What are the types of epilepsies and their seizure symptoms?

What are the types of epilepsies and their seizure symptoms?

Healthcare providers classify epilepsies by their seizure type. Seizure categories are based on where they start in your brain, your level of awareness during a seizure and by presence or absence of muscle movements.

There are two major seizure groups:

Focal onset seizures

Focal onset seizures start in one area, or network of cells, on one side of your brain. This seizure used to be called partial onset seizure. There are two types of focal seizures:

• Focal onset aware seizure means you’re awake and aware during the seizure. Healthcare providers once called this a simple partial seizure. Symptoms may include:
  • Changes in your senses — how things taste, smell or sound.
  • Changes in your emotions.
  • Uncontrolled muscle jerking, usually in arms or legs.
  • Seeing flashing lights, feeling dizzy, having a tingling sensation.
• Focal onset impaired awareness seizure means you’re confused or have lost awareness or consciousness during the seizure. This seizure type used to be called complex partial seizure. Symptoms may include:
  • Blank stare or a “staring into space.”
  • Repetitive movements like eye blinking, lip-smacking or chewing motion, hand rubbing or finger motions.

Generalized onset seizures

General onset seizures affect a widespread network of cells on both sides of your brain at the same time. There are six types of generalized seizures.

• Absence seizures: This seizure type causes a blank stare or “staring into space” (a brief loss of awareness). There may be minor muscle movements, including eye blinking, lip-smacking or chewing motions, hand motions or rubbing fingers. Absence seizures are more common in children, last for only seconds (usually less than 10 seconds) and are commonly mistaken for daydreaming. This seizure type used to be called petit mal seizures.
• Atonic seizures: Atonic means “without tone.” An atonic seizure means you’ve lost muscle control or your muscles are weak during your seizure. Parts of your body may droop or drop such as your eyelids or head, or you may fall to the ground during this short seizure (usually less than 15 seconds). This seizure type is sometimes called “drop seizure” or “drop attack.”
• Tonic seizures: Tonic means “with tone.” A tonic seizure means your muscle tone has greatly increased. Your arms, legs, back or whole body may be tense or stiff, causing you to fall. You may be aware or have a small change in awareness during this short seizure (usually less than 20 seconds).
• Clonic seizures: “Clonus” means fast, repeating stiffening and relaxing of a muscle (“jerking”). A clonic seizure happens when muscles continuously jerk for seconds to a minute or muscles stiffen followed by jerking for seconds up to two minutes.
• Tonic-clonic seizures: This seizure type is a combination of muscle stiffness (tonic) and repeated, rhythmic muscle jerking (clonic). Healthcare providers may call this seizure a convulsion, and once called it a grand mal seizure. Tonic-clonic seizures are what most people think of when they hear the word “seizure.” You lose consciousness, fall to the ground, your muscles stiffen and jerk for one to five minutes. You may bite your tongue, drool and lose muscle control of bowels or bladder, making you poop or pee.
• Myoclonic seizures: This seizure type causes brief, shock-like muscle jerks or twitches (“myo” means muscle, “clonus” means muscle jerking). Myoclonic seizures usually last only a couple of seconds.

As your healthcare provider learns more, your seizure type may change to focal or generalized onset seizure.