THE KINDS OF SEIZURE: GENERALIZED SEIZURES – TONIC-CLONIC POST-SEIZURE PERIOD
The seizure is now over, but the child is not awake and will not yet respond. This post-seizure period is the post-ictal state when the brain can be thought of as “exhausted” from all its activity. In reality, the brain is quite active, but its major activity is to inhibit (stop) the cells from firing. This inhibition has brought the seizures under control.The post-ictal period often lasts a few minutes, longer if the tonic-clonic period has been long. If left alone, the person may sleep but can be aroused and may feel tired and confused. Muscles may be sore, and the tongue may have been bitten. The best course of action for an observer at this time is to be supportive and reassuring. Allow the person to rest until he is alert and able to go his own way.A seizure occasionally may be just the tonic (stiffening) phase described under tonic-clonic seizures. The tonic phase lasts for only a short while, usually less than a minute, and may be followed by a postictal sleep. A patient may on rare occasions experience a clonic seizure with the rhythmic movements previously described, but without the preceding tonic phase. Management during and after the clonic seizure is identical to that after a tonic-clonic seizure.There is no important distinction among these last three types of seizures—tonic, clonic, and tonic-clonic—formerly called grand mal seizures. Their causes are variable, their outlooks are the same, and their management with medication is identical.*60\208\8*
