Epilepsy Foundation
South Central Wisconsin

Most people think that there are only two kinds of epilepsy. They are thinking about some outdated terms called grand mal and petit mal. Actually, doctors and scientists have identified more than twenty different types of seizures.

There are two main categories of seizures - partial and genteralized. A partial seizure involves only one area of the brain. A generalized seizure involves lare areas (both sides) of the brain. sometimes seizures can begin as partial seizures and then spread out to the entire brain. Some people have only one kind of seizure. But a lot of people have more than one kind. The kind of seizure a person has sometimes changes as he or she grows from childhood to adulthood.

. . . what I usually do is I lose contrl and I'll fall down and one of my arms will shake. Sometimes I can hear; depending on how bad it is, sometimes I can see. But I can't respond in any way. . . it's frustrating. Like I said, I can see and hear everything and I remember everything as it happened. Other times I just don't even know I had a seizure.

I've never seen myself having a seizure. My mom says I walk around the room and pick at my sleeves. it's as if I'm trying to pull my clothes off.

I get this weird buzzing in my ears. . . then my hand starts to shake. I can see it shaking, but I can't make it stop. After about a minute, I can get contrl of it again.

My seizures make me go to sleep. . . and they make me say things, strange things, like. "who are you," or "get awaly from me," or, you know, "leave me alone." They make me say strange things.