Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Symptoms

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a condition that causes seizures that affect the temporal lobes, which are regions of the brain situated on either side of your head, behind your ears. If you have TLE, you are likely to experience a variety of symptoms, according to Epilepsy.com.

Considerations

• Unlike other types of epilepsy, TLE does not usually cause convulsions, eyeball rolling and falling down during seizures.

Variations

• The symptoms of TLE seizures vary, and may be different for each seizure.

Time Frame

• Symptoms produced by temporal lobe epilepsy may last from a few seconds to up to 2 minutes.

Types of Symptoms

• Temporal lobe epilepsy often causes patients to suddenly "space out," such as halting abruptly in the middle of an activity or becoming silent mid-sentence. Other symptoms include sudden recall of old memories, audio or visual hallucinations, feelings of "other-worldliness" (as if familiar places are strange), and fear, intense pleasure or fascination with no discernible cause.

Treatment

• A number of medications are available for the treatment of seizures that cause temporal lobe epilepsy, including topiramate, phenobarbital, amotrigine and tiagabine.