A majority of people with brain tumors experience seizures. For many people, a seizure is one of the first symptoms of a brain tumor. Seizures are especially common in people who have slow-growing gliomas or meningiomas and with people who have metastatic brain tumors.
Some people may not experience a seizure until after surgery to remove a brain tumor. Common features of seizures in people with brain tumors include:
- Sudden onset of seizures
- Loss of consciousness and body tone, followed by twitching and relaxing muscle contractions
- Loss of control of bodily functions
- Biting of the tongue or risk of biting of the tongue
- Short periods of no breathing (30 seconds)
- Short duration (2 to 3 minutes)
After a seizure, people may experience:
- Sleepiness
- Headache
- Confusion
- Sore muscles
- Brief weakness
- Numbness