What is it?
Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that causes unprovoked, recurrent seizures. A seizure is a sudden rush of electrical activity in the brain. There is a wide variety of types of seizures. Patients may pass out, have convulsions, or behave strangely.
What are the symptoms?
A simple partial seizure does not involve loss of consciousness. Symptoms include:
- Alterations to sense of taste, smell, sight, hearing, or touch.
- Dizziness.
- Tingling and twitching of limbs. *Complex partial seizures involve loss of awareness or consciousness.
Other symptoms include:
- Staring blankly.
- Unresponsiveness.
- Performing repetitive movements.
- A blank stare.
- Repeated lip smacking or blinking.
- Short loss of awareness.
- Muscle stiffness.
- Loss of muscle control thereby making you fall down suddenly.
- Repeated, jerky muscle movements of the face, neck, and arms.
- Stiffening of the body.
- Shaking.
- Loss of bladder or bowel control.
- Biting of the tongue.
- Loss of consciousness.
- Foaming at the mouth (Rare).
What to expect?
Call an ambulance or seek immediate medical help if you or someone:
- Is having a seizure for the first time.
- Has a seizure for more than 5 minutes.
- Has a lot of seizures in a row.