What happens when you have a seizure from drugs?

Most drug‐induced seizures manifest as generalized tonic‐clonic motor activity (grand mal). Convulsive muscle activity, especially if prolonged, can lead to hypoxia, hypercarbia, pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents, lactic acidosis, hyperthermia and rhabdomyolysis.

How does seizure medication affect the brain?

Since seizure medicines lower the excitability of nerve cells in the brain, they can also affect normal activity. Cognitive problems – problems with thinking, remembering, paying attention or concentrating, finding the right words, or other symptoms – can be due to side effects of some seizure medicines.

Do drug induced seizures cause brain damage?

Seizures are a serious complication associated with medication or drug use, which can result in hyperthermia, acidosis, anoxic brain injury, an eightfold risk of aspiration pneumonitis, and nearly 2% mortality [3, 4].

What effects do seizures have on the brain?

Usually, a seizure does not cause any lasting damage to the brain. However, having many seizures, or having seizures that are particularly severe, may cause a person to become more forgetful or find it difficult to concentrate. People with epilepsy have an increased risk of developing depression.

What are the long term effects of seizure medication?

Common side effects include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, tremor, hair loss, weight gain, depression in adults, irritability in children, reduced attention, a decrease in thinking speed. Over the long term, the drug can cause bone thinning, swelling of the ankles, irregular menstrual periods.

What are the after effects of a seizure?

You may keep having some symptoms even after the seizure activity in your brain has stopped. This is because some symptoms are after-effects of a seizure, like sleepiness, confusion, certain movements or being unable to move, and difficulty talking or thinking normally.

Do seizures affect your memory?

Seizures. Any type of epileptic seizure could potentially affect your memory, either during or after a seizure. If you have lots of seizures, memory problems might happen more often. Some people have generalised seizures that affect all of the brain.

What are the side effects of seizure medications?

With recent research, doctors are beginning to better understand how much these medications can affect the clarity and speed of thinking. Medications can affect attention and concentration. Both of these are critical to the formation of good, solid memories. In other words, antiseizure medications can also affect a person’s memory.

How does cocaine affect a person with epilepsy?

The effects and risks of so-called recreational drugs vary greatly. They may directly affect the brain and seizures or interact with seizure medications. The effects will vary for different drugs and from one person to the next. All forms of cocaine use can cause seizures within seconds, minutes, or hours after it is taken.

How are seizures caused by drugs and alcohol?

How Drugs Cause Seizures Alcohol, opiates, benzos, cocaine and amphetamines are just the most common substances that can cause seizures in their users. Seizures, epileptic or otherwise, are caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Brain function operates via electrical impulses that send signals to different parts of the body.

How are benzodiazepines used to treat seizures?

Benzodiazepines, or “benzos” for short, do as well. These depressant medications are actually used to treat seizure disorders because they slow the electrical impulses in the brain. Once a person is no longer using these drugs, the brain doesn’t know how to respond, and the brain’s electrical system goes out of balance.