What You Need To Know If You Had A Seizure While Hospitalized With Traumatic Brain Injury After An Auto Accident

Roughly 25% of people who have early post-traumatic seizures after a brain injury will have late post-traumatic seizures months or years later. Of those who have late post-traumatic seizures, roughly 80% of them will have yet another seizure. Having recurrent seizures is diagnosed as epilepsy, which can lead to significant changes in the patient's life. 

If you suffered a traumatic brain injury from being involved in a car accident and you had an early-post traumatic seizure in the hospital, it's important for you to keep records of any symptom changes no matter how insignificant they may be. It is extremely difficult for a doctor to diagnose seizures and epilepsy unless they occur in the doctor's presence.

Often, doctors use descriptions of events to determine what types of tests are necessary to aid in diagnosing their patients. Here are a few symptoms to look for and how a diagnosis of a seizure disorder may affect your life. 

Symptoms of seizures to look for

You may have witnessed someone having a seizure on film. However, that is not the only way seizures appear when they happen. Those types of seizures are known as grand mal seizures, and they affect the entire brain and body. Therefore, the symptoms are easily recognized, such as convulsions and unconsciousness. 

Atonic, tonic, clonic, myoclonic, and absence are other types of seizures that only affect a small portions of the brain and are called partial seizures. Sometimes, the symptoms of seizures seem to be insignificant and may not be noticeable to the individual who is having them. These types of seemingly insignificant symptoms include the following: 

• staring and unresponsive
• unable to see clearly, vision changes
• sudden tiredness
• dizzy and confused  
• inability to speak 
• inability to comprehend what others are saying 
• biting your tongue
• strange bodily movements such as shaking, twitching, and fumbling
• bowel and bladder accidents

It's important to take notes of instances when you experience any of the above symptoms and other symptoms you don't consider normal. Tell your family members to keep a watchful eye on you for these types of symptoms as well. The sooner that recurrent seizures are recognized, the sooner you will be able to get diagnosed and begin medication to help reduce your risks of having more seizures. 

How seizures can change your life

Having a seizure disorder can drastically change your life, depending on the severity of your condition. Fortunately, medication may help control your seizure disorder, but it is still better to be safe than sorry and make a few lifestyle changes. That way, if the medication is ineffective and you have a seizure spell, you won't place yourself and/or others at risk. Here are a few examples. 

• you may no longer be able to drive, especially if your seizures result in vision changes or cause uncontrollable body movements
• you may need to find new employment if your job requires you to operate heavy machinery 
• you may need to avoid dangerous sports and recreational activities such as skiing, rock climbing, and scuba diving

Many people who experience life-changing situations may find themselves depressed. Sometimes, people who have been diagnosed with medical conditions can develop anxiety, particularly for conditions like seizures, that can occur at any time and cause dangerous situations. 

Compensation for your traumatic brain injury and the resulting seizure disorder

As you can see, the traumatic brain injury you suffered in the auto accident could result in many significant changes in your life. Therefore, it's important to hire an auto accident lawyer to discuss the challenges you will face from these changes and how you can receive compensation for your injuries.