I never have a "grand mal" out of the blue, I always know i'm going to have one. At least now that i'm older I do, i've learnt to read the signs by now.
I suppose as a child I didn't have the experience to realise what's happening to me.
My seizures have always been multiple petit mals, an aura, and then teh grand mal.
For instance: i'd be studying or typing (always concentration-related) and i'd have a momentary lapse of conscioussness together with a twitch of the hands, face muscles or a quick kick of one of my feet. Or all of the above together. Never for longer than a second or two though.
When this happens I know I have to slow down, relax, maybe go for a walk, sing a little (singing calms me down, strangely enough).
If I don;t stop what i;m doing and relax, i'd experience an aura, a sudden feeling of surrealness, of not really sitting where i'm sitting or not really doing what i'm doing.
When this "aura" happens it's usually a matter of minutes before I lose consciousness and convulse.
My convulsions last anyting from 1 to 8 minutes. A seizure on an empty stomach is always worse than on a full one. I don't drink anymore as I once had a seizure when drunk (in the army) and that was really really hectic. Took me three days to recover enough to get up and walk around.
Usually when I regain consciousness after the convulsions, the best description that I can give is that i'm unable to distinguish my thoughts. I always have a throbbing headache that's so bad i'm not able to speak or concentrate on even the simplest of task, such as walking to my room.
I have difficulty answering people when they ask me questions. I hear them fine but i'm unable to make up my mind on what to ay or do.
I think this is merely my brain that's still firing in a non orderly fashion.
I almost always start crying. I think I do that because it's so frustrating.
Then I go to sleep for a solid day and wake up feeling tired, stiff, sore and hungry.