Thursday morning around 3AM, my husband had his first seizure at 27. It was a tonic-clonic seizure otherwise known as a grand mal seizure. Basically the thrashing and shaking most people imagine when they think seizure.
Luckily, I used to work for special needs students in the high school and am very familiar with the procedure on how to handle a seizure. However, it is an entirely different experience when it is your loved one in the middle of the night and I definitely made mistakes. Scary as shit.
Seizures can be triggered by pretty much anything (food, medication, stress, etc) and according to NCBI, 8-10% of adults are at risk for a one-time seizure in theirs lifetime! You, me, anyone! And my husband’s neurologist said that the 1 in 3 people who have seizures only have them once and never again. Thus, I believe it should be common knowledge on how to handle this intimidating situation.
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Don’t panic! It can be really intimidating seeing someone uncontrollably thrashing around, but stay calm! Most only last less than two Seizure First Aidminutes or less.
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Make sure they are not injuring themselves. Move any objects or furniture that can cause them harm if they bump into it. Put something soft under their head to protect them from a head injury.
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Turn them on their side. Very important. Turn their body or head to the side. Vomiting can occur during a seizure and if the person is on their back, they can suffocate.
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Start timing. Really you should do this as soon as you see the seizure begin. You need to note how long it takes place because more than a few minutes can be very dangerous and damaging to their brain. Also note how long after the seizure stops before them become responsive. I legit took notes after his seizure stopped because I didn’t want to forget anything that happened (besides it was 3am and I was running straight off of adrenaline; I wouldn’t have remember half the shit that happened). Your doctor will thank you later.
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Call 911 of its their first seizure, it occurs for more than 5 minutes or another seizure occurs right after. Yeah I made this mistake. With my background, seizures would happen pretty frequently and we never called 911 unless it happened for more than 5 mins. I should have gone straight to the ER but we waited until 6am to go because he was responsive and back to normal 15-20 mins afterwards...with the exception of a terrible headache, of course.
The link below is from the Epilepsy Foundation on a tips and guide to a seizure. I hope no one ever has to experience their SO or loved one have a seizure! Be well, friends!
Edit: spell check didn’t spell check