Can you have absence seizures and not know it?

There are two types of absence seizures that may look a bit different. Both types of seizures are short, and people often don’t notice them at first. They may come and go so quickly that no one notices anything wrong. Or observers may mistake the symptoms for simple daydreaming or not paying attention.

What happens if absence seizures go untreated in adults?

Absence seizures usually do not cause serious health problems. Some people also develop another type of seizure called a tonic-clonic seizure. This is a seizure that causes convulsions.

Can seizures go undetected?

Some seizures cause obvious physical movements or loss of consciousness, but in other cases a seizure might not be visible to a bystander — not even a health professional. Some people with undiagnosed epilepsy may not even realize that the strange sensations or emotions they’re experiencing are due to a seizure.

What can mimic an absence seizure?

Staring and daydreaming are sometimes confused for an absence seizure. A child may appear to be staring off into space and at first doesn’t respond to his name. Probably that child is simply concentrating or thinking about another place or time.

What are 2 characteristics of an absence seizure?

Absence seizures involve brief, sudden lapses of consciousness. They’re more common in children than in adults. Someone having an absence seizure may look like he or she is staring blankly into space for a few seconds. Then, there is a quick return to a normal level of alertness.

Can you have silent seizures?

An absence seizure causes you to blank out or stare into space for a few seconds. They can also be called petit mal seizures. Absence seizures are most common in children and typically don’t cause any long-term problems. These types of seizures are often set off by a period of hyperventilation.

Can silent seizures cause brain damage?

While absence seizures occur in the brain, they don’t cause brain damage. Absence seizures won’t have any effect on intelligence in most children. Some children may experience learning difficulties because of their lapses in consciousness.

Can anxiety cause absence seizures?

Research has also shown that even in people without epilepsy, stress and anxiety can trigger what’s known as psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), or pseudoseizures.

Do absence seizures have aura?

Typical absence seizures have no auras or postictal confusion. Although amnestic for events during the seizure, patients may continue with activities that were temporarily interrupted by the seizure, often continuing where they left off mid-sentence.

Do absence seizures show on EEG?

An EEG is a test most often used to diagnose absence seizures. This test records the brain’s electrical activity and spots any abnormalities that could indicate an absence seizure.