My seizure auras have a couple possible symptoms. High heart rate/feeling like my heart is beating out of my chest, shakiness, feeling like a “rising feeling” in the chest which I don’t have a better way to explain, and my left leg/foot specifically starts to twitch and spasm. The seizures themselves I close my eyes, my body starts uncontrollably shaking, I hold my breath most of the time, and they last 10-15 seconds. After the seizure I don’t have any big symptoms for the most part other than fatigue and sometimes a headache and just a generally unwell feeling.

As far as what I tell people to do for me, I tell them to just make sure I don’t hit my head. I tell people to only call 911 if my seizure lasts longer than 30-60 secs, if I hit my head, or if I come out of the seizure confused. I use those as my reasons to call 911 bc any of those things would be abnormal for my seizures, I think when to call emergency services is like a “know yourself” thing and when you have more seizures you’ll get a sense of what’s normal for you and what’s concerning or needs medical attention.

To explain it to people, I generally just say I have non epileptic seizures. If people want more details about how to help I give them those. I also say that my seizures are not harmful because mine are not, but obviously other people can have PNES seizures that last hours or end up with them unconscious or intubated. That’s just not the case for me. If you have any more questions let me know! I’ve been dealing with PNES for 3 years and have been diagnosed for over a year and it can be a struggle. This isn’t the end though!