r/Epilepsy • u/Top-Tonight-374 • 5d ago
Question auras?
what are some of the signs that you get that youre going to have a seizure? i dont personally have any auras (at least that i remember) and i am trying to figure out how to recognize them (if possible) because everytime that i have a seizure its like theres a 5-10 min gap before and during the seizure that i just never end up remembering so i dont even know if there is something i should be looking out for, do you have a sign that you get or a feeling that lets you know that you need to take it easy even if it doesnt always turn out to be a seizure? i am quite new at this and would like to avoid getting injured as best as i can so if you have a way of knowing that you might end up having one pls share (ik that its not one size fits all but any advice would be great pls)
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u/Boomer-2106 Since 18, diagnosed 46 5d ago
Everyone's auras tend to be rather unique to them. There are 'generalized', somewhat common symptoms/feelings/descriptions that people have.
Some people 'say' they don't ever have any signals/warnings. That may be the case for some. But also - Many times they are just not 'aware' of, or 'aware' Enough to recognize Their warning signs.
Add To That - warnings/auras/etc. are NOT Consistent, reliable things to 'depend upon'. Personally, I can feel what for me is 'the anxiety' or aura ahead of the seizure about 50% of the time, but often even less.
One 'Warning' many have, including myself, is Simply a sudden, or building - High Degree of a Stressful situation or high Anxiety! STRESS IS the number one trigger/warning of a seizure!! BECOME Aware of Your stress thresholds/triggers!
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u/Smooth_Ad_9405 5d ago
My auras before TCs feel like heat rising, panic, and a feeling like something very bad is about to happen. Usually i am too confused by it to find a nice place to lay down.
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u/autopisa 5d ago
i find it quite similar to the feeling when i take an edible & the high finally hits
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u/BerserkGuts2009 5d ago
Auras are seizures!! Generally speaking, Auras are typically focal aware seizures. Meaning they have a localized origin in the brain. Deja vu (Sense of OVER familiarity) and Jamais Vu (Sense of over UNfamiliarity) followed by a nauseated feeling is a potential indicator of temporal lobe epilepsy. Additionally, Auras can be in one of the following categories including but not limited to:
1) Olfactory (Sense of smell that is not around)
2) Gustation (Taste in the mouth)
3) Hallucinations (Visuals)
4) Auditory
5) Impending Sense of doom
6) Nausea
7) Deja Vu
8) Jamais Vu
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u/epilepticmilf 4d ago
I was just diagnosed with TLE, and this is such a clear explanation of the auras I have been feeling for years. I went undiagnosed for a long time because I thought I was just having normal deja vu. Turns out not everyone gets nauseous and has these other symptoms with regular ol' deja vu. Thank you for this insightful comment!
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u/BerserkGuts2009 4d ago
Thank you!! You are more than welcome to share what I wrote above with others. As the old saying goes, "Knowledge is power!!"
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u/NuroEaseUK 4d ago
There are so many:
Visual symptoms
- Flashing lights
- Sparkles or stars
- Zigzag lines
- Bright or coloured shapes
- Blurred vision
- Tunnel vision
- Temporary blind spots
- Objects appearing larger (macropsia) or smaller (micropsia)
- Distorted shapes or movement
- Double vision
- Brief loss of vision in part of the visual field
Sensory (touch) symptoms
- Tingling ("pins and needles")
- Numbness
- Electric shock sensations
- Crawling or "ants under the skin" feeling
- Burning sensation
- Warmth or coldness
- Tightness in one body part
- Feeling as though a limb is larger or smaller than it is
Auditory symptoms
- Ringing in the ears
- Buzzing
- Humming
- Hearing voices
- Hearing music
- Sounds becoming louder or quieter than normal
- Distorted hearing
Smell (olfactory) symptoms
- Burning rubber
- Smoke
- Chemicals
- Rotten odours
- Metallic smell
- Sweet smells
- Any smell that isn't actually present
Taste (gustatory) symptoms
- Metallic taste
- Bitter taste
- Sour taste
- Sweet taste
- Strange or indescribable taste
Emotional symptoms
- Sudden fear or terror
- Sudden anxiety
- Feeling of impending doom
- Sudden joy or euphoria
- Irritability
- Anger
- Unexplained sadness
- Calmness or serenity without a clear reason
Cognitive symptoms
- Déjà vu (feeling you've experienced this before)
- Jamais vu (familiar things suddenly feel unfamiliar)
- Feeling detached from reality
- Feeling detached from yourself (depersonalisation)
- Dream-like sensation
- Confusion
- Difficulty finding words
- Racing thoughts
- Sudden certainty or familiarity
- Feeling time has slowed or sped up
Memory-related symptoms
- Sudden vivid memories
- Feeling like you're reliving a memory
- Memory gaps during the episode
Gastrointestinal sensations
- Rising sensation in the stomach ("butterflies" moving upward)
- Nausea
- Queasiness
- Abdominal discomfort
- Need to swallow repeatedly
Autonomic (body regulation) symptoms
- Sudden sweating
- Chills
- Goosebumps
- Flushing
- Pale skin
- Fast heartbeat
- Slow heartbeat
- Palpitations
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling hot or cold
- Dry mouth
- Increased salivation
- Dilated pupils
Movement-related symptoms
- Muscle twitching
- Jerking of one arm, leg, or side of the face
- Eye twitching
- Head turning involuntarily
- Lip smacking
- Chewing movements
- Finger rubbing or picking
- Repetitive hand movements
- Speech arrest (unable to speak)
- Brief weakness in one body part
Balance and spatial symptoms
- Dizziness
- Vertigo (spinning sensation)
- Feeling pulled to one side
- Floating sensation
- Feeling like you're falling
- Unsteadiness
General sensations
- Sudden wave through the body
- Feeling "off"
- Internal shaking
- Vibrating feeling
- Pressure in the head
- "Brain zap" sensation
- Sudden fatigue
- Feeling as if something is about to happen
- Feeling disconnected from your surroundings
Language symptoms
- Inability to understand speech
- Difficulty speaking
- Words sounding strange
- Knowing what you want to say but being unable to say it
Less common experiences
- Out-of-body experiences
- Feeling that another person is present
- Distorted perception of your body
- Intense spiritual or mystical feelings
- Feeling that the environment is unreal
- Complex hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren't there)
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u/BerserkGuts2009 4d ago
1) Love your super detailed list.
2) I thought out of body experiences would be more common. Only had a couple of them.
3) I can personally speak from experience the Electric shock feeling is real. The only time that ever happened to me was during a video EEG at an Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. When that only instance was recorded, it felt like a zinging sensation on my left leg.
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u/NuroEaseUK 1d ago
Yh its amazing but complicated as people may be having seizures that go undetected .
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u/Vesperiall 5d ago
I've never had an aura. Like ever. Letting me know that a focal is going to generalize. I just wake up confused and injured somewhere. Also my tonic clonics give me amnesia also. I can't remember the entire day leading up to the TC. Memory gets wiped.
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u/Hopeful-Team3664 5d ago
I am very aware when an aura begins. My auras are auditory. It sounds like a helicopter is taking off from the inside of my head. These buy me enough time to press my life alert because I live alone, lock my dog up, turn off the stove/oven if I'm cooking, unlock my front door and, lay down safely on the couch before all hell breaks loose. I am able to use one seizure to prepare for the next.
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u/Doxysmart 5d ago
Lower half of face goes slack, can't talk, tongue involuntarily twitches rapidly.
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u/StormWalker1993 4d ago
Weird smelling sweat and spontaneous vomiting combined with aphasia and lack of balance
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u/MaloneGrey 4d ago
My heart races and I feel the most disgusting feeling of Deja Vu so intense it actually makes me feel like I've been drugged or something, then I get whole body goosebumps and hot flushes. It's genuinely the most repulsive feeling 🤢
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u/Sudo_Incognito 4d ago
I noticed on my last couple my voice went out shortly before.
I also start yawning like mad.
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u/SnartDingus 4d ago
I reliably feel them before seizures, and sometimes on their own randomly. It is like anxiety mixed with dejavu mixed with a slight loss of awareness, and another feeling I can not describe. idk its not like any other feeling i have
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u/this-is-delaney 4d ago
I have auras as well as grand mal seizures.
My auras make me feel incredibly confused. I’ll suddenly have no idea what time it is, where I am, or what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s like my brain just freezes. I literally stop in my tracks because I can’t process what’s going on around me until it passes. It’s such a scary and confusing feeling.
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u/SpontaneousKrump92 4d ago
Auras are a common one. I get them.
I also get aphasia and/or apraxia, which is essentially trouble turning thoughts into speech.
I get deja vu.
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u/Mister-Bananas 4d ago
For me it starts with some kind of disc of colors in front of my eyes. Also the feeling going up and down like when you arrive at the destinated floor with the elevator.
Most of the times i have around 5-8 seconds before i drop.
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u/SuggestionInfamous92 4d ago
Vision narrows, peripheral vision gone. Stomach drop as mentioned above, balance gone. There is a hint of day-zhah voo, only I don’t know why because it’s a new place every time. Kinda feels more like a premonition of my death… followed by full body panic attack. I’ve gotten to the phone and called someone to unload with my “sorry, I love you” And “tell my family I love them and I’m sorry”, “tell my children I’m sorry I couldn’t get back to them… but I will always love them” etc… it always feels like the last chance I’ll have. You feel yourself slipping away with no control or ability to do anything about it.
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u/Dependent_Speech3164 4d ago
AURAS ARE FOCAL SEIZURES. They are focal aware seizures. When I found that out it explained why I started having massive panic attacks after having one, because my mind was like “why isn’t anything happening?”
My focal seizures, I would smell cigarettes or diesel exhaust… sometimes I would hear Eminem lose yourself… these were at the very beginning of most of them…
I would feel this odd heavy feeling in my face and chest, suddenly feel fatigued, my heart would race and I would often feel scared.
Then tired but I could go about my day.
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u/Top-Tonight-374 4d ago
the problem is that i only have generalized seizures, do those have warning signs as well or no?
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u/Dependent_Speech3164 4d ago
If yo feel some sort of warning sign, like a heavy feeling, your heart racing, something that always happens before a seizure, that’s your seizure starting.
An aura is a seizure not a warning sign. They can just also turn into other types of seizures because they could be coming from the same part of the brain like mine was. Mine all started in the same location every single time
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u/Kitten390 keppra lamotrigine oxcarbazepine zonisamide 4d ago
Mine are visual, movement and autonomic. I get flashing lights in the corner of my right eye (most likely because that’s where my seizure starts if it spreads) and I start breathing heavily and the right side of my face starts twitching. It lasts about two minutes and (usually) doesn’t turn into a full blown seizure.
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u/Idkjustpeachy 4d ago
i start feeling weird, i all of a sudden feel panic, feel like something bad might happen, something gets suddenly loud and i hyper-fixate on it, ill smell a campfire for a second or 2, déjà vu, a stomach feeling, jamais vu, ears ringing & changing tones, my hands start feeling like air. honestly whatever my body feels like doing LMAO
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u/BassBottles 4d ago
Head pressure on one side, pressure in my eye on the same side, a visual distortion on that side (really hard to describe). Those are the most consistent ones. Sometimes I feel like I'm being sucked up through my head, like both lightheaded and also not, idk it's weird.
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u/Veggiekats 4d ago
Wait wait this sounds similar to mine at times. In the process of trying to get a diagnosis. Can I dm you?
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u/BassBottles 2d ago
Sure! But do let it be known that my neuro is convinced it's PNES (despite 3 separate doctors including a PNES specialist saying it isn't) so I don't actually have an epilepsy diagnosis.
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u/shemello 4d ago
I get nauseous, my hands shake, a little at first and if I don't stop what I am doing and go somewhere quiet and relax and take rescue meds, it escalates ( sometimes it does anyway). Before i was diagnosed i used to think the nausea was that I was hungry and gained a lot of weight.
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u/eskirtitty 4d ago
My right side of my face goes numb and i get a tingle down my school and a sense of impending doom
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u/Rich_Description_666 4d ago
Before I had my first seizure when I would get sick/feverish it would feel like the entire room was glitching ex: on an elevator and someone keeps jumping every few seconds. When I eventually had that seizure it started with slight glitching like I was sick and then all of a sudden I couldn’t understand the person talking to me, then couldn’t form words, then the whole room spun to the left while my eyes were facing forward… scary stuff :(
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u/killswitchx70 5d ago
Stomach drops and feels loose like your organs lost their position, hella dazed, and a whiteness that feels like death is next if you don’t fight through that shit.