Hi countrymom,

I have 3 different types of seizures: absence, complex parital, and simple partial (aura) sz. Often a person can have different types of sz. I started just having absence (petit mal) sz. when I was a kid but I had so many of them that it caused more brain damage and that's when the complex parital and simple partial sz. started.

When I have a complex partial sz. it can be different sometimes I will hear one word repeated over and over again, the room I'm in looks really small, or I'm not sure where I'm at and during this time I'm conscious. Complex partial sz. are the hardest type of sz. to control according to my Epi (Epileptologist) and neurosurgeon. I will sometimes even feel a tingling in my hand like when it falls asleep for a few seconds and then it stops.

The tingling can go on either side of the body when a person has a sz. most of the time it stays on one side of the body but if the neurons in the brain are really fired up then it can go on either side.

Headaches happen often after a sz. because of all of the energy going on in the brain. I've had wicked headaches after a sz. and I would feel tired and want to sleep for 2 hrs. or longer after a sz. but since I had the brain surgery I no longer get any headaches and I don't feel tired after a sz. anymore.

You can have nausea right before a sz. this is part of a simple partial seizure that can lead into another type of sz. I will get a nervous feeling in my stomach and see colors in my eyes which is all part of a simple partial sz. this type of sz. will sometimes lead into a complex partial or absence sz. for me.

The left side of a persons brain is their speech often when I start to have a simple partial sz. I will be talking or I will try to say something but the words won't come out and that's because the left side of the brain is being effected and the neurons are firing up leading into a sz. so it's hard to speak. I had a wada test done a few yrs. ago before brain surgery and this test shows what side of the brain a person uses for speech and memory. Your average persons speech is on the left side of the brain but when they did the test on me they found out my speech was split down both sides of my brain and this was another reason why I couldn't say what I wanted to. Here's wishing you the best and May God Bless You!

Sue