Twilight ‘Breaking Dawn’ Scene Allegedly Causing Seizures

What a bunch of BS!

Can totally agree with this, but I was the one who passed out and was brought to the hospital last Sunday. Not a fun experience.

Calling all lawyers! Fire up the lawsuits! Grab the dough and run!

“convulsing, snorting, [and] trying to breathe,” That’s what happens when you expect to see a real film and go to watch the “Twilight” nonsense.

Oh, and here I thought that it was the plot.

Though, I do understand the husband’s reticence in coming forward. If he wasn’t fired for going to that stupid movie just to appease his wife he would certainly be emasculated at work.

This exact same thing happened to me last saturday, it was during the birthing scene when exactly like the article said, the light switch turned on in my brain, I have never had any problems before this. I started blacking out in the theatre and my hearing went away. I stood up and pretty much ran through the people in my row and when I got to the end of the row I headed for the exit. I had to sense of balance and hit the wall and the door of the theatre and finally stumbled to the bathroom to calm myself down. I thought I was dying, it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I hope the makers of the movie do something about that scene so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.

My daughter became violently ill during this scene. Our family suffers from vertigo, and any scenes like this can cause issues. I cannot watch IMAX or 3D movies because of my vertigo. She came home ill from the movie after seeing it with friends. I had no idea this is what happened. Makes sense now. I am really angry at the filmmaker for not giving a warning for folks like us. We won’t come if you tell us it is going to happen. Irresponsible Hollywood yet again.

ABC-Can you please give us more information on this? My daughter also had seizures after seeing this. Thanks!

@Andrew Lolowesky, I think the reason the man was afraid of losing his job was because of him having a seizure (he could be a pilot or heavy machinery operator or something like that). Though I can’t figure out why any man would admit to watching this movie…

Well, Carole, you can call it nonsense if you like but it’s a fact that strobing lights – set at a certain frequency – DO cause seizures. Clearly those used in discos are not strobing at the same rate or we’d have a whole lot of seizing people, wouldn’t we? And yes, as someone else mentioned, there was a moment in a Japanese anime’ film that caused 700 kids (not all at once) to have seizures. You make yourself look silly when you comment without knowing the facts.

Wow…the same thing happened to my 11 year old daughter last Sunday. The last thing my daughter remembered seeing before her seizure was when Edward stuck the needle in Bella’s chest. She felt like she was going to vomit, her vision became blurry, the movie started spinning and she said it was like a black curtain closing in front of her face and everything went black. We left the cinema in an ambulance. She had a seizure 3 years ago that was unexplained so we didn’t associate it with the movie until now.

OMG, the same thing happened to me! The first hour was fine. As it neared the birthing scene, the images of the wolves speaking internally in conjunction with the noise level of the dialogue, needles, Bella’s gaunt appearance, and shaky screens, I felt a weird blanket-like darkness wrap over me. I remember telling my daughter that I had to leave because I felt surreal, nauseous, and like I was going to pass out. I left the theater to go sit out in the lobby–trying desperately to hold on to my senses. The manager asked me what was wrong, but I just played it off because who would have associated the movie with this occurrence? This news post clarifies much for me. I guess it affects some people differently. I’m glad to know I wasn’t going crazy. How do we prevent this from happening again?

I had a seizure on Saturday during Breaking Dawn. I was in a theater in MA. The movie was stopped and I was taken to the ER. It was my first seizure and I have had follow-up appointments. I was shocked to see that this was happening to others. I could give you specific information if it helps.

this happened to my sister last week in AMC freehold. she passed out in her friends lap during the scene with the birthing and she did urinate her pants as well. she was brought to the ER right after it happened one of my sisters friends called my mom and let her know what happened. this is very serious and sad :( for people who have to go through stuff like this.

This story is poorly written. We are given two accounts and one in anonymous. Every journalist knows that an anonymous account might as well be left out completely. This is pure sensationalism. Yes, certain patterns of flashing lights can cause seizures in people with epilepsy. If you are NOT epileptic it is more likely that you do not deal well with graphic pictures and gore. The scene is intense. This movie is not for children, hence the PG 13 rating. If you have a weak stomach stay home and don’t bring children. This is a powerful scene, believe it or not, it was very well done. It stayed true to the book. This series gets increasingly darker. There weren’t any toys marketed for this film, and every publicity piece that was done the actors informed us that it was going to be quite gory. People who have light sensitive epilepsy should be on medication, they also know that many things can trigger their seizures. It happened during Avatar, it can happen during video games, and YES it can happen in clubs. My husband is an M.D. and thinks it is highly improbable that every person having problems during this film is an epileptic. It is much more likely that people are having moments of intense anxiety or panic attacks. The writer of this story needs to speak with some other physicians and find many more people willing to go on record, before writing such a sensationalized story. The other comments on this thread do not warrant my attention. Highly odd individuals love to voice their uneducated opinions. Hopefully this “journalist” will do their job correctly next time.

I never had any seizure problems before, but during this moveI definitely had an episode. I went to the midnight premiere and was with some friends. I felt fine the entire movie and then once the birthing scene started, I felt really sick to my stomach, and the next thing I know i’m having tunnel vision, my hands started shaking and my body went limp and I fell over onto my best friend. I remember her waking me up asking if she should call 911. I told her no, that I was going to be okay, but it definitely freaked me out. I couldn’t hear anything and had the fainting sensation for a good 10 minutes, and also wasn’t able to move any of my limbs till about 15 minutes after the movie ENDED. It was a good movie, but I’m definitely not going to see it again after what happened :/

Robin…my daughter is almost 12 and two years ago she was present for the birth of her nephew and did not have any problems. This is not about not being able to handle blood or graphic images. It’s about the flashing lights. I was right beside my daughter when she had her seizure. Since I have worked with people with disabilities for about 25 years, including people who have seizures, I do know what a seizure looks like. Since my daughter underwent testing for almost a year to rule out epilepsy that wrapped up only 10 months ago I also know that she does NOT have epilepsy.

You need to look up and read about EEG tests. That is one of the tests they do to check for epilepsy and seizure disorders. They deprive you of sleep, wire you up to a brain wave monitor and measure the electrical wave activity in your brain. Part of that test includes exposing the person to intense strobe lights to try to cause seizure activity. When my daughter had that test in March of this year she did NOT have any seizure activity. She had activity indicative of migraine headaches due to strobes, though. The reason some people are having seizures from the flashing lights in this movie is because they are more powerful than the ones done by neurological tests intended to actually cause seizure activity. Anyone who gets headaches as well as anyone who has ever had a seizure before needs to be very careful if they are going to go to this movie. If they start to feel sick, get a headache or their vision becomes blurry get OUT of the theater fast and do NOT look at the screen.

As for the age of a child relating to PG 13 movies…I viewed the movie first to make sure it wasn’t too mature for my child. She is almost 12, has witnessed a live birth in person, knows where babies come from and doesn’t get queasy at the sight of blood. I was sitting right beside her. She has never seen an R rated move, though, and I always watch the PG13 ones first before letting her watch them. It’s not the content of the scene that is casing problems…it’s the flashing lights and they really need to fix it because it is obviously more powerful than the strobe lights used in the EEGs to cause seizures. Having to get all those tests, take an ambulance to the hospital and visits to a neurologist is very expensive and if they don’t take it seriously and fix it then they’re going to end up being sued. Because of this my daughter now has to get a 2 day EEG, which isn’t going to be very much fun. Thank God we have insurance that will pay for it.

My 17 year old daughter fainted during this scene. This is ridiculous and it needs to be pulled from the theaters until the scene is revised! This is seriously happening and not a joke!!!!

This was a great movie…. So people can watch movies like Saw, Saw II and all those horrifying movies but a love movie is going to harm u? I myself think it is a great movie and will watch it over and over.

My 15 year old daughter all reacted during the birth scene. I thought she only had fainted/passed out. Now I am wondering if it was a seizure. It was very scary. She was out for over minute. I too wish there had been a warning

My 18 year-old son had his first seizure ever during this scene a week ago. He has seen many very gory movies (and enjoys them.) He was seen in the ER afterwards, and by a neurologist a few days later.The neurologist confirmed it was a seizure. Now he needs further testing. Does anyone know if the CDC or other health agency is collecting information about these cases?

This actually happened to my daughter at the movie, we went via abulance to the hospital..The scarest moment of my life seeing my child like that. I didn’t even know this was happening, this is the first I am hearing of all this. I dont know if it was because of the movie but it was during this scean that she got ill and passed out 3 times.

This also happened to my daughter last week during the birthing seen of breaking dawn. She showed all the symptoms of a seizure. She started convulsing, lost her hearing, breathing hard, sweating and finally everything went black. She doesn’t remember anything after that except for waking up with the paramedics next to her and needing stitches from a deep laceration that she suffered from a fall.

This movie is so ridiculous. I’m a pre-teen and had to watch my own mother have a seizure in the middle of the movie for NO reason. This movie needs to be taken out of theater’s immediately. She looked at me and passed out and then started having a seizure. This is SO RIDICULOUS. I can’t even put it into words.

This is not BS. Its actually true and as a physician it is more common that actually thought off and can hit anyone who has never had epilepsy before and can be very traumatic and dangerous at times.

My teenage daugher, with no history of health issues, also passed out during this scene. She walked out of the theater into the hall because she felt sick and woke up on the floor. She has no memory of going down and was alone at the time. It was very scary!

This just happened at our theatre today as well, a young girl had a seizure during the birth scene and we had to call the paramedics. Not only that, but 3 people have thrown up, and a lot of little kids that moms brought in without reading the book have gotten quite scared and disturbed from it.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR LITTLE KIDS INTO THIS MOVIE. SERIOUSLY. Stop it moms, find a babysitter.

OMG after reading this article and all the comments I’ve heard it all..really? BTW..saw it three times (luved it) and no one in all the theatres, including me fainted..puhleaze..

im epileptic and i can’t believe some of the comments on here, this is not a publicity stunt like some believe, this is an actual medical emergency that has killed people (im not talking about the movie and whats going on there), whether or not this movie is “good” (which i don’t believe it is, the books were better), it needs to be pulled from theathers or a sign needs to be put out saying it has caused passing out and seizures. also epileptics don’t go out and look for things to give them seizures, i know i don’t, if you’ve never had one before, you’re lucky because during that time, in the head of the epileptic, its a terrifying place :/

Give me a break!! Whatever more seats available for me to watch the movie over and over again :-)

I am so relieved that I found this link. My 14 year old daugher went to see this movie with a friend and during the night she could not sleep, she had difficutlies breathing. She’s had a big meltdown at home while alone on Friday. She is afraid to be alone and is getting panic attacks at least one or twice a day. None of this has ever happened before. Now I have to find medical help for her because she is afraid that it will keep on happening.

WHAT A BUNCH OF BS…THE MOVIE IS DOING GOOD , SO PEOPLE ARE SAYING THINGS TO TRY & SUE…IM SO GLAD I LIVE IN F…… USA WHERE ANYBODY CAN SAY BOO & SUE….THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE LIGHTING. THE PREVEIWS FOR OTHER MOVIES BEFORE BREAKING DAWN STARTED WAS MORE BRIGHTER THEN BREAKING DAWN ..OMG PEOPLE ARE SO IGNORANT, THEY MAKE ME SICK. USA PEOPLE ARE SO LAZY & SUE HAPPY , SO THEY GO TO SHOW BLAME THE MOVIE & SUE…OR THEY WANT THERE NAME ON NEWS..THE BIRTHING SCENE WAS NOT BAD AT ALL..THERE IS WORSE THINGS ON TV..LIKE FAMILY GUY & THOSE SHOWS THAT SHOULD NOT EVEN BE ON TV….

I am so glad to find this article! My husband and I went to see this movie and I had a seizure during the birthing scene–I have never had a seizure before. We’ve spent the last week in hospitals for various testing, including CT scans, EEG, etc. It has been terrifying. It’s good to hear I’m not alone, and good to know what might have caused this.

While watching Breaking Dawn on Saturday night, we witnessed a young teenager have a seizure and it was very scary!! The theatre stopped the movie and waited for the ambulance to arrive. It was a horrific moment for all!! Just glad the girl was going to be ok. Please warn all family and friends of the possibility if prone to seizures!

I went to watch the twilight breaking dawn movie this past Sunday night (11/27/11) with 3 other close friends of mine and I had a seizure. I felt like I was going to get sick, my body started to ache (neck and back), I felt very uncomfortable and finally had to turn around completely in my seat whispering “I can’t watch this” to my girlfriend, is the last thing I remember before blacking out. my friends and a man I didn’t know explained to me what happened while I was out. My body arched back and I made heavy snorting sounds til finally I woke up looking weak and delirious to them yelling at me “are you ok?? do you know where you are?? ” My girlfriend then took me out of the theater and splashed water on my face got me some water and I sat there confused, BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE A HISTORY OF SEIZURES! This movie caused it and It’s not a regular health problem for me. I hope that people realize this is not a publicity stunt and people who do have real life problems with epilepsy and seizures need to be warned, if fact everyone should be warned. I am not blaming anybody but I think people should know what happened!

I also had a seizure during the movie. I did the exact same snorting thing, and actually urinated when i passed out.

I am so shocked but also relieved that i am not the only one. Such a scary thing, and im happy to know im okay. Please ABC, give us more information.

i have epilepsy so I definitely know that I cannot be around strobe lights or anything which has the same effect. Most of my seizures occured in the shower; driving through shadows from the trees above (which I no longer did until I had been siezure free for 2 years)

I used to have seizures a lot when I was little….I really don’t appreciate all this BS and stupid comments. Really, people? Seizures are NOT funny. Grow up.

JD…this doesn’t seem to be happening to people who actually have epilepsy or a seizure disorder, likely due to those folks being on medication. I’ve been reading up on as many accounts as I can find and what I’m hearing most is that, like my own daughter who had a seizure during the movie, they are prone to migraine headaches. These people would NOT be on any anti-seizure medications. My child has actually had two EEGs and got no seizure activity from the strobe portion. They DID show she gets migraines from strobes, though. That means the strobe effect was more powerful than that from an EEG.

i live in mexico, my daughter who is 16 had the same horrible experience! this is insane! i didnt know all of this was happening with this movie! something to be done, at least the have to warn about this!!!

Damn are you people really this ignorant? First of all, those claiming this is “publicity”? Give me a break. This would amount to the worst possible publicity imaginable for a newly released movie. Do you really think it would cause MORE people to go see it after hearing of all the seizures?

Secondly, the CIA , KGB, & MI-6 have been researching this technology for at least 70 yrs. But since everyone is too afraid of their own shadows these days, people would rather live in a bubble and watch NFL, American Idol, or ‘Best Housewives of Timbuktoo’ than dig up news that actually matters, like the fact the US just wiped out 5 cities in Libya, dropping 14,000 bombs on civilians? Maybe 1 out of 100 of you knew about that I bet. Point being, don’t come on here saying ‘this is BS’ if you don’t know jack sh%t about the subject.

Type in “mind control programming”, “MK Ultra”, induced trance, Dr. Ewen Cameron, etc. There’s ton of info online. You aren’t going to get the truth on TV so forget it. Take the next week and research these subjects & you’ll see this was no accident. This was a test as outlined in the military’s PsyWar experiments done in the 90′s with various electrical impulses and strobe trances. Sounds sci-fi I know, but it’s 100% true. You just have to take your head out of the sand & quit wasting time watching brain garbage.’

BTW, there’s a Facebook group where they are trying to document the cases of seizures. They need to know where? What city you saw it in. Please tell your story there so they can map out as many cases possible. It’s titled on FB, “Breaking Dawn Seizures:

@colleen THANK YOU. This isn’t fake and do you see me sueing people? No. I could care less, it’s just that experience isn’t fun and if you haven’t gone through it your lucky. You can die from this and some of you are saying its fake? These people aren’t doing this to get more people to see it it’s a warning. Which is what they should’ve done in the first place. Man passing out is terrifying.