How to “Get Over” The First Grand-Mal Seizure?
This was an interesting conversation I found on the internet about getting over your first grand mal seizure experience of your own child and I wanted to share that with you.
Grand Mal Question Raised by Lisa
So far my daughter has had lots and lots of myoclonic seizures (one or two each night for 3 consecutive months), which led to the first seizure Grand-Mal in September. She is the medication that has worked hard, but I still can not “over” and I’m so scared every night going to happen again. She only has / had them at night while she sleeps. That night, repeated over and over in my head. Ah! Please help me! I need some advice on how to be good, faithful and strong.
Answers of Various People Relating To This Grand Mal Seizure Issue
I can totally relate! I am a special education teacher and an EMT, but the first time I witnessed my daughter having a seizure, fell out! I had a lot of “experience”, but when it comes to his own son, just different. My daughter is grown and married, and I still worry about it – especially when she is driving. I do a lot of praying, but I do not know if I ever “get over” the experience of the first crisis. As far as the doctors do not listen, I write down all my worries and questions, the hand of the paper doctor when I enter the room, and say that I hope answers written before I leave!
My daughter had her first in just over two years was not during the day and sleep was the scariest thing I had ever seen and even as a mother who has seizures was very frightened not sure if you put it bed and have a certainty that she is sleeping on your side nothing around to suffocate and put a baby monitor in her room I know it’s hard to keep children at a point when they are sleeping, but see if that helps relieve some stress for u is a very difficult thing to deal with, but have no fear u will get through it
My son is only 2 years old and just had his first seizure. I’m at a loss. I spent the night sleeping poorly and watch it every time he moved. I do not know how to overcome it. Then again this is my first experience with it. I’m at a loss.
I do not think you’ll never overcome the first seizure, regardless of what kind it is. My daughter has had seizures since she was 3 weeks old. She is now 8 months and I still have nightmares from time to time about what she had seizures in the hospital while trying to figure out your meds for your endocrine disorder. The only advice I can give is that your daughter probably does not even know what is happening. I agree it is much worse for the observation of parents,
I do not know if this is useful. I am an adult with epilepsy. I had tonic clonic seizures for several years, even when I was pregnant. It was not always pleasant, but it never stopped me from doing anything I wanted to do. When people thought I could not do anything, I was able to prove them wrong. I know it scared my mother several times and others. My family and husband (especially he) never let me use my seizures as an excuse, but always supported me. When my children were little, we had to modify some things to protect them and me. Seeing a seizure is one of the scariest things a parent can see a girl go. As a person who experienced them, I never understood the problem. Try them and see them are different for me. So what is scary to you, your daughter may not even notice if it is a seizure in his sleep. I did this and if my husband had not told me I had a seizure, I just woke up feeling very tired. His daughter knowing that she has your support will make all the difference. My advice to take precautions that you need, but to encourage it to be as “normal” as possible. Its ok to break worry. I have a child with special needs and two normal children and I worry all the time for all of them.
I do not think you ever get over it. I am strong and in control, while my daughter is having a seizure and does everything I’m supposed to do and once that is over I just broke. It just breaks my heart every time it happens, but it is my main concern, then I have to release.
Thank you! It seems that doctors do not even hear what you say to them. I almost feel like I have to beg to hear. Hopefully this new drug will work. He is more like himself so far. I think it has to overcome my fear. I’ll look into getting one of these monitors.
Can Petit Mal Seizures Turn Into Grand Mal Seizures?
There are those who suffer from petit mal seizures (also known as absence seizures or starring spells) who want to know if these seizures can get worse and become grand mal seizures. This short post will answer this question.
From one side it could be logical that something “small” (petit means small in French) could complicate and become something “big” or “grand” so perhaps it is natural to think that petit mal seizures can get worse and turn into grand mal seizures, however, it does not work like this.
Kinds of Seizures
Understand it this way: just like there are many kinds of illnesses there are also many kinds of seizures and petit mal or grand mal are completely different kind of seizures and basically it can be said that they have nothing in common with one another.
More on Seizures Than You Expect
Actually, it gets even more “interesting”. A person could have both petit mal and grand mal seizures at the same time – I do not mean in the same instance I mean a person could be suffering from both of those “illnesses” and sometimes one type happens and sometimes another.
So petit mal seizures can not complicate and get worse and become grand mal seizures, but usually children will outgrow the petit mal seizures whereas grand mal is not possible to outgrow like that.
Do You Have To Go To A Hospital If You Have A Grand Mal Seizure?
Those people who just begin learning about their grand mal seizure and what it is like to have it and live with it, some may wonder if it will go away by itself and if they really need to go to a doctor or to a hospital.
Actually it is not such a simple answer. Sure, theoretically anyone would say to go to the doctor, but actually they can not change the fact that you are having a seizure right now. And basically, if you don’t go to see a doctor after your seizure either in a small clinic or in a hospital nothing really bad will happen to you. The grand mal seizure will just work itself out and you would start recovering until the full recovery which can take shorter or longer time depending on the severity of your seizure.
So from that perspective you can easily have a grand mal seizure and not even see doctors. Many people have these problems and actually don’t even have access to medical help so they just live with it.
That said, the doctors can give some medications which would partially control the grand mal seizure by making it reduce in frequency. So it will surely not harm to go see them – don’t worry if you are afraid.
How to recognise a grand mal seizure?
Grand mal seizures are also known as generalised tonic-clonic seizures. A grand mal seizure is caused due to excessive electrical discharge in the brain. Grand mal seizure may occur only once or several times. A person is said to be suffering from grand mal epilepsy if the incidence of grand mal seizure occurs two or more times. Many people with grand mal epilepsy need a daily dose of anti-epileptic medication to control their disease. This article explores the symptoms of the disease, the causal factors and teaches you how to recognise a grand mal seizure.
Symptoms of grand mal seizure
To recognise a grand mal seizure, one should know the symptoms associated with grand mal epilepsy. The grand mal seizure usually begins with a sense of aura or hallucination. The patient may report of dizziness or unusual smell, feelings, or tastes.
Thereafter, the patient may suffer from loss of consciousness, muscle contraction (tonic) followed by rhythmic spasms of muscles (clonic). The duration of a grand mal seizure lasts in the range of several minutes. In the tonic phase of the seizure, the patient may bite one’s tongue or pass urine due to bladder incontinence.
Seriousness of a seizure
Grand mal seizure can be life-threatening and so, the patient should be immediately rushed to the hospital. When the patient recovers from a grand mal seizure, he or she generally reports of weakness, exhaustion, and a sense of dementia. The patient will not remember the epileptic seizure episode.
Factors triggering the grand mal seizure
Electrical activity – a negative impact on the brain
Grand mal seizures occur as a result of excessive electrical activity that impacts the neuronal activity in the brain. In people suffering from grand mal epilepsy, the neuronal activity is hampered and the communication in the brain cells is hampered with this abnormal electrical activity. In most cases, the cause of grand mal epilepsy is not known.
Brain injury or infectious conditions
Nevertheless, the person may suffer from a grand mal seizure when there is a traumatic brain injury or occurrence of a brain tumour, or brain infections such as encephalitis or meningitis.
Other causal factors
Drugs and alcohol can also trigger a grand mal seizure in a person. Strokes or low levels of glucose, calcium, sodium, or magnesium can also cause a grand mal seizure. Some genetic syndromes or lack of oxygen to the brain may also trigger a grand mal seizure in a patient.
Can grand mal seizures kill you even if you take the correct safety precautions?
Death can happen, but it is usually due to injury from an activity that may have been happening a the time of the grand mal seizure, such as having an accident while driving. This is why doctors say to limit certain types of activities.