experience a sensory overload, lose control over their body, and potentially lose consciousness. To understand seizures, it helps to understand a little about the brain. The brain is made up of a huge web of neurons.<\/p>\n
These neurons (brain cells) are what codify our thoughts and experiences, and we have these thoughts and experiences when the neurons \u2018light up\u2019 or \u2018fire\u2019.<\/p>\n
That firing occurs in the form of a small electrical signal \u2013 known as an action potential. Action potentials are caused by an increase in electrical activity in the surrounding neurons, which can excite the target neurons past a particular threshold to the point of activation. At the same time, the release of specific chemicals (hormones and neurotransmitters) in the brain will also make neurons more or less likely to fire in this way.<\/p>\n
In a seizure, a chemical cascade causes a sudden burst of activity through a region of the brain. This triggers the senses, the motor control and more \u2013 causing the individual to seize up, to experience flashing lights, and to potentially inure themselves.<\/p>\n
In this post, we will look at some of the most common and alarming symptoms of a seizure, so that you can recognize the signs in yourself or others.<\/p>\n
As we\u2019ll see as we go through this list, there are actually a number of different types of seizure \u2013 and the way that they effect us varies a lot across types.<\/p>\n
The most well known type of seizure and the kind that most of us will associate with the word though is the \u2018generalized tonic-clonic seizure\u2019. This type of seizure is the one that causes a mass firing of neurons<\/a> in a very extreme and dramatic fashion.<\/p>\n One of the most common symptoms of this kind of seizure is the contraction and \u2018seizing up\u2019 of muscles. The body is likely to become rigid and stiff. They might clench their teeth and they might writhe in contortion. This is very distressing for onlookers and can of course be dangerous if they should bite their tongue or pull a muscle.<\/p>\n Another very scary sight for a parent, friend, or onlooker is that the lips can end up turning blue. The reason for this, is that the patient\u2019s body is directing a lot of their blood away from the surface of the skin around the lips (this is what makes the lips appear red in the first place) and instead directing it toward the internal organs in order to protect them during this event.<\/p>\n This is then exacerbated by the extreme tension that the patient is under as they clench everything up and thus restrict the blood flow<\/a> to some extent. For all these reasons, the lips can turn blue \u2013 but don\u2019t worry as this isn\u2019t necessary a dangerous sign.<\/p>\n During a seizure, the body is in a state of shock. The body reacts to the huge increase in activity in the brain by assuming that something incredibly important, loud, and potentially dangerous is occurring. Therefore, you will enter a state of \u2018fight or flight\u2019 during which the body prepares itself for combat or escape.<\/p>\n This then leads to a number of the symptoms that you are likely to observe during the event. Among these is the shallow, rapid, and rhythmic breathing. This is the body trying to get as much oxygen<\/a> as possible to the brain, organs, and muscles.<\/p>\n Note that in a few cases, this can actually appear as though the sufferer has actually stopped breathing. This is due to the contracting muscles and shallow breath. The other reason that the breath is shallow is also a reason for this: that being that the muscles controlling the lungs can also contract and become tense themselves, thereby minimizing the amount of movement as they draw their breath in and out.<\/p>\n You might also at this point notice sweating. This is for the exact same reason \u2013 sweating is another response to a fight or flight response.<\/p>\n Not all seizures will cause a loss of consciousness<\/a>. However, this is nevertheless a fairly common symptom and especially in the more dramatic forms of seizure such as the tonic clonic seizure. This is a result of all manner of things.<\/p>\n Simply, too much activity in the brain is likely to confuse it and prevent it from functioning normally. Rather than experiencing the dizzying array of sensory stimulation, bright lights, memories, and more: a patient will instead simply lose consciousness and often this causes them to fall to the ground.<\/p>\n At the same time, the reduction in oxygen reaching the brain, the muscle contractions and many other changes can all also contribute to the individual suddenly losing consciousness. Usually, when the patient starts to feel better, they will then regain that consciousness \u2013 unsure of precisely what happened.<\/p>\n One of the most obvious symptoms of many types of seizure<\/a> is that the patient will fall over. This is of course always going to be the case where the individual loses consciousness! But it can also occur for other reasons: such as the muscle contractions or the spasms. When this happens, the patient might well be at risk of injuring themselves: and as such, this is actually one of the most dangerous aspects of a seizure for many people.<\/p>\n If you know someone who is prone to seizures and you have any reason to suspect they might experience one, then you should be on red alert to try and catch them and help them should it happen. You might just save their life!<\/p>\n Often it isn\u2019t the seizure itself that is the most dangerous, but rather the risks that having the seizure can then introduce for the individual.<\/p>\n Another way in which a seizure can cause a kind of secondary dangerous health problem is if it causes the individual to swallow their tongue<\/a>. For obvious reasons, this can be highly dangerous as the tongue lolls into the back of the throat and potentially blocks the windpipes.<\/p>\n If you want to prevent this from happening to someone you know or witness, then one of the best things you can do to help is to get them into the recovery position. This is designed to help them prevent injuring themselves as a result of contractions and writhing, and at the same time it can also help them to avoid swallowing their tongue.<\/p>\n One of the most alarming things from the perspective of an onlooker when someone has a seizure, is often that they appear to be unconscious but with their eyes open. This can be upsetting to witness, as we are used to only seeing someone with their eyes closed when they are not conscious.<\/p>\n The eyes will not only remain open, but they can also appear completely white with no discernible pupils<\/a> or irises. This is not a sign of demonic possession (though it is easy now to understand why this was once believed to be what was happening!), but rather it is a sign that the individual\u2019s eyes are rolling upward into the top of their head disguising the appearance of the pupil and iris.<\/p>\n This is not dangerous, it can just look very unpleasant. <\/p>\n Another thing that is particularly unpleasant to witness when someone has a seizure, is that their mouth can begin to foam up. This is a very unusual and therefore somewhat scary thing to observe but the reason it happens is that the mouth is simply producing extra saliva as a side effect of many of the other symptoms.<\/p>\n Clenching the teeth down hard and thrashing the tongue contributes to this heightened saliva<\/a> production. At the same time though, the patient is also going to be breathing rapidly and shallowly (as discussed) with the mouth open.<\/p>\n The mouth is open but the teeth are locked. And there is extra saliva in the mouth. The rapid force of the air will then begin to force the saliva through the teeth, not only creating an excess amount of saliva, but also causing it to foam up and become frothy.<\/p>\n This is nothing to be alarmed of in itself then. However, it is important that you help the person having the seizure by wiping away that saliva. The reason this is important is that the saliva can otherwise be dangerous if they accidentally should choke on it. It is also a nice thing to do for the person\u2019s dignity.<\/p>\n A more mild form of seizure can also occur and this might be less dramatic \u2013 but the fact that it is also lesser known means that it can be scary to witness: simply because you might not know precisely what is happening!<\/p>\n One of the more mild types of seizure is the neonatal seizure. And as the name might suggest, this is a type of seizure that primarily affects babies who are less than 28 days old. These seizures are much shorter and much more subtle and so you might not necessarily notice them.<\/p>\n However, one thing that you might notice, is that your child is pulling unusual facial expressions on a now regular basis. This is caused again by the small amount of firing in the motor cortex of the brain \u2013 the part of the brain<\/a> responsible for movement. <\/p>\n Another sign of a neonatal seizure is a repetitive cycling<\/a> motion being made with the legs. This is something that you might normally witness anyway, as the child explores their body, their environment, and what they are able to do when they move around.<\/p>\n However, if the movement appears almost unconscious (or absent minded in the most literal sense of that expression), and if it is difficult to get them to stop, then there is a small chance that this is actually the result of a seizure.<\/p>\n You might also notice that your child stares into space. They do this again as a result of a mild stroke<\/a> that isn\u2019t enough to cause a loss of consciousness but which is going to make them \u2018tune out\u2019 and become less aware of the world outside.<\/p>\n This symptom is also able to occur in adults, and this is where we can start to look at some of the other types of seizure that can occur. Staring into distance is a common sign of what is known as a \u2018generalized absence seizure\u2019. This type of seizure causes the person to seemingly lose consciousness while still being conscious\u2026 they might therefore become unresponsive. They might lose interest in things and they might seem to act unusual.<\/p>\n This can last for anywhere from 10 to 20 seconds. It\u2019s easy to confuse this type of seizure with daydreaming \u2013 and indeed the actual activity in the brain may even be similar! The difference is that it is unconscious.<\/p>\n Now 10 seconds or 20 seconds of inactivity, or taking a little bit longer to respond than normal, are all symptoms<\/a> that could be very easy to miss. This is especially true in young children who tend to have somewhat \u2018selective hearing\u2019 at the best of times!<\/p>\n One way that you can identify it then, is if the child (or adult) suddenly stops what they are doing right in the middle of their activity. If they are working, playing, talking, or doing something else and then they just stop and don\u2019t respond for ten seconds, then this is a sign that they might be having a very mild form of absence seizure. You should certainly look into this, as it could also be a symptom of other things.<\/p>\n Usually, these types of seizure will occur multiple times in a single day \u2013 making it easier to spot and be aware of the problem.<\/p>\n An absence seizure can sometimes have more in common with the more dramatic forms of seizure. The best example of this is when the eyes start moving strangely \u2013 again this is the result of activity in the motor cortex that causes that part of the brain to fire.<\/p>\n This is also another very easy sign that the individual is having a seizure<\/a> if they become unresponsive \u2013 rather than just \u2018zoning out\u2019 as it were.<\/p>\n The strange eye movements can include:<\/p>\n Gradually rolling the eyes up into the top of the head If these things happen, then some kind of seizure is one likely explanation and it is worth looking into.<\/p>\n This phrase might not mean much to you but don\u2019t worry! Basically, an automatism is an automatic and unconscious movement pattern. Some common examples of this include licking the mouth or sticking the tongue out, swallowing repeatedly, or making hand movements.<\/p>\n These symptoms are actually very similar to tics in Tourette\u2019s<\/a> Syndrome, and there may in fact be some similarity between them. Automatisms can be a little unpleasant and unusual to observe as a bystander once again however.<\/p>\n Autonomic symptoms are those caused by the nervous system response to your sudden rush of brain activity. Remember, the nervous system is responsible for the \u2018fight or flight\u2019 response, which in turn is the sudden panic and physiological changes that occur when the body or brain detect danger.<\/p>\n When this happens, we are primed for action and therefore changes occur to make us better at fighting, running and generally surviving any kind of dangerous situation. Among other things, we will find that our pupils dilate (thereby letting in more light and allowing us to see more of our surroundings), we become flushed, our heartbeat<\/a> increases, and we salivate.<\/p>\n These can happen to a minor degree or a much larger degree. But if someone you know is unresponsive, check their pupils for dilation and this might be a good clue as to what could be going on.<\/p>\n Earlier, we mentioned that a seizure symptom would sometimes have something in common with a tic in Tourette\u2019s. This is also seen in the tendency to suddenly jerk or move the limbs without warning and without control over the limb.<\/p>\n This is actually a specific type of seizure that is known as a \u2018generalized myoclonic seizure\u2019. These types of seizure are very brief and will cause that sudden jerk movement because the sudden activity in the brain is located once more where the motor cortex is.<\/p>\n At the same time, these types of seizure also keep the patient awake and conscious. It\u2019s worth noting that there are also other causes for this kind of symptom. For instance, this could actually be Tourette\u2019s syndrome. Likewise, it is very possible that this could the result of a \u2018juvenile myoclonic epilepsy<\/a>\u2019 if it should occur in a young child. It could even be \u2018alien limb syndrome\u2019 which is as unusual as it sounds and has an entirely different explanation.<\/p>\n These types of seizures tend to occur most often immediately upon waking.<\/p>\n Another symptom of the more dramatic forms of seizure is shouting and yelling. This occurs during the myoclonic seizure, simply because the muscles in the lungs and the chest are suddenly contracting. That contracture then causes the air to be forcibly exhaled from the lungs and this can cause a sudden noise or shout at the same time.<\/p>\n This is again one of the more alarming things to witness as someone who cares about the sufferer. That\u2019s because it can sound as though they are in pain, or as though they are scared. Chances are that they will have already lost consciousness<\/a> though \u2013 so that\u2019s not lightly to be the case.<\/p>\n While it can be alarming, you can eventually come to recognize it as an opportunity to do something to help \u2013 to move quickly and try to catch your friend or family member.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve discussed several different types of seizure that can occur here, but there is still one more: the generalized atonic seizure.The myoclonic seizure is the seizure that we are most familiar with. This seizure causes the individual to seize up and many of us will have noticed this happen to someone we know at some point.<\/p>\n However, the opposite can also occur: the patient can go completely limp and collapse on the ground with no muscle<\/a> tone. This is type of seizure occurs due to a sudden loss of activity \u2013 or an \u2018overload\u2019 \u2013 in the motor cortex.<\/p>\n There are other things we can look for that will help us to identify this type of seizure. For instance, the patient will very often actually remain conscious during this type of seizure \u2013 or they will only lose consciousness very briefly indeed. At the same time, their eyelids may become droopy.<\/p>\n They might also exhibit slight head nodding, or slight jerking. These types of seizure tend to only last for around 15 seconds, which is yet another give away that this is what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Dry-mouth.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n2. Blue Lips<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Chest-Pain.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n3. Shallow Breathing<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Seizures.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n4. Loss of Consciousness<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Syncope.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n5. Falling<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/fainting-1.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n6. Swallowing the Tongue<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/heart-attact-eye-roll.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n7. Eyes Rolling<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Saliva.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n8. Foaming Mouth<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Facial-Palsy.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n9. Repetitive Facial Movements<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Bicycling_Neonatal-Seizure.jpg\")
10. Bicycling<\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/unconcious.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n11. Staring<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/No-joyful-expression.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n12. Cessation of Activity<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/BUlging-big-eyes.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n13. Strange Eye Movements<\/h3>\n
\nRepetitive blinking
\nDarting<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Loss-voice.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n14. Automatisms<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Panic-Disorder.jpg\")
15. Autonomic Symptoms<\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Leg-pain-2.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n16. Limb Jerks<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Inappropriate-Reactions.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n17. Shouting<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/besthealth.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/concious.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n18. Limpness<\/h3>\n
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