You can't understand (Auras)

I am an Epileptic.

I experience Visual, Audible and thermo hallucinations before I have a seizure.

These Hallucinations are called 'Auras'.

Sometimes I see beings made of light that float up to me, and then I hear voices in my head, and wake up in another room.

Sometimes I hear a strange hum in my head, or a slowed down form of 'music' I can only describe as a slurred kind of wind that has a differentiating number of pitches.

Sometimes my hands get hot, then my arms, and then it reaches my head and then I just black out.

Often I will be watching television or listening to a CD and suddenly I can't understand what is being said. All that I can hear is an alien language that doesn't make sense.

I am wondering, from all the epileptics or friends/families of epileptics, what other kinds of 'Auras' there have been documented or experienced.

It is clearly a Medical Disorder that can be subdued but not cured for now, so this thred area is the right place for it.

On the other hand, my Visual Auras in particular cause me great concern indeed, especially because I believe in Angels, Demons and Aliens.

Do any of you in particular who have experienced either a Petite or Grand Mal seizure have any personal thoughts as to what is going on in your head?

I look forward to hearing all about anything related to this post.

[edit on 23-11-2006 by Unrealised]

mod edit: corrected title to reflect content

[edit on 23-11-2006 by UK Wizard]

It's my understanding that during a Petite or Grand Mal seizure, aural and visual neurons fire erratically, thus causing what I suppose could be termed "semi-hallucinatory" effects.

~Mariella

Migrane sufferers also experience auras like this, and I think the nature of the aura determines where the problem lies (general area of the brain.) I found an article saying that children who suffer migranes and have auras are at a higher risk of epilepsy:
www.erf.org.uk...

I don't know how valid this is, but apparently the threshold/frequency of seizures can be modified by biofeedback:
www.indiana.edu...

Some sort of change in the body is triggered, because some dogs can be trained to spot the onset of seizures.

www.epilepsyfoundation.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by Byrd
Migrane sufferers also experience auras like this, and I think the nature of the aura determines where the problem lies (general area of the brain.) I found an article saying that children who suffer migranes and have auras are at a higher risk of epilepsy:
www.erf.org.uk...

I don't know how valid this is, but apparently the threshold/frequency of seizures can be modified by biofeedback:
www.indiana.edu...

Some sort of change in the body is triggered, because some dogs can be trained to spot the onset of seizures.

www.epilepsyfoundation.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

Thankyou for your post. It was both interesting and informative.

I'd like to elaborate a little more on the relationship that migraine sufferers and epileptic sufferers share.

The physical pain effects of a migraine, for instance, has shown that Blood vessels in the meninges, the outer covering of the brain, become super dilated and hyper-sensitive to the blood flowing through them.


Neurons, however, because of their role as the transporter of electrical signals, or information, especially in epileptics when they become positively charged in the cerebral cortex, fire off to all the other neurons in their path until the brain cannot handle the overload. Some say that it is a disrption, while others say that it a free flow, uncontrolled by the brain.

It's like an atom bomb that explodes, and subsequently reacts with the surrounding atoms. Much like an atom bomb which has a radius of effect, the brain contains the firing neurons until the reaction is finished, usually resulting in a seizure.

The brain activity can be monitored by MRI or EEG, but as in my case, the brain can often seem normal to the specialists.

Head trauma can cause siezures and their pre-emptive auras. The are that has taken the blow can often dictate what auras can be expected, if any.

It has to be understood, however, that migraine auras and epileptic auras are different, and stem from different areas of the brain. Whereas a migraine aura usually stems from over dilation, an epileptic will experience vasoconstriction, which exhausts the neurons, instead of feeding the brain with more blood.

So it seems that a migraine sufferers brain is fed with more blood, which over excites the brain, but an epileptics brain becomes constricted, until the neurons lose control and fire off in an uncontrolled manner.

On another form of Aura, the Deja Vu aura, are there any epileptics who experience Deja Vu for 30-40 seconds before a seizure? I know I do.

I hope this has broadened the topic.


[edit on 24-11-2006 by Unrealised]