Any connection between seizures and throat clearing and/or fuzzy thinking?

[MercyA]

Please don't quote.

I have a good friend who had brain surgery many years ago and, without medication, would be constantly having grand mal seizures. The meds work well for the most part. Stress, lack of rest, and being off schedule with meds can still lead to occasional seizures.

Recently friend was in the middle of a public presentation and lost track of their words a bit but kept going. I noticed that they were continually clearing their throat--almost like a tic? Then they asked for a chair with a back, sat down for a little while (5 minutes or so), and continued speaking. They shook off whatever it was and finished strong and standing. 

Is throat clearing a sign that a seizure might be imminent? A way to shake it off? Something similar happened a couple months ago and they really lost track of their words for about 5 minutes.

Also, if someone had an absence seizure, could they continue talking?

Don't worry; they have a neurologist and GP. I am just curious about this and worried about my friend. They would be embarrassed if I brought this up to them.

Please don't quote. 

[Ottakee]

Certainly worth a call to the neurologist...and maybe blood work to check med levels (depending on what meds they are on).

[math teacher]

My mother has some "tics" that seem to indicate a seizure. It's been awhile since I have been around her when she had one, but two I remember are she would sniff, like she was having some nasal drainage. Another was to move a foot in an arc (maybe?). Without medication, she would have grand mal seizures, but now even her abscence seizures are mostly controlled by medication. Her epilepsy is the result of a traumatic brain injury. She is not able to talk during  a seizure at all. She would go completely silent, her mouth would kind of draw, and she would be shaky. She would not pick up the thread of the conversation when it was over.

[katilac]

Almost anything can indicate that a seizure is approaching; it's very individual. No to it being a way to avert a seizure. 

She would not be talking during an absence seizure, but they are quite short and she could certainly talk after. 

[Drama Llama]

30 minutes ago, katilac said:

Almost anything can indicate that a seizure is approaching; it's very individual. No to it being a way to avert a seizure. 

She would not be talking during an absence seizure, but they are quite short and she could certainly talk after. 

Probably not an absence seizure, but there are other kinds of seizure where people can absolutely talk through them.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

Depending on the medication she’s on, the throat clearing could be tardive dyskinesia. 

[Slache]

I had absent seizures when I was young. I could talk through some of them. There are really so many possibilities and factors, whatever you're thinking is probably possible.

I do not think there is any way to stop any kind of seizure. Sometimes I can tell I'm about to cause one and immediately change my behavior, but clearing your throat is not going to do anything.

It sounds to me like this person had a seizure during the event, throat clearing being caused by an inability to regulate.

"Seizure" is like "cancer". The word is not descriptive and uninformative, so this is all stabbing in the dark.

I 100% believe your friend is totally fine. I see this kind of thing regularly in seizure circles. All normal.

[Terabith]

I have a friend with epilepsy who takes lamictal at pretty high doses.  It's pretty effective at controlling her seizures, but a side effect of the lamictal is a sort of cough/ throat clearing tic.  But it's all the time, not just before a seizure.  

That sounds plausible, but I don't know enough to say if that's typical or not.