question about seizures?

My roomate has seizures, so I am very familar with them. It starts off with him slightly moaning and twitching. Eventually he flails his arms and they stiffen. He says this causes him to feel very sore the next day like he was working out too much the day before. He also sweats alot during the seizure and will try to take off his blankets or shirt. To help with this I pull off his blankets and put a fan on him. Sometimes his eyes will be open, and others they will be closed - it just depends on the incident. He also says that sometimes before they happen he will have a metallic taste in his mouth, or a very bad headache. They can last for 2 - 5 minutes. When he stops having them he immediately falls back into a deep sleep and snores. He usually only has them when he is sleeping, BUT if his medicine is too low in his body he can have them at any time of the day. This is worrisome because we have to get them under control or he will suffer brain damage. When he has more than one when he comes out of them it takes him a while to recongize who we are and where he is. I hope I've helped...

A seizure is usually defined as a sudden alteration of behavior due to a temporary change in the electrical functioning of the brain, in particular the outside rim of the brain called the cortex. Below you will find some of the symptoms people with epilepsy may experience before, during and after a seizure. Seizures can take on many different forms and seizures affect different people in different ways. It is not implied that every person with seizures will experience every symptom described below.

Seizures have a beginning, middle, and end

When an individual is aware of the beginning, it may be thought of as a warning or aura. On the other hand, an individual may not be aware of the beginning and therefore have no warning.

Sometimes, the warning or aura is not followed by any other symptoms. It may be considered a simple partial seizure by the doctor.

The middle of the seizure may take several different forms. For people who have warnings, the aura may simply continue or it may turn into a complex partial seizure or a convulsion. For those who do not have a warning, the seizure may continue as a complex partial seizure or it may evolve into a convulsion.

The end to a seizure represents a transition from the seizure back to the individual’s normal state. This period is referred to as the “post-ictal period” (an ictus is a seizure) and signifies the recovery period for the brain. It may last from seconds to minutes to hours, depending on several factors including which part(s) of the brain were affected by the seizure and whether the individual was on anti-seizure medication. If a person has a complex partial seizure or a convulsion, their level of awareness gradually improves during the post-ictal period, much like a person waking up from anesthesia after an operation.