Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTypes of SeizuresSymptomsCausesSeizure TriggersDiagnosisTreatmentLiving With EpilepsyOutlookNext in Epilepsy GuideSymptoms of Epilepsy
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Types of Seizures
Symptoms
Causes
Seizure Triggers
Diagnosis
Treatment
Living With Epilepsy
Outlook
Next in Epilepsy Guide
Epilepsyis a medical condition in which a person is predisposed to recurrent seizures. Seizures are brief episodes of involuntary movements and/or changes in consciousness that occur due to an alteration of brain activity.
Recurrent seizures can cause physical injuries and may interfere with day-to-day life. Additionally, prolonged seizures and frequent seizures can cause harm to the brain, leading to worsening epilepsy or cognitive changes.
This article will discuss the symptoms of epilepsy, types of seizures, diagnosis, treatment, and living with epilepsy.
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There are many different types of seizures. They are defined based on the symptoms and the location in the brain where they begin.
Some of the common seizure types include:
The classification and definitions of seizures can overlap. People who have epilepsy experience one or more seizure types.
Symptoms of Epilepsy
Symptoms of a seizure may include:
Typically, a seizure will last for only a few seconds and will include one or more of the symptoms. Some people may have a specific sequence of symptoms. For example, a seizure may begin with grunting and progress to involve facial twitching.
Seizures are typically defined as havingphases or stagesthat occur in a sequence:
When to Get Emergency CareGet prompt medical attention or call 911 for:A first-time seizureA seizure during pregnancyA seizure lasting longer than five minutesSeizure clusters (recurrent seizures within a few minutes)An injury that occurred during a seizureDifficulty breathing or walking after a seizure
When to Get Emergency Care
Get prompt medical attention or call 911 for:A first-time seizureA seizure during pregnancyA seizure lasting longer than five minutesSeizure clusters (recurrent seizures within a few minutes)An injury that occurred during a seizureDifficulty breathing or walking after a seizure
Get prompt medical attention or call 911 for:
Epilepsy vs. Seizure: Condition vs. Symptom
What Causes Epilepsy?
The location of brain damage is usually the same location where the seizure began in the brain, also called the seizure focus.It may manifest with specific and limited symptoms, but a focal seizure can spread so quickly that the focal symptoms corresponding to the damaged area of the brain might not be apparent.
There are many neurodevelopmental conditions (involving the development of the brain) associated with epilepsy. Some of these include:
What Is Epilepsy?
Is Epilepsy Hereditary?
Epilepsy can be hereditary. A person who has seizures during early childhood may have a genetic predisposition to epilepsy or may have experienced issues during early fetal development or early childhood that are not genetic or hereditary.
Common Seizure Triggers
Certain factors can trigger seizures. A seizure trigger is a health condition, environmental factor, or substance that can cause instability in the brain’s electrical function, increasing the sensitivity of a seizure focus.
Most people who have epilepsy experience unprovoked seizures, which are seizures that occur without a trigger. Additionally, people who have epilepsy are especially sensitive to seizure triggers.
How to Identify Your Triggers
If you have epilepsy, it is best to avoid common seizure triggers, which include:
Additionally, you may also notice that you are especially sensitive to specific triggers, even if they aren’t common. This may include particular foods, sounds, or smells.
How Is Epilepsy Diagnosed?
Epilepsy is diagnosed based on the symptoms and diagnostic tests. A history of recurrent seizures, especially unprovoked seizures, is consistent with a diagnosis of epilepsy.
Sometimes changes are detected during aneurological examination, but the physical examination is often normal for people with epilepsy.
Diagnostic tests can help identify whether epilepsy involves focal or generalized seizures. Common tests used in an epilepsy diagnosis include:
Treatment for Epilepsy
Epilepsy is customarily treated withanti-epilepsy medicationand avoidance of seizure triggers. For most people, these approaches are effective.Sometimes other interventions, such as surgery or brain stimulation, may be needed.
Medication
Medications indicated for treating epilepsyinclude those that are taken daily to prevent seizures. Some anti-epilepsy drugs are used on an emergency basis to help stop a prolonged seizure.
The selection of anti-epilepsy medication is based on the type of seizures and other medication or health problems that might affect treatment.
Surgery
Brain surgery procedures can help reduce the number or severity of certain types of seizures.Epilepsy surgerymay involve cutting into or removing an area of the brain that causes seizures or promotes the generalization of seizures.
Testing prior to epilepsy surgery involves EEGs, imaging tests, and an evaluation of the function of the target area of the brain.
Brain and Nerve Stimulation
Certain surgically implanted devices can be used to treat epilepsy. These devices provide internal electrical stimulation that helps regulate the electrical activity in the brain to prevent a seizure.Thevagal nerve stimulatoris an example of a device used in surgical brain stimulation for epilepsy.
Diet and Lifestyle
Anybody who has epilepsy should maintain a consistent diet and lifestyle:
Foods to Avoid With Epilepsy: Diet and Seizures
Living with epilepsy requiresmaking adjustments to day-to-day lifeto avoid seizure triggers. For some people, certain accommodations might be necessary for safety.
Managing Seizures
Managing epilepsy involves taking medication as prescribed. Skipping anti-epilepsy medication or taking it irregularly can cause frequent seizures.
Some anti-epilepsy medications have side effects. It’s important to speak with your healthcare team about any side effects so you can work together to manage them. This can involve completely switching to a different prescription or taking treatment to alleviate side effects.
Do not make changes in your anti-seizure medications on your own, because that can lead to seizures.
Devices That Help With Epilepsy
Specialty equipment can help improve quality of life. Depending on the type of seizures you experience and their impact on your life, you might consider using a device designed to help people who have epilepsy.
Examples of epilepsy devices and aids are:
Complications
Epilepsy can cause several complications, such as:
Long-Term Epilepsy Prognosis
Emotional Impact
There are many emotional aspects of living with epilepsy. It can be difficult to adjust to the limitations of living with epilepsy, such as not driving or being unable to independently participate in certain activities, such as swimming.
Sometimes it can be difficult to regularly attend school or work due to seizures or medication side effects. These issues can lead to a sense of isolation or helplessness, and epilepsy is associated with a higher than average risk of depression.
If you are experiencing emotional complications due to epilepsy, you can seek professional support to help you talk through your feelings and learn to cope.
Coping With Epilepsy
Can You Drive With Epilepsy?
Many states have regulations regarding driving for people who have epilepsy. Policies may consider factors such as how much time has passed since the most recent seizure or the use of medications.
You and your healthcare provider will have to discuss the regulations and the safest decision for you. Even if your state does not have restrictions that affect your permission to drive, your healthcare provider might recommend that you don’t drive as a safety precaution for yourself and others.
How to Find an Epilepsy Support Group
Epilepsy is a medical condition with a wide variation in severity. The outlook varies considerably. Some people have very good seizure control with a tolerable medication dose. Many people remain seizure free while taking anti-epilepsy medication.
However, some people with epilepsy continue to have seizures despite medication, surgery, and dietary interventions.
You can get some guidance regarding the anticipated outlook for your seizure type, which can help you understand what you should expect. Your situation is unique, and your outlook depends on how well your seizures are controlled, the cause of your seizures, and whether you also have other medical issues that might affect your epilepsy.
Natural Treatment Options for Epilepsy
10 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Beghi E, Giussani G, Sander JW.The natural history and prognosis of epilepsy.Epileptic Disord.2015;17(3):243-253. doi:10.1684/epd.2015.0751Andrade-Machado R, Benjumea Cuartas V, Muhammad IK.Recognition of interictal and ictal discharges on EEG. Focal vs generalized epilepsy.Epilepsy Behav.2021;117:107830. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107830Epilepsy Foundation.Seizure phases.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Seizure first aid.Manford M.Recent advances in epilepsy.J Neurol.2017;264(8):1811-1824. doi:10.1007/s00415-017-8394-2Aung T, Tenney JR, Bagić AI.Contributions of magnetoencephalography to understanding mechanisms of generalized epilepsies: blurring the boundary between focal and generalized epilepsies?Front Neurol. 2022;13:831546. doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.831546Symonds JD, Zuberi SM, Johnson MR.Advances in epilepsy gene discovery and implications for epilepsy diagnosis and treatment.Curr Opin Neurol.2017;30(2):193-199. doi:10.1097/WCO.0000000000000433Khoo A, de Tisi J, Mannan S, O’Keeffe AG, Sander JW, Duncan JS.Reasons for not having epilepsy surgery.Epilepsia. 2021;62(12):2909-2919. doi:10.1111/epi.17083Ulamek-Koziol M. Czuczwar SJ, Januszewski S, Pluta R.Ketogenic diet and epilepsy.Nutrients.2019;11(10):2510. doi:10.3390/nu11102510Epilepsy Foundation.Missed medicines as a seizure trigger.
10 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Beghi E, Giussani G, Sander JW.The natural history and prognosis of epilepsy.Epileptic Disord.2015;17(3):243-253. doi:10.1684/epd.2015.0751Andrade-Machado R, Benjumea Cuartas V, Muhammad IK.Recognition of interictal and ictal discharges on EEG. Focal vs generalized epilepsy.Epilepsy Behav.2021;117:107830. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107830Epilepsy Foundation.Seizure phases.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Seizure first aid.Manford M.Recent advances in epilepsy.J Neurol.2017;264(8):1811-1824. doi:10.1007/s00415-017-8394-2Aung T, Tenney JR, Bagić AI.Contributions of magnetoencephalography to understanding mechanisms of generalized epilepsies: blurring the boundary between focal and generalized epilepsies?Front Neurol. 2022;13:831546. doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.831546Symonds JD, Zuberi SM, Johnson MR.Advances in epilepsy gene discovery and implications for epilepsy diagnosis and treatment.Curr Opin Neurol.2017;30(2):193-199. doi:10.1097/WCO.0000000000000433Khoo A, de Tisi J, Mannan S, O’Keeffe AG, Sander JW, Duncan JS.Reasons for not having epilepsy surgery.Epilepsia. 2021;62(12):2909-2919. doi:10.1111/epi.17083Ulamek-Koziol M. Czuczwar SJ, Januszewski S, Pluta R.Ketogenic diet and epilepsy.Nutrients.2019;11(10):2510. doi:10.3390/nu11102510Epilepsy Foundation.Missed medicines as a seizure trigger.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Beghi E, Giussani G, Sander JW.The natural history and prognosis of epilepsy.Epileptic Disord.2015;17(3):243-253. doi:10.1684/epd.2015.0751Andrade-Machado R, Benjumea Cuartas V, Muhammad IK.Recognition of interictal and ictal discharges on EEG. Focal vs generalized epilepsy.Epilepsy Behav.2021;117:107830. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107830Epilepsy Foundation.Seizure phases.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Seizure first aid.Manford M.Recent advances in epilepsy.J Neurol.2017;264(8):1811-1824. doi:10.1007/s00415-017-8394-2Aung T, Tenney JR, Bagić AI.Contributions of magnetoencephalography to understanding mechanisms of generalized epilepsies: blurring the boundary between focal and generalized epilepsies?Front Neurol. 2022;13:831546. doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.831546Symonds JD, Zuberi SM, Johnson MR.Advances in epilepsy gene discovery and implications for epilepsy diagnosis and treatment.Curr Opin Neurol.2017;30(2):193-199. doi:10.1097/WCO.0000000000000433Khoo A, de Tisi J, Mannan S, O’Keeffe AG, Sander JW, Duncan JS.Reasons for not having epilepsy surgery.Epilepsia. 2021;62(12):2909-2919. doi:10.1111/epi.17083Ulamek-Koziol M. Czuczwar SJ, Januszewski S, Pluta R.Ketogenic diet and epilepsy.Nutrients.2019;11(10):2510. doi:10.3390/nu11102510Epilepsy Foundation.Missed medicines as a seizure trigger.
Beghi E, Giussani G, Sander JW.The natural history and prognosis of epilepsy.Epileptic Disord.2015;17(3):243-253. doi:10.1684/epd.2015.0751
Andrade-Machado R, Benjumea Cuartas V, Muhammad IK.Recognition of interictal and ictal discharges on EEG. Focal vs generalized epilepsy.Epilepsy Behav.2021;117:107830. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.107830
Epilepsy Foundation.Seizure phases.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Seizure first aid.
Manford M.Recent advances in epilepsy.J Neurol.2017;264(8):1811-1824. doi:10.1007/s00415-017-8394-2
Aung T, Tenney JR, Bagić AI.Contributions of magnetoencephalography to understanding mechanisms of generalized epilepsies: blurring the boundary between focal and generalized epilepsies?Front Neurol. 2022;13:831546. doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.831546
Symonds JD, Zuberi SM, Johnson MR.Advances in epilepsy gene discovery and implications for epilepsy diagnosis and treatment.Curr Opin Neurol.2017;30(2):193-199. doi:10.1097/WCO.0000000000000433
Khoo A, de Tisi J, Mannan S, O’Keeffe AG, Sander JW, Duncan JS.Reasons for not having epilepsy surgery.Epilepsia. 2021;62(12):2909-2919. doi:10.1111/epi.17083
Ulamek-Koziol M. Czuczwar SJ, Januszewski S, Pluta R.Ketogenic diet and epilepsy.Nutrients.2019;11(10):2510. doi:10.3390/nu11102510
Epilepsy Foundation.Missed medicines as a seizure trigger.
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