Why does breathing stop during an epileptic seizure?

A major subtype of seizure is Generalised Tonic Clonic Seizure. Once it starts the first phase is the Tonic phase where the body goes into a generalized spasm. This rapidly transitions into the Clonic phase where the body convulses. The patient stops breathing momentarily in the Tonic phase due to spasm of the chest wall. read more

This rapidly transitions into the Clonic phase where the body convulses. The patient stops breathing momentarily in the Tonic phase due to spasm of the chest wall. The second way a patient may stop breathing is if he vomits or aspirates during any of these phases and this material then blocks the wind pipe ie trachea, leading to choking. read more

The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives. read more

My God, I hope you have oxygen at home for this. My little guy also stops breathing during seizures and his O2 saturations have dropped pretty low. We now have an oxygen concentrator in the house and it makes a huge difference. I know that scarey feeling when your child turns gray and their lips are blue and you feel so helpless. read more

My son does, but not the whole seizure. His seizures can last up to 15-20 min, usually only 10-15 on average. He tends to only stop breathing during the tonic phase, and for less than 30 seconds. I don't get scared (during), but when he starts to turn blue I get a little worried. read more