Are you having an aura? Get in touch with yourself!

So what's an aura? An aura is a distinct perception –- either visual, motor, sensory, or psychological –- felt around the time a seizure occurs. Although an aura may signal a seizure because it usually happens a few seconds before a seizure occurs, an aura and a seizure may be separated by as much as an hour. Auras are not experienced with all types of seizures. They are mostly seen in individuals who suffer from complex or generalized seizures. Additionally, auras vary from person to person, and can manifest in a number of ways:

• Vision – includes distortion of images, seeing bring flashes of light or dark spots, or tunnel vision.
• Smell – certain smells may be experienced during an aura.
• Hearing – certain sounds or voices, or a distortion of sounds that are already present, may occur during an aura.
• Feeling an impending sense of doom, anxiety, or fear.
• Nausea
• Weakness, numbness, or tingling of a limb or limbs.

An aura is usually consistent in the person experiencing it. For instance, if a person is seeing flashes of light before he has a seizure, this aura will be somewhat similar each time before that person has a seizure.

While auras can be helpful in signaling to the individual that he is about to have a seizure and needs to be in a safe place, they can also help healthcare providers pinpoint the area of the brain where the seizure is originating.

_Source:

Beers MH, Porter RS, Jones TV. Merck Manual, 18 ed. 2006

That being said, do you know if you have one?  How in touch are you with what your body is telling you?  I used to own a very handsome Golden Retriever that could tell if I was about to have a seizure.  That was so cool. I didn't know he had that gift of knowing when I was going to have one until the day I had a grand mal seizure while mowing my back yard.  He was walking beside me as I was pushing the mower and he started pulling on my pants with his teeth.  I didn't catch on to what he was doing until I went into a full blown generalized tonic-clonic seizure.   What I remember next was him lying next to me licking my face very lightly.   He became my constant companion after that.  It may be not possible for most people but having a dog like that for the person with epilepsy, or the caretaker of that person so if not get in touch with your body and start to to recognize the subtle changes that may be the precursor, or aura,  you need to tell you a seizure is coming.   I started to keep a detailed diary of foods I ate, liquids I drank, and on it went so I could develop a list of what may, or would, cause a seizure. What's happening now is I start sniffing like my nose is running or I'm trying to catch the sent of good smelling cake cooking.   You may have an aura right before a seizure or several minutes before having one.  Whatever it is get to know where you recognize it. 

  If you don't already, a good place to get one is:  http://seizurediary.org/ .  

Start today keeping a diary!