This page provides information about what epilepsy is, how it is diagnosed, what causes it, types of seizures, and seizure triggers. If you would like to suggest a link or provide some additional information, please email me.
Seizures and Epilepsy - "Frequently Asked Questions"
This page provides some general information about what a seizure is and basic information about seizure types. The invormation about what to do if a person has a seizure is excellent! Pictures demonstrate positioning information.
Feline Epilepsy
This page discusses epilepsy in general and how it is treated in cats. It is a good resource for pet owners.
Epilepsy is most often diagnosed after a person has had a seizure. Many people go to the emergency room or doctor because of troubling symptoms or after having a generalized seizure. The doctor may order one or more tests to help diagnose the problem. CT scans, MRI, and PET scans allow the doctor to take a picture of the brain and look for abnormalities such as tumors or signs of brain damage. An electroencephalogram (EEG) will record brain wave activity. Abnormal activity may indicate that seizures are occurring or have occurred recently. Normal activity does not necessarily rule out the presence of epilepsy. If seizures continue and the EEG remains normal, the person may be admitted to the hospital for video EEG monitoring. A psychiatric assessment may be used to determine whether the seizure activity may be a physiological response to a psychological problem. Other physical conditions that can cause nonepileptic seizures should also be ruled out.
If you are interested in learning more about the tests used to diagnose epilepsy, the following links may be helpful:
Waves Identified by Morphology
This page explains the various types of wave patterns that may indicate epilepsy on EEG.
Diagnosis 101
This section of Epilepsy.com provides important information about what doctors to see, what tests are needed, and what comes after diagnosis.
Most often, treatment for epilepsy is generally provided by a neurologist, a doctor who has studied the brain and its functions extensively. A neurologist who specializes in epilepsy, called an epileptologist, may provide valuable assistance if seizures are especially difficult to diagnose or control.
If you think you or a member of your family may be having seizures, you can do some things to make diagnosis easier. Doctors should know about the symptoms the person is experiencing. In addition, knowing about factors which may indicate a cause is important. A seizure diary can help you provide useful information. The article, "Keeping a Seizure Diary," provides some helpful tips and a sample diary page. You may wish to create your own diary and keep track of additional information. Keeping a diary helped me to discover the link between my symptoms and weather patterns, environmental factors, and food allergies. The diary has helped me to learn to distinguish a seizure from a migraine, a panic, and a dissociative episode since I have all of the above.
The term epilepsy refers to a certain type of activity within the brain. The location, nature, and severity of this activity determines what symptoms the seizure will cause. Some people may have a seizure when the brain is excited; others may have a seizure when it is relaxed.
Many conditions can cause the brain to "malfunction" or handle signals incorrectly. These include genetic conditions; accident-related brain injuries; problems with brain development related to premature birth; or injuries to the brain resulting from infection, neurotoxins, or lack of oxygen. Sally Fletcher includes the following list of causes in her book, The Challenge of Epilepsy.
Following is a listing of sites where more information about various seizure types and syndromes is available. If you find a broken link, please let me know.
There are numerous types of seizures. I will try to provide information about some of them, and below I have listed some sources of information about various types.
Much of this information is adapted from The Challenge of Epilepsy by Sally Fletcher.
When medical professionals talk about seizures, they often use three important terms. Ictal period refers to the time that the seizure is going on. The post-ictal period refers to the time after the seizure, when the person may be confused and disoriented. Interictal refers to the periods of time between seizures.
Generalized tonic clonic seizures were previously known as grand mal seizures. These are the seizures most people think of when they think of having epilepsy. According to my research, they are not the most common seizure type. They typically involve falling to the floor, stiffening of the limbs, and shaking of the limbs. Many people who have this type of seizure sleep after it is over.
Simple partial seizures are seizures that affect only certain parts of the body. They do not necessarily cause a person to lose consciousness. People do not always recognize them as seizures.
Complex partial seizures involve partial or complete loss of consciousness but may still allow the person to perform simple tasks. Behavior during a complex partial seizure may seem uncharacteristic of the epileptic seizure. These seizures may also be referred to as temporal lobe seizures. Complex partial seizures are sometimes confused with nonepileptic seizures and/or dissociation. Misdiagnosis has been reported in all three cases. Complex partial seizures may occur with impairment of consciousness, cognitive symptoms, affective symptoms (symptoms involving mood), psychosensory symptoms, psychomotor symptoms (automatic behaviors), or a combination of these symptoms.
Absence seizures were previously known as petit mal seizures and involve a loss of consciousness which is usually brief. Absence seizures may be mistaken for daydreaming.
atonic drop attacks are seizures which involve a sudden loss of muscle control. These are also called akinetic seizures.
Epileptic coma refers to the state of "sleep that follows a seizure.
Epileptic fugue involves automatic movements following a seizure. It is characterized by amnesia and flight.
Focal seizures are seizures which affect only a specific part of the brain.
Photosensitive epilepsy refers to seizures triggered by flashing lights or visual patterns. For more information, read the article on photosensitive epilepsy from the National Society for Epilepsy (U.K.).
Swizures may also be triggered by sounds (audiogenic).
Nonepileptic seizures, also called pseudoseizures or psychogenic seizures have a variety of explanations. A diagnosis of nonepileptic seizures is often made when seizure activity does not show up on an EEG. The term, nonepileptic seizure is preferred by some professionals and individuals because it leaves open the possibility of a variety of explanations. The terms pseudoseizure and psychogenic seizure can be misleading. When someone is diagnosed with pseudoseizures, a common assumption is that the person is faking the seizures in order to get attention. According to research, psychogenic seizures can also occur in response to stress or traumatic events, especially childhood physical or sexual abuse. Other conditions which can mimic seizures include multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, some sleep disorders, and other neurological disorders. For more information about nonepileptic seizures, please visit the nonepileptic seizure resource page.
Febrile seizures are convulsions which occur in conjunction with a high fever. They do not necessarily indicate that the person has epilepsy.
On the epilepsy mailing list, there was at one time some discussion of the relationship between seizures and allergies. Part of this discussion revolves around the use of decongestants to treat allergy symptoms. Several people have found that decongestants lower their seizure threshold. If you are prescribed a decongestant, you may wish to make a note of this.
The following are listed as common triggers of seizures in Sally Fletcher's book, The Challenge of Epilepsy.
For more information about types of seizures, visit Epilepsy Action. This U.K.-based site has several articles and charts discussing seizure types and what symptoms to report to a doctor.
Sarah J. Blake is not a medical professional, and information on this sight should not take the place of face-to-face consultation with medical professionals. The goal of this site is to help people educate themselves about epilepsy and various treatments and alternatives and thus facilitate good communication between patients and doctore.