Our brains are sophisticated organs and control so much — movement, thoughts and memories, emotions, our senses, and more.
Epilepsy is a condition that causes abnormal electrical activity in the brain. This leads to seizures, which are accompanied by many different symptoms.
If you’ve been diagnosed with epilepsy, you’re not alone — it’s the fourth most frequently diagnosed neurological disorder across the globe.
Epilepsy is life-changing, so it’s critical to find knowledgeable partners in care who can help you cope with it by offering innovative treatments, expertise, and compassion. The exemplary provider team at Houston Neurological Institute is here for you.
There are two broad types of epilepsy, and they’re differentiated by the area in your brain where your seizures occur.
Focal epilepsy impacts one part of the brain, and several types of seizures are associated with it.
These seizures originate in the frontal lobe, the area of the brain behind the forehead. Some abilities it controls are speech, emotions, and mobility.
Usually, the abnormal seizure-triggering brain activity caused by frontal lobe seizures occurs while a person is asleep, but yelling, jerky leg movement, and sleepwalking can occur, followed by confusion.
This rare type of seizure affects the lobe of the brain that’s at the back of the head. It controls vision, so people can experience vision changes like light flashes during a seizure.
This area of the brain sits behind the temples and cheekbones, and when a seizure is prompted by unusual electrical activity in this portion of the brain, a person may feel intensely emotional, repeatedly swallow or chew, and stare into space.
These seizures last anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes.
The parietal lobe is located on the top and sides of the head. Seizures emanating from this part of the brain are quite rare, but they cause symptoms like feeling hot or having numbness, dizziness, and even hallucinations.
The other type of epilepsy is generalized epilepsy. The seizures caused by this type of epilepsy strike the entire brain.
These seizures cause a person to stop moving and stare in the same direction for a maximum of 15 seconds. Afterward, they may not recall that it happened and feel and behave normally.
Also known as drop attacks, a person experiences an abrupt decrease in muscle tone, which can cause them to slump over and even collapse. This can lead to injury due to the fall.
A myoclonic seizure is the opposite of an atonic seizure in that it causes a sudden increase in muscle tone, jolts which cause parts of the body — or the entire body — to jerk and twitch.
These seizures cause a loss of consciousness and muscle stiffening. The muscle stiffening can cause the back to arch, breathing problems, and a person’s eyes to roll to the back of their head.
A clonic seizure causes muscle spasms and jerking. A person’s leg, neck, and elbow muscles go through a series of rapid contractions followed by relaxation. As the seizure runs its course, the jerking slows down and eventually stops.
These seizures include symptoms of tonic and clonic seizures, with the tonic symptoms coming first — muscle stiffening, loss of consciousness that causes the person to fall, and they may bite their tongue.
Next come the clonic seizure symptoms of rapid jerking in the arms and legs that become slower and then end. If the seizure is a long one, the person’s skin might look bluish due to trouble breathing, and they may even lose control of their bladder or bowels.
A tonic-clonic seizure lasts about 1-3 minutes and can start either as a focal or generalized seizure.
Consciousness gradually returns after a tonic-clonic seizure, and the person may feel exhausted, depressed, or disoriented.
It’s important for your Houston Neurological Institute provider to work closely with you to create a highly customized treatment plan to successfully address your symptoms and control your seizures.
Often, medication or a combination of medications can get your epileptic seizures under control, but we also offer an innovative treatment called the vagal nerve stimulator (VNS) for those who need more than medication. The device is similar to a heart pacemaker, except it stabilizes your brain activity.
We also collaborate with the most respected surgeons in the area in case we determine that you need brain resection surgery to manage your epilepsy; a surgeon removes the brain tissue that’s causing the seizures.
Call our Pearland or Pasadena office to schedule an appointment to get treated for your epilepsy, or book one online.
