Hello... I'm new to this forum :)

Tonic–clonic seizures (formerly known as grand mal seizures or gran mal seizures) are a type of generalized seizure that affects the entire brain. They generally involve a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions. (Not necessarily biting your tongue or losing bladder control.) Grand mal seizures have two stages. Tonic phase. Loss of consciousness occurs, and the muscles suddenly contract and cause the person to fall down. This phase tends to last about 10 to 20 seconds. Clonic phase. The muscles go into rhythmic contractions, alternately flexing and relaxing. Convulsions usually last for less than two minutes. The following signs and symptoms occur in some but not all people with grand mal seizures. Aura. Some people experience a warning feeling (aura) before a grand mal seizure. This warning varies from person to person, but may include feeling a sense of unexplained dread, a strange smell or a feeling of numbness. A scream. Some people may cry out at the beginning of a seizure because the muscles around the vocal cords seize, forcing air out. Loss of bowel and bladder control. (SOMETIMES) This may happen during or following a seizure. Unresponsiveness after convulsions. Unconsciousness may persist for several minutes after the convulsion has ended. Confusion. A period of disorientation often follows a grand mal seizure. This is referred to as postictal confusion. Fatigue. Sleepiness is common after a grand mal seizure. Severe headache. Headaches are common but not universal after grand mal seizures. ALSO, in my humble opinion, EEGs are not the be all and end all of diagnostic testing. An abnormal EEG does not diagnose epilepsy nor does a normal EEG reading exclude it. I know of people who have had 5 EEGs, only to be properly diagnosed when they finally had Video EEG Monitoring. Video EEG Monitoring – allows prolonged simultaneous recording of the patient’s behavior and the EEG. Seeing EEG and video data at the same time, permits precise correlation between seizure activity in the brain and the patient’s behavior during seizures. Video-EEG can be vital in the diagnosis of epilepsy and epileptic seizures. It allows the doctor to determine:whether events with unusual features are epileptic seizures…the type of epileptic seizure, and…the region of the brain from which the seizures arise. I hope this is helpful, rather than confusing! Phylis Feiner Johnson www.epilepsytalk.com

Hi Stacey, I'm glad to see you on this site WELCOME!! It is very friendly and very informative. I have to admit even though I take medication to control seizure activity I really don't know all the names for the different kinds of seizures and what each one actually means and how a person is affected by it. I hope you find the answers to all your questions and I pray God will watch over you :) Best, Vanessa

Mebaral is a barbiturate, a cousin of the more common AED, Phenobarbitol. As far as epi is concerned the barbiturates are rather sledgehammer in the way they behave - in my opinion anyway - especially in the context of their side-effects (sedation mainly). There are many other AEDs around that are worth seeking advice about which should be easier to live with. Having been around since before WW2 the barbiturates do have the merit of being cheap, however. I took phenobarbital briefly when I was about 10 years old: performance at school plummeted for the duration, I recall. Mebaral was discontinued in the UK some years ago, and probably elsewhere too. Chris.