1. Feeling Weak
Atonic seizures result in a loss of strength in the muscles. Victims may notice drooping eyelids, falling suddenly and an inability to hold onto things. People stay awake during the seizure and, because of the sudden loss of muscle tone, can suffer injuries as a result of falling.
2. Grand Mal
Perhaps the most recognized seizure is the grand mal seizure. Sufferers usually fall down as a result of this seizure and are unconscious for the duration. The first phase of the seizure usually lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute and includes a stiffening of the entire body (tonic phase). Next comes intense twitching (clonic phase) that lasts about as long as the tonic phase. The third part of a grand mal seizure is sleep. This is called the postictal phase and results in deep sleep for the victim. Grand mal seizures often involve both sides of the brain and people usually wake from them feeling dazed or sleepy.
3. Where did the day go?
Absence seizures can happen without you even knowing about them. They most often occur in children and result in a "zone out" caused by a very short loss of consciousness. A person's normal activities take a short break while the victim momentarily stares off into space. Absence seizures can happen more than once in a day and the only way a person usually knows these seizures occur is an inability to account for blocks of time.
4. Jerky Motions
Myoclonic seizures involve both sides of the brain and result in sudden jerkiness that affects both sides of the body. More serious episodes can result in a loss of the ability to hold onto something, causing an inadvertent throwing or dropping of anything the sufferer holds at the onset of the seizure.
5. Feeling Funny
Partial seizures have a focus or a specific area in the brain where the electrical impulse that results in the seizure begins. These can be either simple or complex seizures and tend to be less dramatic than seizures that involve both hemispheres of the brain. Simple seizures include those that affect motor skills, sensory perception or have psychological affects. Results of these include spasms, rigid muscles, strange effects on the five senses, such as a sudden narrowing of a room or movement of objects, unpleasant odors, feeling a light brushing against the skin, hearing hissing sounds or disruptions in memory or emotional stability. Victims of simple partial seizures are conscious during the episode. Complex partial seizures can cause involuntary actions such as walking, fidgeting or chewing. People experiencing this type of seizure usually seem unaware of it.
