Seizures can occur in 5% of MS patients.  Occasionally seizures can be the sign of an MS attack.  A seizure occurs as the result of excessive electrical activity from the brain.  This is often indicative of an irritation in the brain as a result of the MS process.  The MS patient may experience brief intermittent changes in awareness, speech, train of thought, and cognition. The seizure may be focal causing face and arm muscles on one side of the body to contract or spasm uncontrollably. Convulsions or “grand mal seizures” may occur causing a dramatic event in which the patient loses consciousness and convulses.  Once seizures are diagnosed, then the person is considered to have epilepsy.