Signs of abnormal brain functions or grand mal seizure symptoms are highly important to be recognized in order to prevent the patient from experiencing loss of organized movement or loss of body awareness. Grand mal seizures have two stages – tonic phase and clonic phase. In tonic phase, the person loses consciousness, muscles contract, and the person falls down. This usually lasts about 10-20 seconds. In clonic phase, the person loses organized body movement and muscles contract in rhythm, flexing and relaxing alternately. Also, convulsions usually last for not less than two minutes.
Some individuals may receive a warning feeling or an aura before the grand mal seizure occurs. This warning feeling varies from person-to-person. In general, this feeling may include feeling a sense of strange smell, numbness, or unexplained dread. Some people may scream out loud before the seizure as the muscles around the vocal cords seize and force air out.
Loss of bladder and bowel control may also occur before or after the grand mal seizure. Also, unconsciousness may persist several minutes after the seizure has ended. Fatigue and severe headache are also common after the grand mal seizure has ended.
When to Seek Medical Help
If someone is having a grand mal seizure, call for medical help immediately. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, gently roll the person and then put something soft beneath the patient’s head. Putting anything in the mouth of the person suffering from grand mal seizure is discouraged as the tongue cannot swallow and the object can be inhaled or bitten. Restraining the person is also prohibited.
If the grand mal seizure lasts for 5 minutes and then immediately followed by another seizure, the patient requires serious medical help. Emergency medical attention is required as quickly as possible. If a child or a person has experience a number of seizures without explanation require medical advice.
Causes of Grand Mal Seizure
Grand mal seizure occurs when an electrical activity has surfaced all over the brain and then the brain gets abnormally synchronized. The seizure is caused by an abnormal rhythmic activity of the nerve cell in the brain. The brain’s nerve cells communicate with one another, sending chemical and electrical signals across the synapses connecting the cells. In individuals with grand mal seizure, this activity is altered.
However, the primary causes the changes in the activity are unknown in most cases. Also, grand mal seizure are caused by underlying health conditions such as traumatic head injuries, brain tumors, excessive use or withdrawal to substances such as alcohol, strokes, infections, genetic syndromes, malformations of blood vessels in the brain, and low levels of glucose, magnesium, sodium, and calcium in the blood.
Grand Mal Seizure Care and Treatment
Daily medication, ketogenic diet, and nerve stimulation can help control or prevent the symptom of grand mal seizure. Any individual suffering from grand mal seizure disorder must wear a medical alert bracelet in order to inform emergency personnel about their condition. If you feel you are about to have seizure, keep away from a crowded place and sit in order to prevent injuries that you may acquire from suddenly falling down.
