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Can CPS progress to Grand Mal type?

Fri, 12/29/2006 - 14:38
Son 11 has now been treated for 5 yrs for CPS. A year ago he was on a ride at a fair and he had a very significant CPS on a ride. After describing it to the neurologist who wasn't that concerned with it, he thought our son had a "Focal Seizure". While on this ride he completely lost consicousness, had a significant facial grimace on the right side of his face. The ride operators actually noticed this to and stopped the ride even before I got to them. He had to be helped off the ride. After about 10 min he finally started to come around and complained of feeling nauseated and having a real bad headache. Didn't remember anything about the ride. It was several hours before he returned to himself and was one of the most "intense" seizures we have seen. Q: I realized CPS can vary in there intensity etc but do grand mal types of seizure also vary in their intensity? Q: Can CPS progress into grand mal types? Q: Are focal seizures different than CPS or from the same family. Should have asked the neurologist these questions but sometimes its very hard to understand him and to actually get a straight answer from him. Thanks for your help.

Comments

Re: Can CPS progress to Grand Mal type?

Submitted by carrieb on Fri, 2006-12-29 - 15:17
Hi, Eleven years ago when I was still having the CPS almost every day, I had a grand mal while I was asleep. I was pregnant at the time, too. My neuro said that it isn't that rare for someone with CPS to have a GM - not to progress to that type all the time but to have at least one or two.

Re: Re: Can CPS progress to Grand Mal type?

Submitted by Holly Sox on Thu, 2007-01-04 - 22:01
My son most often has complex partials and they sometimes progress to grand mal. I wish I could tell at the outset "how bad" it was going to be, but I don't really know until it's over. Monday, he had 3 CPS. Tuesday, he went to work with me (I am a nurse) and he came to my office to "warn" me that he didn't feel good. While he was speaking, he began with the arm flapping and lip smacking, then collapsed in my arms to the floor, with a minute of tonic-clonic jerking. My understanding is that for some reason, the short circuit that is causing the localized seizure activity( that constitutes a CPS) becomes generalized across the brain, leading to the grand mal. Holly

Re: Can CPS progress to Grand Mal type?

Submitted by solis on Thu, 2007-01-04 - 23:45
Q: I realized CPS can vary in there intensity etc but do grand mal types of seizure also vary in their intensity? Yes, Tonic Clonic seizures (once called grand mal)differ in intensity. However, this intensity is varied for the viewer ONLY as via tonic clonic seizures "the person (ie. the one having them) loses consciousness and falls to the floor" http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/seizure_tonicclonic.html Q: Can CPS progress into grand mal (ie Tonic Clonic) types? Yes CPS seizures can progress to Tonic Clonic, yet in many cases they don't. I've had Simple & ComplexPS since before I was your son's age when he began; yet, in my many decades on AEDs I never had a secondary generalized seizure. Q: Are focal seizures different than CPS or from the same family. Focal seizures are partials, as they all have a focus area in the brain. "Focal seizure: An older term for a partial seizure." http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/glossary.html Hope that helps & wish your son the best, ~sol

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