Temporal lobe seizures can cause a range of health effects and can negatively impact a person’s quality of life. Fortunately, many people experience relief from symptoms when taking certain medications.
The temporal lobe is crucial for many bodily functions, including storing memories, understanding language, processing emotions, and interpreting sensory information. It’s situated on both sides of the head, just behind the temples, and consists of neurons and neuroglia, which support neurons within the nervous system.
Seizures result from a surge of electrical pulses within the brain. Seizures that occur within the temporal lobe are often proceeded by an aura, which can cause sensory and emotional issues. For instance, some people smell or taste something odd, while others may be taken by intense feelings of happiness or anxiety. Other effects may include:
The effects of temporal lobe seizures may stop after 30 seconds or last as long as two minutes. It’s also common to feel confused and disoriented immediately following a seizure.
Doctors use a combination of physical exams, medical history, and diagnostic testing to determine the cause of seizures. As for treatment, medications are often used to prevent seizures from reoccurring. Anti-epileptic drugs are available in two classes, which are narrow-spectrum and broad-spectrum.
Narrow-spectrum drugs are used to treat focal seizures, meaning seizures that impact a certain area of the brain. Broad-spectrum anti-epileptics typically treat generalized seizures, which take place in both hemispheres of the brain. Common anti-epileptic medication includes but is not limited to:
Because there are so many different types of medications used to treat temporal lobe seizures, it can take time for doctors to find the right one for a patient. The type of seizures being experienced and the side effects that occur can factor into the decision. That’s why doctors may choose to switch a patient from one drug to another or alter the dosage to avoid more significant side effects.