Given what I believe happened to Serene Branson on the red carpet in February and her doctor’s final public diagnosis of a “complex migraine”, I thought it best to give my take on the stages of a seizure. Seizures can easily be acknowledged as a migraine/headache because that is essentially what it feels like at the onset, but there are progressive stages for a seizure, at least based on what I have experienced and prevented from occurring in my past.
I can basically break a seizure up into 4 distinct levels of intensity. You start off getting a headache and feeling upset to your stomach. This sensation then progresses into an even more disorienting headache where you can’t really put anything together. You know what you want to say, but nothing you physically do gets the words you are thinking verbally out in a coherent way. Your brain gets lost in process due to the trauma from the “headache.” I read one comment from someone, I think who has credentials even, who said that “It was obvious, from viewing the tape, that she did experience something that she could not control. It was noticeable that she was aware of the problem, but could do nothing to stop it.” Exactly as I said, you may be able to mentally know what you want to say, but you can’t actually get it out.
At this point the headache will continue to intensify. I’m not sure how foolproof this method is, but when it gets to the point where you can’t verbalize what you want to say or your head starts spinning, just lying down on the ground for a few minutes will stop the event right there. If you don’t sit down, the spinning headache will begin feeling as though your head has detached from your body as though it is a balloon. Very soon after you will get a metallic taste in your mouth, at which point the full seizure is imminent.
This is all based on my experience, that I remember, and talking to my survivor friends who experience seizures. It is not an enjoyable experience and honestly can appear very similarly as what happened to Serene Branson on the red carpet. Given that, what I considered to be stage 2 of a seizure, happened to a presumably normal and healthy woman, I wanted to at least give my opinion for what to do to prevent a scary situation from occurring, which basically is just to sit down, lie down if you can, and just rest for a few minutes. Above all, I hope no one ever experiences any of this, but if we can prevent them from progressing that works just as well.
Be healthy and stay safe.
