Signs or symptoms of focal onset impaired awareness seizures (also known as complex focal seizures) include:
- Staring blankly into space or seeming to daydream.
- Inability to respond or move despite awareness of surroundings.
- Repetitive involuntary movements called automatisms such as lip-smacking, chewing, picking at clothes, fumbling, grunting, or swallowing.
- Dilated pupils, flushed skin.
- A sense of déjà-vu or other unusual feelings.
- The person may not remember the seizure afterward.
- Disorientation or confusion during or after the seizure.
These seizures typically impair awareness and may start as simple focal seizures with aura, lasting a couple of minutes but affecting only one part of the brain initially. Complex focal seizures can spread and take hours for the person to fully recover normal awareness and function.
