A tonic-clonic seizure usually begins on both sides of the brain, but can start in one side and spread to the whole brain. A
person loses consciousness, muscles stiffen, and jerking movements are seen
. These types of seizures usually last 1 to 3 minutes and take longer for a person to recover.
What happens during the clonic phase of a Generalised seizure?
Clonic means sustained rhythmical jerking. During a clonic seizure,
jerking of the body or parts of the body are the main symptom
. They can begin in one area (called focal motor) or affect both sides of the brain (called generalized clonic). Clonic seizure movements cannot be stopped by restraining the person.
What happens during tonic-clonic seizure?
When the tonic-clonic seizure begins,
the person loses consciousness and may fall
. Strong tonic spasms of the muscles can force air out of the lungs, resulting in a cry or moan, even though the person is not aware of their surroundings. There may be saliva or foam coming from the mouth.
What happens during generalized seizures?
Generalized seizures include absence, atonic, tonic, clonic, tonic-clonic, myoclonic, and febrile seizures.
Loss of consciousness
may be accompanied by spasms, stiffening, shaking, muscle contractions or loss of muscle tone.
What happens during a tonic seizure?
A tonic seizure causes
a sudden stiffness or tension in the muscles of the arms, legs or trunk
. The stiffness lasts about 20 seconds and is most likely to happen during sleep. Tonic seizures that occur while the person is standing may cause them to fall. After the seizure, the person may feel tired or confused.
What happens after a tonic-clonic seizure?
After a tonic-clonic seizure, you might
have a headache and feel sore, tired and very unwell
. You might feel confused, or have memory problems. You might go into a deep sleep. When you wake up, minutes or hours later, you might still have a headache, feel sore and have aching muscles.
What triggers tonic seizures?
Common triggers for tonic seizures may include
stress
, lack of sleep, waking up, missed medications, drinking alcohol/alcohol withdrawal, some medications, illegal drug use, menstrual cycle or other hormonal changes, and others.
What should you not do during a tonic-clonic seizure?
Do not hold the person down
. You may injure the person or get injured yourself. Do not put any object in the person’s mouth. The tongue cannot be swallowed during a seizure, yet you could get hurt.
Can stress cause tonic-clonic seizures?
The reason is that all of these situations change your brain’s excitability. Your brain is very sensitive to these changes, and if there is a big enough change from normal, you may begin to have a seizure.
Emotional stress also can lead to seizures
.
What does tonic-clonic seizure look like?
A tonic-clonic seizure usually begins on both sides of the brain, but can start in one side and spread to the whole brain. A person
loses consciousness, muscles stiffen, and jerking movements
are seen. These types of seizures usually last 1 to 3 minutes and take longer for a person to recover.
How long do generalized seizures last?
Most generalized seizures typically last
between one to three minutes
. Tonic-clonic seizures can last up to five minutes and may need emergency medical attention.
What does your body feel like after a seizure?
You may keep having some symptoms even after the seizure activity in your brain has stopped. This is because some symptoms are after-effects of a seizure, like
sleepiness, confusion, certain movements or being unable to move, and difficulty talking or thinking normally
.
Does generalized epilepsy go away?
While many forms of epilepsy require lifelong treatment to control the seizures, for
some people the seizures eventually go away
. The odds of becoming seizure-free are not as good for adults or for children with severe epilepsy syndromes, but it is possible that seizures may decrease or even stop over time.
What are the signs of a tonic seizure?
- tonic stage – you lose consciousness, your body goes stiff, and you may fall to the floor.
- clonic stage – your limbs jerk about, you may lose control of your bladder or bowel, you may bite your tongue or the inside of your cheek, and you might have difficulty breathing.
Do tonic seizures cause brain damage?
Most types of
seizures do not cause damage to the brain
. However, having a prolonged, uncontrolled seizure can cause harm. Because of this, treat any seizure lasting over 5 minutes as a medical emergency.
What are the 4 stages of a tonic-clonic seizure?
In addition to these categorizations, there are four distinct phases of seizures:
prodromal, early ictal (the “aura”), ictal, and post-ictal
.
