I had a seizure during my sleep 9 years ago as a result of a meningioma (a tumor in the lining of the brain) one spot in the meninges over my right frontal cortex began thickening until it was about the size of a chicken's egg. This thickening compressed the underlying brain tissue until it "shorted out" and the seizure commenced.
I was taken to the hospital Emergency Room via ambulance at about 3 AM and subjected to a series if "scans" to locate the source of the problem. Once the problem was discovered, surgery was scheduled for the following day. My consciousness faded in and out during this time. Surgery was a success! the skin of my scalp was peeled down over my face, a hole was drilled in my skull and the offending mass of meninges was removed. Then the disc of bone that had been drilled in my head was re-installed, my scalp was pulled back into place, and I had twenty-some-odd staples closing the incision. I looked like a Cenobite from the HELLRAISER movies. My neurosurgeon gives a BAD haircut!
I was prescribed Dilantin, which didn't work for me (for which I am glad) and I had a second seizure exactly one month after the first. Back to the hospital... they figured out that I metabolize Dilantin VERY fast, so they put me Keppra (levetiracetam). I have had no seizures since.
If you are awake and you have a seizure, it is like someone turns your consciousness OFF like a lamp. There is virtually instant transition, which is why seizures can be deadly. If you are walking down the sidewalk you fall like a bundle of rags and can easily suffer "secondary head trauma" and die. If you're driving the situation is more dire.
Best wishes, David_Jay! Ask your doctor about Keppra.
Now you know.
