A Seizure from my Point of View

Background information: I had a traumatic brain injury in 2015, since then I have experienced what we can only guess to be hundreds of seizures. Here I want to talk about what my seizures are like, not everyone’s are the same so I am only speaking for myself.

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It all starts with a “trigger”. My triggers are flashing lights, certain sounds, or high stress levels. It all starts in my eyes. I feel them begin to twitch and eventually roll back, then everything goes black as I lose consciousness. This is when the actual seizure takes place, I have no memory of this part. Then I wake up, but I am paralyzed to a degree. To people around me it appears I am still unconscious, but I can actually hear everything, it’s just hard to comprehend. As I become more conscious I begin to understand what people are saying and I am able to open my eyes. I look around and everything feels like it’s moving, basically like a bad case of vertigo. By the time I am strong enough to stand up, somewhere between 10-20 minutes have passed since the seizure. The only thing I cannot do at this point is communicate. My words are slurred and stuttered and don’t always make sense. It’s both frustrating and terrifying because there’s no way to tell anyone if I was injured during the seizure. There was a specific time I big through my tongue, but no one knew because I couldn’t speak. Seizures are different for every individual. In a separate blog, I will explain my type of seizures and what that means for my life.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this and educate yourself on how my seizures work. The biggest thing to remember is to be understanding when dealing with people who have seizures. It’s a heavy burden to carry, and often we find ourselves in need of support from others.