A seizure may last seconds or minutes, but recovery does not necessarily end when the visible seizure stops. The postictal state can involve exhaustion, confusion, headache, memory problems, weakness, language difficulty and changes in behaviour.
Recovery is a process, not an on/off switch
The postictal period lasts until the person returns towards their usual neurological baseline. Research shows wide variation between people and between seizure types. In a systematic review, many postictal manifestations lasted less than 24 hours, while some cognitive and psychiatric effects could persist longer.
What can make recovery longer?
Recovery may be influenced by seizure duration and type, whether a focal seizure spread to become bilateral tonic-clonic, repeated seizures, sleep deprivation, injury, medication effects, age and the underlying epilepsy. There is no single recovery time that applies to everyone.
Awake does not always mean recovered
A person may open their eyes, talk or walk before attention and memory are fully back to normal. That distinction matters because witnesses can assume the emergency has passed while the person is still confused, vulnerable to falls or unable to make reliable decisions.
When longer recovery needs medical review
If recovery is much longer than usual, the person does not regain their expected level of consciousness, there are repeated seizures, serious injury, breathing problems or new neurological symptoms, urgent medical assessment may be needed.
Sources
Systematic review — Signs and symptoms of the postictal period