Mild Seizure Symptoms

Mild seizures are typically those seizures that only affect a rather small portion of the brain. Petit mals are one of the more common "mild" types of seizures, but you can also suffer from a temporal lobe or simple partial seizure, which are both commonly much less severe than other seizures. Since these seizures can be fairly subtle in nature, it may be difficult to tell whether or not a person is actually experiencing one. However, there are a number of telltale symptoms.

Auras

• For some people, a seizure is often preceded by what is known as an aura, which is a sudden, sometimes overwhelming sensation. The aura can manifest as a shift in your emotional state, causing you to experience an unexplained fear or panic. It could also become apparent through a sense of déjà vu, or the feeling that this has all happened before. You may even begin to detect a strange or foul odor that isn't there or an odd or unpleasant taste along the tongue or the back of the mouth.

  After the seizure has passed, you could begin to suffer other cognitive changes. A momentary sense of confusion is probably one of the most common, but you could also suffer a slight memory loss, namely of any events taking place during the seizure, or an unawareness of the seizure itself. You may even experience a brief inability to focus your attention.

Uncontrolled Movements

• Another common symptom of a mild seizure involves some level of uncontrolled movements. These may be isolated to the fingers or hands, prompting them to twitch, tremor or pick. They could also affect your arms, causing them to twitch, tremor or shake.

Other Movements

• For some people, a mild seizure causes other bodily movements apart from the fingers, hands and arms. With almost any mild seizures, you may experience a flutter of the eyelids. You may also start smacking your lips, chewing or even swallowing continually. And as with any of the other symptoms, these movements can last anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.

Cognitive Change

• Though a cognitive change can happen both before and after a mild seizure, it is also a symptom of the seizure itself. Many times, you'll lose some level of awareness or recognition of thawhat is around you--people, objects or the room itself.

Absence of Movement

• It's also not uncommon for a mild seizure, especially a petit mal, to trigger an absence of movement. You may suddenly become almost completely still. This is often accompanied by a brief episode of staring, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.