A tonic that none of us likes. (British Epilepsy Association)

Member Name: headcase44

Product:	British Epilepsy Association
Date:	12/10/08 (369 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None that I can think of except trained staff on hand.

Disadvantages: The sufferer is exhausted after a seizure.

Within the course of my job, I often have to deal with a resident having a Grand Mal Seizure or Epileptic fit .... These can sometimes be known also as Tonic or Clonic seizures depending on the severity of the seizurre.

Tonic is where the muscles stiffen, a fixed stare appears on the residents face and they loose consciousness and finally fall to ground level. They sometimes give out a moan or groan. This is due to air being forced past the vocal chords. They can sometimes bite the tongue or inside of their mouth causing blood to come from their mouth along with their saliva. They can also drain of colour in the face and go clammy to the touch.

If the seizure goes into the next stage, this is the Clonic stage.

During the clonic stage,the person will jerk their arms and legs and sometimes the whole body goes into a rapid jerking movement.

When I did my St. Johns Ambulance training many many years ago, we were shown how to wrap a teaspoon in gauze and to stick it across the mouth of the person having a seizure to prevent them from biting or swallowing their tongue.... Do that now and you will have a Health and Safety officer knocking at your door to take you to court !! This is a big 'No' 'No' You do not try and hold the seizure sufferer or put anything in their mouth. You simply make the person as comfortable as possible, preferably in the recovery position if possible and monitor the time of the seizure.

Hopefully within a few minutes the jerking will slow and eventually stop.Frequently at this stage the person may loose control of their bladder or bowel due the body relaxing.

When conciousness returns expect the person to be drowsy or confussed and very quiet for sometime.

Tonic Clonic seizures lasting five minutes will probably require medical help in the form of either that persons prescribed medication or medical assistance by calling an ambulance.

I deal with on average 5-10 such seizures each month and can spot the signs of a seizure happening before it actually does. There are many ' triggers' that cause seizures. I will further review such causes at a later date ... The important thing to remember is that you should not panic, the person having the seizure is quite unaware of your actions and can only hope that you are doing the right thing to get them through this.

Thank you for reading. x

Summary: Epileptic seizures and what happens before, during and after.