Yesterday, a virtual friend, Lisa Moss…founder of seizuretracker.com, posted a question on her Facebook page. She wanted to know what a seizure feels like to those that have them. Her son, Evan, has Epilepsy, and she explained…as the Mom of a child with Epilepsy, she has never experienced a seizure herself, and she was very curious as to what those of us with seizures go through.

Lisa received nearly 50 responses in 24 hours, and I’m sure people are still writing. It was a fantastic question, because honestly, for those who have never lived through a seizure, whether it’s a grand mal or a complex partial…a petit mal or a simple partial, there is so much mystery behind them. It’s a great conversation to have and wonderful information to share. The more conversations we have about Epilepsy and seizures and the more realities we share, the more we raise awareness. If you’re like me and have seizures, I learned so much from others and their seizures. I’m still checking to see if there are more posts.

As we all know and I continue to reiterate, everyone’s Epilepsy is so different, and everyone’s seizures are unique. I thought I would quote a few of the posts (some of these are snippets from the actual post)…join the conversation!

“Arianna has told me before she feels weird, and smells something burning, and then she doesnt feel anything but when she “comes back” she doesnt know what happened but she could hear us talking to her…”

“…Many times, I begin to have a strange feeling–at that very moment, I don’t remember things like…my husband’s name, the dogs’ names, my daughter’s name, what city we live in…”

“…mine begin with a feeling of panic, then a feeling of sliding into oblivion. At that point I lose awareness. When I come to I go to sleep…”

“…When I feel a seizure coming on, if my husband is with me–or my Mom, the two people who are most aware and understanding of life with Epilepsy…I will grip their arm and they ‘talk me through it’. If it’s a grand mal…I still have an aura, so they will make sure I’m down on the ground or on the bed…”

“I have simple partial seizures which mainly effects my legs. I lose the use of them so I need to sit down wherever I am. My heart kind of races but I don’t lose consciousness although I tend to just go into my own little world until the seizure is over…”

“…At first I would get an aura then a feeling of terror, then about a dozen different tastes in my mouth that would make me smack my lips…”

“I know when I am going to have seizures, I usually have them for a couple of days in a row. For the first day I wake up with a headache. I know it’s not a ‘normal’ headache, I know I am going to have seizures then. When I have a seizure I get an aura where I kind of feel dizzy or might get an intense feeling of fear or . Then things start to get hazy and become unusual. When I have my seizure it’s like being in another world…”

“I have complex partial. I get an aura and no matter how many times I tell myself that I need to get to a safe place when it happens, if I am alone and can’t talk through it, I get stuck…”

“I had complex-partial seizures. I never had auras that made me know a seizure was occurring. But after a seizure I would feel tired, confused, (and) not sure where I (was). But during a seizure I would lip smack, arm and leg jerk especially when laying down, pick at my clothes…”

“I get a weird-like vision of the future – like my super sense went into overload and then I’ll get a smell that is really intense…”