Complex Partial Seizure Symptoms

Complex partial seizures are a type of partial seizure that involves a person losing his or her awareness during a seizure. The person may also have no memory of what took place. Before the seizure, the person may have a unique feeling called an aura that will signify the onset of a seizure. During the seizure, a person may act out certain erratic movements that could be classified as automatisms. These movements are unique to the victim and are only one category of symptoms of complex partial seizures.

Complex Partial Seizures

• The Epilepsy Foundation says that 1 in 10 adults will have a seizure at some point in their lifetime. Seizures can often last anywhere between a few seconds and a few minutes. Seizures are divided into three categories: generalized, partial and status epilepticus.

  Medicinenet.com identifies three kinds of partial seizures--those that evolve from generalized seizures, simple and complex. The major difference between simple and complex seizures is that people who have simple partial seizures retain their awareness, and those who have complex partial seizures lose their awareness in the seizure.

Causes

• Emedicinehealth.com lists the common causes of complex partial seizures as follows:

  Infections
  Metabolic disorders
  Drugs
  Medications
  Poisons
  Disordered blood vessels
  Bleeding inside the brain

Brain Activity

• Epilepsy.com states that complex partial seizures often start in an area of the brain known as the temporal lobe or frontal lobe. The seizure then moves to other areas of the brain, affecting a person's awareness and alertness. Often, it incites a kind of unreality in which a person having a seizure might be trapped until the seizure is over.

  Healthopedia.com tells readers that often electroencephalograms, or EEGs, can be used to diagnose people with complex partial seizures. Sensors are placed on the patient's scalp and a patient's brainwaves are monitored. Usually, during a seizure, a patient has extremely abnormal brainwaves. In addition to EEGs, there are other means to diagnose a patient who experiences complex partial seizures, such as cranial X-ray tests and cranial MRIs.

Symptoms

• Nlm.nih.gov provides readers with a list of common symptoms involving complex partial seizures. They are:

  Abnormal muscle contraction
  Muscle contraction/relaxation
  Abnormal head movements
  Forced turning of the head
  Complex, repetitive movements (such as picking at clothes)--called automatisms
  Abnormal mouth movements
  Lip smacking
  Forced turning of the eyes
  Abnormal sensations
  Numbness, tingling and a crawling sensation (like ants crawling on the skin)
  Hallucinations
  Abdominal pain or discomfort
  Nausea
  Sweating
  Flushed face
  Dilated pupils
  Rapid heart rate/pulse
  Other symptoms:
  Blackout spells--periods of time lost from memory
  Changes in vision
  Sensation of deja vu
  Changes in mood or emotion

Misperception as Mental Disorder

• As a form of psychomotor epilepsy, complex partial seizures are subject to misconceptions. As the late Dr. Carl Pfeiffer states in his study, "Twenty-Nine Medical Causes of Schizophrenia," a person who has complex partial seizures can often be misdiagnosed with a mental disorder such as schizophrenia, depression, attention-deficit disorder and manic depression. The reason this happens is linked to the nature of the psychomotor form of epilepsy's tendency to manifest changes in a person's behavior and emotions. A person can experience drastic changes in personality during just the pre-seizure stage, such as moodiness, constant low-level anger and depression. Pfeiffer also points to the potential for increased complications and psychotic episodes when and if a person who experiences complex partial seizures comes under physical and emotional stress. His personality can display an extreme shift, exhibiting tangential speech, overly emotional feelings and even a lack of sexual desire.

Auras

• Everydayhealth.com reports that people who have experienced these seizures in the past may have early warning signs at the onset of a seizure, which may include a list of unusual feelings or occurrences such as:

  a feeling of deja' vu
  a feeling of fear
  hallucinations
  a feeling of being somewhere else
  a tingling sensation
  a feeling of numbness
  a feeling of discomfort in the abdominal section
  changes in one's sense of sight, smell and taste
  changes in one's emotional state

  A seizure may also occur with no warning whatsoever.

After the Seizure

• Everydayhealth.com also states that after a seizure, a person may feel drowsy, lethargic and confused. These are all symptoms that display the brain attempting to recover from the effects of the seizure.