WHAT DOES A SEIZURE FEEL LIKE?

What does a seizure feel like? Am I having a seizure? Do my seizures feel like other people’s seizures? How can I explain what this feels like?

We asked these questions of our subscribers, below are their answers:

two boys ice skating “Sometimes I see blurry, like I’m under
water and then I don’t see anything.
I can hear you a little bit, Mom.
I forget what I’m doing or where
I am too!” – Declan a girl sitting What does a seizure feel like?
Mine feel like “The Day the
Earth Stood Still.” I feel like I
am lost in space. When I wake
I feel like I took a trip in a time
machine. This is how out of it I
become. I feel very tired. All I
want to do is to sleep. I don’t
feel like eating. I become
nauseous. I also get very bad
headaches. I don’t have the energy like I
did before I would have a
seizure. It takes me a few days
to begin to feel like myself
again.” – Robin blue eyed boy “It feels like you can’t move,
but you are awake.” – Nevin a mother holds her son “My son does not remember
anything about the seizure.
Sometimes, it is preceded by
the yawn. Sometimes, he
remembers the yawn and
sometimes not.” – Julia a boy with his ball “I don’t know when it’s coming.
It’s just BOOM! It happens and
I can’t stop it. I know I’ve missed
something, but I don’t know what.
And after I’m back I feel tired and
confused.” - Joshua

“When my son had, “big seizures”, as we called them, he said it was, “Dark.” Otherwise, I would say “PAINFUL.” Chase has (used to have before the K-diet) drop attacks. He would have 30-100 of these a day. His day would start with his face falling into his bowl of cereal, or dropping into the toilet while going to the restroom, or his face would plant into his bike handles. He mostly sat on the couch (his safe zone) during that time.

Fortunately, the diet is working and he is back to his old self and SEIZURE FREE! God has worked a miracle in his life!”  
– Cheryl

a mother and daughter

“Having a seizure is kind of just like being off somewhere else because you can’t feel anything, and you don’t know it’s happening, until you wake up. When I wake up after having a seizure I feel kind of confused and don’t know what’s going on, but after a minute I look at my mom or dad and just say, “Seizure?”, and they say, “Yes.” When I wake up I have a really bad headache from my brain freaking out. I always dream when I have a seizure, and it’s always the same, and I’ve tried to explain it to my mother, but I can’t. I think it’s because my brain was still recovering from the seizure, but I’m not quite sure. Overall, a seizure is just like being in another place for a while.”
– Briana

“My seizures are complex partial seizures that happen while I’m sleeping. I wake up as I am jumping out of the bed, all of the blankets flying onto the floor. I stand in the middle of the room sure that something is terribly wrong, maybe I’m dying, maybe I’m having a heart attack, something is WRONG but, I don’t know what it is. If someone is in the room with me I will try to talk to them, but be unable to speak. It’s like there is nothing in my head in the moment I want to say something, or like my mouth is paralyzed. It feels like there are spikes, where I can think for a split second but, then I can’t, so I try to communicate in the intervals between spikes. I am terrified afterwards, sometimes shaking with adrenaline, and then I realize that I have had a seizure. They last about 30 seconds.”

girlBeth

“My daughter has no warning that it is coming. After she comes out of the seizure she is confused and said it reminds her of Star Trek, where she is in one place prior to the seizure and transported another place, usually with me or her Dad by her side. She also cannot believe that she has had one when she comes to until she realizes one minute she was in a chair at home and the next she is on the floor at home. She is in a state of, “Why me?”, to which no one can answer.”

a momNoreen

girl's face

During the seizures I sometimes feel left out or as if I’m not there. I hear the surroundings, but am unable to react.

When I pop out of it, I’m tired, maybe dissolved in tears, and can’t always remember or understand the fuss around me. Sometimes, I have the feeling like I have to say, “I’m sorry”, when my seizure ends.”
-Eva-Christina 

boy

“I don’t remember anything for a while before and after the seizure.

When I become conscious I see myself lay on a bed and people looking worried.I feel I don’t have any energy at all to even sit up.

I feel so dizzy and don’t remember anything. I start asking what has happened and where I was. Where, when and who observed it?

I feel sick. I feel like sleeping afterward to get some energy back. I have a bad taste in my mouth. I usually feel pain somewhere on my body due to falling down on something, or just the ground.”
– G.

If you are interested in reading more first hand experiences with seizures or if you would like to share your own story, please sign up for our free newsletter or follow us on facebook.  If you are looking for alternative or dietary solutions to seizure management, please click here.