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What to do?
Tue, 09/14/2010 - 19:54Hi, I am a person who does not have seizures but I wanted to learn more about them. I thought I would learn more from people who actually deal with epilepsy themselves rather than reading books from doctors.
I would like to know what you would want a person to do if you were to have a seizure. I have read many of you talk about how people have no idea what to do. What would you want a person to do for you? What would you want done by strangers in public?
I have read many different things, but I imagine different people would want different things done for them. I have read to call 911 if the seizure goes for 5 minutes or more. I have read call if it goes for more than 2. I'm going to call anyway if you have injuried your head. I know to put something under the head. I have read to turn the person on their side, but don't pull on their arms or legs. I am confused and I would really like to be helpful in this situation. What to do?
Comments
Re: What to do?
Submitted by smallsock on Wed, 2010-09-15 - 01:28
Re: What to do?
Submitted by mamasan on Wed, 2010-09-15 - 08:45
I agree with the previous post and I also am epileptic. My seizures occur more frequently than most but are not as severe as others. So, I would say 1) do nothing unless it appears that I may lose my balance as I could injure myself (friends usually take my hand to offer support if needed. 2) make sure that my seizures do not last 3-5 minutes in length (which has not been the case). 3)When I come back to awareness please advise me that I had a seizure since sometimes I did not have an aura prior to what you observed. 4) My seizures last 1-2 minutes in length and I may fumble with an object that is in my hands and I make soft inaudible noices.
Thank you for your interest in learning more about Epilepsy. This site offers much information and it is my hope that you continue to learn more. Have a great day!
I agree with the previous post and I also am epileptic. My seizures occur more frequently than most but are not as severe as others. So, I would say 1) do nothing unless it appears that I may lose my balance as I could injure myself (friends usually take my hand to offer support if needed. 2) make sure that my seizures do not last 3-5 minutes in length (which has not been the case). 3)When I come back to awareness please advise me that I had a seizure since sometimes I did not have an aura prior to what you observed. 4) My seizures last 1-2 minutes in length and I may fumble with an object that is in my hands and I make soft inaudible noices.
Thank you for your interest in learning more about Epilepsy. This site offers much information and it is my hope that you continue to learn more. Have a great day!
Re: What to do?
Submitted by jameskirby on Tue, 2010-09-14 - 22:10
Well as for me being an epileptic, I would basically want you to put something soft under my tongue, NOTHING in my mouth, make sure everything was out of my hands and out of the way of me so I couldn't hurt myself. Turn me on my side and don't try to restrain me. I don't care how long my seizure lasts I would only want you to call 911 if 1. I turn blue, 2. I had a head injury from my fall, 3. I hurt myself with something I had in my hand or if after the seizure I quit breathing or could not come back into consciousness. Being an epileptic if my seizure last 3 mins or 50 mins they would do the same thing in the hospital they would just run blood tests to see if maybe it was something new causing it then send me a massive bill lol. Some of us have medical bracelets and or necklace on and that can help but if we don't you wont know if we are epileptic or not. That can make it difficult cause anyone that has a seizure for the first time should be seen by the dr and or ER because it could be something serious like an infection, blood sugar low sodium or anything else. Everyone is different which makes it hard cause people have seizures for a host of different reasons. Thanks for wanting to learn about it it is truly a rough thing to live with and is hard to explain everything because a lot of times our dr don't even know why they happen to us and they are hard to pinpoint because you have to have seizure activity to show on the eeg and you might not have an abnormality in your brain to show up on an MRI.