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Can you be conscious for a grand mal seizure/tonic-clonic?

Tue, 07/07/2009 - 19:52

A few weeks ago, at the age of 22,  I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I have had mainly focal epileptic seizures but recently suffered from a second tonic-clonic seizure in a month.

I was asleep and it was late at night for the first tonic-clonic seizure and I was at the hospital for EEG testing as well as video monitering.

During the second, it was late afternoon, I had suffered from two seizures that day and then after dozing off around 5:30, awoke to my neck turning almost all the way around and my arms twitching, then my body, and then my legs. I rememeber the entire thing... gasping for air and almost losing consiousness. I am currently taking 1500 mg. of Keppra and now will be increasing this dosage to 3000 mg.

I am 22, in perfect health... and now dealing with all of this. It is my knowledge that people that have grand mal seizures or tonic-clonic seizures, lose consciousness. Am I having some sort of different seizure, or what?!?! So confused...

Comments

Re: Can you be conscious for a grand mal seizure/tonic-clonic?

Submitted by jasonsadrummer on Fri, 2009-10-30 - 13:37

Hello,Hoping all is well.  I also have complex partial seziures.  Mine are a little diff. then yours.  Most times I can go as far as holding a conversation with someone while it's going on. Problem is , once its over I don't remember anything.  I started w/ my seziures when I was 16. I'm now 30 y/o and after 2 surgeries I'm still having problems.  The original post of  Can you be conscious for a grand mal seizure/tonic-clonic?  caught my eye because over all my years I've had about 10 or so Grand mal seziures and until the one I had last evening I've never been awake for. I normally wake up in the back of an ambulance on the way to the hospital. I'm hoping things are getting better for you ...It's gunna b ok!  

Hello,Hoping all is well.  I also have complex partial seziures.  Mine are a little diff. then yours.  Most times I can go as far as holding a conversation with someone while it's going on. Problem is , once its over I don't remember anything.  I started w/ my seziures when I was 16. I'm now 30 y/o and after 2 surgeries I'm still having problems.  The original post of  Can you be conscious for a grand mal seizure/tonic-clonic?  caught my eye because over all my years I've had about 10 or so Grand mal seziures and until the one I had last evening I've never been awake for. I normally wake up in the back of an ambulance on the way to the hospital. I'm hoping things are getting better for you ...It's gunna b ok!  

This describes so well what I

Submitted by Emilbus187 on Mon, 2018-04-09 - 20:16
This describes so well what I experience. I have my first neurologist appointment Thursday. I'm so nervous because I don't think what I experience is very common, at least not from what I can gather, and so far no health care professional has taken me seriously. I had one today in the waiting room at the urgent care clinic. Nobody seemed to notice or care. The doctor turned me away, said there's nothing she can do and that if it was a seizure I'd have been unconscious. Yes, a certified medical doctor said that. I am so tired of begging medical professionals to validate what is happening to me only to be dismissed.

Re: Can you be conscious for a grand mal seizure/tonic-clonic?

Submitted by NoMagician on Mon, 2009-11-02 - 13:07

In my experience, you can certainly be conscious to some extent. My neurologist tells me that it's not very common. I'm commenting on this one since I had a very vivid T-C a couple of nights ago as the most recent experience from which I can draw. As my experience with E and T-Cs in particular, grows, I see patterns and similarities forming. Though my wish for you is for lots of seizure-free time, you may see similar patterns yourself over the long haul with this condition.

I remain conscious of who is around me and of what they are saying to me, although I tend to amalgamate them into a complex "dream" in which I am usually struggling for air, and for my life. I might even shout encouragement. "That's helping" I suddenly found the power to shout the other night to a bewildered neighbor of mine whom I was convinced was trying to pull me out of something resembling a collapsed building or mine, when in reality he was only trying to stop me hurting myself. I encouraged him a couple more times until I ran out of gas and gave into the fact that I was going to die, ending up in a heap.

The first time this happened, I was convinced I'd retained full consciousness. Now, I'm more certain that I have a "blended" consciousness between what's really happening and what I'm dreaming, incorporating elements of actual reality into my inner nightmare.

And it continues, still, when my eyes are open and I'm coming around. Having been (presumably) aware that I'd heard glass breaking during my T-C, I lay on the ground afterward, convinced that blood was pouring from an opened artery and that life was slipping away. My wife could not convince me otherwise for some minutes and, indeed, I could feel life ebbing away, as well as blood pooling around my body... wet clothing and all. In reality I was neither badly cut not wet.

When I got home to clean up my scratches, however, I stripped off under the harsh bathroom light to find that my nail-beds on my hands and nails were blue. I had been -- and still was -- extremely oxygen deprived. Not good.

To what extent the oxygen deprivation plays a part in all of this, I am unsure. I suspect, though, that it plays a part and have wondered if I am able to grab a lungful of air occasionally more readily than those of us who simply can't during their T-Cs and therefore end up "out for the count" with no recollection at all.

I'm not an expert... just thinking out loud for others to come along and correct me.

All good wishes, as always

NM

 

In my experience, you can certainly be conscious to some extent. My neurologist tells me that it's not very common. I'm commenting on this one since I had a very vivid T-C a couple of nights ago as the most recent experience from which I can draw. As my experience with E and T-Cs in particular, grows, I see patterns and similarities forming. Though my wish for you is for lots of seizure-free time, you may see similar patterns yourself over the long haul with this condition.

I remain conscious of who is around me and of what they are saying to me, although I tend to amalgamate them into a complex "dream" in which I am usually struggling for air, and for my life. I might even shout encouragement. "That's helping" I suddenly found the power to shout the other night to a bewildered neighbor of mine whom I was convinced was trying to pull me out of something resembling a collapsed building or mine, when in reality he was only trying to stop me hurting myself. I encouraged him a couple more times until I ran out of gas and gave into the fact that I was going to die, ending up in a heap.

The first time this happened, I was convinced I'd retained full consciousness. Now, I'm more certain that I have a "blended" consciousness between what's really happening and what I'm dreaming, incorporating elements of actual reality into my inner nightmare.

And it continues, still, when my eyes are open and I'm coming around. Having been (presumably) aware that I'd heard glass breaking during my T-C, I lay on the ground afterward, convinced that blood was pouring from an opened artery and that life was slipping away. My wife could not convince me otherwise for some minutes and, indeed, I could feel life ebbing away, as well as blood pooling around my body... wet clothing and all. In reality I was neither badly cut not wet.

When I got home to clean up my scratches, however, I stripped off under the harsh bathroom light to find that my nail-beds on my hands and nails were blue. I had been -- and still was -- extremely oxygen deprived. Not good.

To what extent the oxygen deprivation plays a part in all of this, I am unsure. I suspect, though, that it plays a part and have wondered if I am able to grab a lungful of air occasionally more readily than those of us who simply can't during their T-Cs and therefore end up "out for the count" with no recollection at all.

I'm not an expert... just thinking out loud for others to come along and correct me.

All good wishes, as always

NM

 

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