Right before a seizure, most people experience some kind of warning, though the sensation varies widely depending on where in the brain the seizure begins. These warnings fall into two categories: a prodrome that can start hours or days beforehand, and an aura that strikes seconds to minutes before the seizure itself. About 58% of people with focal epilepsy report auras, and even people with generalized epilepsy experience them more often than previously thought, with up to 21% reporting them unprompted and far more recognizing them when asked directly.
The Prodrome: Hours or Days Before
Some people sense a seizure coming long before it arrives. This early warning phase, called the prodrome, can begin hours or even days ahead. The feelings are often vague and hard to pin down. You might feel unusually irritable, notice mood swings that seem to come out of nowhere, or develop a headache with no clear cause. Some people describe confusion or difficulty concentrating, or simply a gut-level sense that something is off.
These symptoms are subtle enough that many people don’t connect them to seizures at first. Over time, though, patterns often emerge. A partner or family member may notice the mood shift before you do. Recognizing your own prodromal signs can be genuinely useful: it won’t stop a seizure, but it can help you get to a safe place or alert someone nearby.
The Aura: Seconds to Minutes Before
The aura is what most people mean when they ask what it feels like “right before” a seizure. It typically begins seconds to minutes before a larger seizure, with most lasting under 10 seconds, though they can stretch up to several minutes. One study of over 400 patients found aura durations ranging from 2 seconds to 7 minutes, with a median around 64 seconds.
What many people don’t realize is that an aura is itself a seizure. It’s a small focal seizure, and you remain conscious during it. When the electrical activity stays contained, the aura is the entire event. When it spreads, the aura becomes the opening act of a larger seizure. The specific sensation you feel depends on which part of your brain the abnormal electrical activity starts in.
A Rising Feeling in the Stomach
One of the most commonly reported aura sensations is a rising feeling in the stomach, sometimes described as a wave moving upward through the abdomen toward the chest or throat. It’s distinct from nausea. People often compare it to the drop of a roller coaster or the lurch of an elevator. This sensation is strongly associated with seizures that begin in the temporal lobe, the brain region just behind and above the ears, and it can be intense enough to stop you mid-sentence.
Déjà Vu, Jamais Vu, and Distorted Reality
Temporal lobe seizures also produce some of the most disorienting cognitive auras. Déjà vu, the overwhelming feeling that you’ve lived through this exact moment before, is one of the most recognized. Its opposite, jamais vu, is equally unsettling: you look at a familiar room or person and feel like you’ve never seen them before. Both sensations are far more intense than the fleeting déjà vu most people experience occasionally. During a seizure aura, the feeling is vivid, consuming, and impossible to shake off.
Some people also describe a dreamlike quality to their surroundings, as if the world has become slightly unreal. Time may feel like it’s slowing down or speeding up. These perceptual distortions can be frightening, especially the first time they happen.
Sudden Intense Emotions
A seizure aura can hijack your emotions without any external trigger. Fear is the most common, often described as a sudden, overwhelming dread that seems to come from nowhere. Some people experience intense anxiety, while others feel a rush of joy or euphoria that’s equally unexplained. The emotional surge is real, not imagined, but it has no connection to what’s actually happening around you. It arrives instantly and often vanishes just as the larger seizure takes over.
Strange Smells and Tastes
Phantom smells and tastes are a hallmark of certain focal seizures. The smells are almost always unpleasant: people describe them as rotten, burning, sulfurous, fecal, or chemical. Less commonly, the smell is metallic, smoky, or excessively sweet. These phantom odors can affect one or both nostrils and typically have no identifiable source in the environment.
Phantom tastes follow a similar pattern. They tend to be bitter, salty, acidic, or rotten, filling the entire mouth. Some people report a burned or metallic flavor. These sensations are brief but vivid, and they’re often one of the first clues that what someone is experiencing is neurological rather than digestive or environmental.
Visual and Auditory Distortions
Seizures originating near the brain’s visual processing areas can produce flashing lights, colored spots, or geometric patterns in part of the visual field. Some people see things that aren’t there, while others notice that objects appear to change size or shape. These visual disturbances are different from a migraine aura, which typically involves a slow-moving zigzag pattern. Seizure-related visual changes tend to be briefer and more abrupt.
Auditory auras are also common in temporal lobe seizures. Sounds may seem muffled or distant, as though someone turned the volume down on the world. Some people hear ringing, buzzing, or humming. Others report that familiar voices suddenly sound strange or far away.
Tingling, Numbness, and Body Sensations
Seizures that start in the brain’s sensory strip, the area that processes touch, can cause tingling or numbness that typically begins in one hand, one side of the face, or one foot and then spreads along that side of the body. The sensation is often described as pins and needles. Some people feel a wave of warmth or a prickling that travels up an arm or leg. Because the sensory strip is organized like a map of the body, the location of the tingling can actually tell a neurologist where in the brain the seizure is starting.
Why Your Aura Pattern Matters
Because auras reflect the specific brain region where seizure activity begins, they tend to be remarkably consistent from one seizure to the next. If your aura is a rising stomach sensation followed by déjà vu, that’s likely what you’ll experience every time. This consistency is valuable. Learning your personal warning pattern, even if it only gives you a few seconds, can help you sit down, move away from stairs or traffic, or signal to someone that a seizure is starting.
Not everyone gets a warning. Seizures that begin with widespread electrical activity across both sides of the brain, rather than in one focal point, are less likely to produce a distinct aura. And some focal seizures spread so quickly that the aura is too brief to register. But for the majority of people with focal epilepsy, some kind of pre-seizure sensation is present, and paying close attention to it can make seizures safer to live with, even when they can’t be fully prevented.