What are the early symptoms of epilepsy

Epilepsy attacks are also divided into major seizures and minor seizures. The early symptoms of epilepsy may not be very obvious. The patient will experience brief absence or loss of consciousness, but this symptom will disappear soon. These are the early symptoms of epilepsy.

1. Absence seizure (petit mal seizure): The main manifestations are sudden interruption of mental activity, loss of consciousness, and may be accompanied by myoclonus or automatism. Each attack lasts from a few seconds to more than ten seconds. The electroencephalogram shows a spike-slow or sharp-slow wave complex 3 times per second.

Early signs of epilepsy

2. Autonomic nervous system seizures (early symptoms of diencephalic epilepsy): mainly divided into headache type, abdominal pain type, limb pain type, syncope type or cardiovascular seizures. Epilepsy without a clear cause is primary epilepsy, while epilepsy caused by intracranial tumors, trauma, infection, parasitic diseases, cerebrovascular disease, systemic metabolic diseases, etc. is secondary epilepsy.

3. Generalized tonic-clonic seizure (grand mal seizure): The obvious manifestation is sudden loss of consciousness, followed by tonic and then clonic spasms. It is often accompanied by symptoms such as screaming, cyanosis, urinary incontinence, tongue biting, foaming at the mouth or blood, and dilated pupils. After lasting for tens of seconds or minutes, the convulsion stops naturally and the patient enters a coma. After waking up, there is a short period of dizziness, irritability, and fatigue, and the patient cannot recall the entire process of the attack. If the seizure continues and the patient remains in a coma, it is called a grand mal seizure, which is often life-threatening.

4. The early symptoms of this type of epilepsy are simple partial seizures: tonic or clonic seizures in a certain part or one side of the limbs, or paresthesia seizures, which last for a short time and the patient is conscious. If the seizure extends along the motor area to other limbs or the whole body, it may be accompanied by loss of consciousness.

5. Complex partial seizures (psychomotor seizures): psychosensory, psychomotor and mixed seizures. Most of them have varying degrees of impaired consciousness and obvious thinking, perception, emotion and psychomotor disorders. There may be manifestations of automatism such as fugue and sleepwalking. Sometimes, under the control of hallucinations and delusions, violent behaviors such as hurting others and self-injury may occur.