Recognizing a seizure can help keep someone safe from injury caused by falls. The best way to know what it looks like when someone is about to have a seizure is by understanding their triggers and symptoms. Keep in mind, not everyone experiences the same things when they have a seizure and some may have no seizure indicators at all. 

​

Many report having one or more of these symptoms before having a seizure:​

​

Awareness, Sensory, Emotional or Thought Changes:

​

• Aura (a visual symptom often associated with flashing lights, blurred vision, some loss of sight, seeing things which are not actually there, as well as unpleasant smells or taste)

• Prodrome (some people may experience feelings, sensations, or changes in behavior hours or days before a seizure)

• Sudden fatigue

• Headache/migraine

• Anxiety/paranoia/panic

• Confusion

​

Physical Changes:

​

• Spacing (staring blankly)

• Drooling or foaming at the mouth

• Clenching of the teeth or jaw

• Incontinence

• Muscle spasms

• Having trouble talking

​

Here are identifiable symptoms of someone actively having a seizure. Remember, there are several types of seizures and not every person has the same symptoms:

​

Awareness, Sensory, Emotional or Thought Changes:

​

• Loss of awareness (often called “black out”)

• Confused, feeling spacey

• Periods of forgetfulness or memory lapses

• Distracted, daydreaming

• Loss of consciousness, unconscious, or “pass out”

• Unable to hear

• Sounds may be strange or different

• Unusual smells (often bad smells like burning rubber)

• Unusual tastes

• Loss of vision or unable to see

• Blurry vision

• Flashing lights

• Formed visual hallucinations (objects or things are seen that aren’t really there)

• Numbness, tingling, or electric shock like feeling in body, arm or leg

• Out of body sensations

• Feeling detached

• Déjà vu or jamais vu 

• Body parts feels or looks different

• Feeling of panic, fear, impending doom (intense feeling that something bad is going to happen)

• Pleasant feelings

​

​

Physical Changes:

​

• Difficulty talking (may stop talking, make nonsense or garbled sounds, keep talking or speech may not make sense)

• Unable to swallow, drooling

• Repeated blinking of eyes, eyes may move to one side or look upward, or staring

• Lack of movement or muscle tone (unable to move, loss of tone in neck and head may drop forward, loss of muscle tone in body and person may slump or fall forward)

• Tremors, twitching or jerking movements (may occur on one or both sides of face, arms, legs or whole body; may start in one area then spread to other areas or stay in one place)

• Rigid or tense muscles (part of the body or whole body may feel very tight or tense and if standing, may fall “like a tree trunk”)

• Repeated non-purposeful movements, called automatisms, involve the face, arms or legs, such as

  • lip smacking or chewing movements

  • repeated movements of hands, like wringing, playing with buttons or objects in hands, waving

  • dressing or undressing

  • walking or running

• Repeated purposeful movements (person may continue activity that was going on before the seizure)

• Convulsion (person loses consciousness, body becomes rigid or tense, then fast jerking movements occur)

• Losing control of urine or stool unexpectedly

• Sweating

• Change in skin color (looks pale or flushed)

• Pupils may dilate or appear larger than normal

• Biting of tongue (from teeth clenching when muscles tighten)

• Difficulty breathing

• Heart racing

​