In cases where the aura is a smell, some people are able to fight off seizures by sniffing a strong odor, such as garlic or roses. When the preliminary signs include depression, irritability, or headache, an extra dose of medication (with a doctor's approval) may help prevent an attack.
Treatment. The two emergency medications used to prevent status in the community (outside of the hospital setting) are midazolam and diazepam: Buccal (oromucosal) midazolam – is given into the buccal cavity (the side of the mouth between the cheek and the gum). Rectal diazepam – is given rectally (into the bottom).
Dizzy or lightheaded. Headache. Nausea or other stomach feelings (often a rising feeling from the stomach to the throat) Numbness or tingling in part of the body.
Drug Therapies
There are a number of drugs available to help treat seizures, including anticonvulsants (antiseizure drugs) and sedatives. If medications do not work, ask your doctor about a procedure called vagus nerve stimulation.
Many epileptic patients try to suppress their seizures by taking antiepileptic medications or by following a special diet, but other patients opt to endure invasive surgeries to remove seizing portions of their cortex or to implant neurostimulators in their body.
Most seizures last from 30 seconds to two minutes. A seizure that lasts longer than five minutes is a medical emergency. Seizures can happen after a stroke or a head injury. They also may be caused by an infection such as meningitis or another illness.
Keep your fluids topped up all the time. Dehydration can make it more likely for you to have a seizure. This is particularly important when you are exercising. Also, when it is hot outside or when you are unwell with vomiting or diarrhoea.
A low glycemic index diet focuses on foods with a low glycemic index, meaning they affect blood glucose levels slowly, if at all. Although it's not understood why, low blood glucose levels control seizures in some people. Foods on this diet include meat, cheese, and most high-fiber vegetables.
'Talking' therapies
There are things that you can do to help you manage your anxiety. Talking in confidence about your feelings about epilepsy may help reduce anxiety and make life more manageable. 'Talking' therapies include counselling, psychotherapy, and group therapy.
Triggers can differ from person to person, but common triggers include tiredness and lack of sleep, stress, alcohol, and not taking medication. For some people, if they know what triggers their seizures, they may be able to avoid these triggers and so lessen the chances of having a seizure.
Focal aware seizures that start in the frontal lobe may include: a strange feeling like a 'wave' going through the head. stiffness or twitching in part of the body (such as an arm or hand).
However, according to research on the experiences of people with seizures, stress and anxiety can trigger seizures, and current research often underestimates the role they may play. Lack of sleep is a common trigger for seizures, and this can often happen in people who are experiencing overwhelming stress.
Frequently, people with PNES may look like they are experiencing generalized convulsions similar to tonic-clonic seizures with falling and shaking. Less frequently, PNES may mimic absence seizures or focal impaired awareness (previously called complex partial) seizures.
Your brain is very sensitive to these changes, and if there is a big enough change from normal, you may begin to have a seizure. Emotional stress also can lead to seizures. Emotional stress is usually related to a situation or event that has personal meaning to you.
Stress releases certain chemicals in your body that affect how the brain works. This may make you more likely to have seizures. The parts of the brain which deal with emotions around stress are also the same parts of the brain that are linked to some kinds of seizure activity.
Stimulants such as tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, sweets, soft drinks, excess salt, spices and animal proteins may trigger seizures by suddenly changing the body's metabolism. Some parents have reported that allergic reactions to certain foods (e.g. white flour) also seem to trigger seizures in their children.
Bananas and seizures
One of the things your body uses potassium for is to help with sending electrical signals in the brain. There is some evidence that having too much potassium in the brain could be a seizure trigger. However, if you just have one banana per day, this is unlikely to put you at an increased risk.
Caffeine can increase seizure susceptibility and protect from seizures, depending on the dose, administration type (chronic or acute), and the developmental stage at which caffeine exposure started. In animal studies, caffeine decreased the antiepileptic potency of some drugs; this effect was strongest in topiramate.