Epilepsy and Alzheimer's

[grandote]

My wife was recently diagnosed with seizures, so we are just beginning to learn about Epilepsy. Could anyone tell me if a person is more prone to Alzhiemer's if they have Epilepsy?

She has the seizures that are short with no effects that I can see from the outside, so we can't tell when she is having one. It bothers her a great deal because whenever she can't remember something, she doesn't know if she just forgot or had a seizure. Anyway, the whole thing is making her feel like she is going crazy. Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

Gary

[hawke86]

Hi Gary,
Welcome to the forum. What your wife is experiencing with her seizures is normal. We all forget sometimes after having a seizures. I know what it's like to forget. I have dealt with seizures since I was about two years old. If you have any more questions just post them and we will try to answer them the best we can. If we can't answer them just ask your doctor. Again Welcome.

[Georgiagirl88]

Hi there,

I can tell you firsthand that my memory has really gotten worse due to the seizures. I have temporal lobe seizures and I know they can totally affect memory. There are alot of posts about memories issues as well. This site is wonderful. It has been extremely helpful to me and supportive as well. I have learned so much. Welcome to the site..make yourself at home and feel free to ask any questions. I know it can be a bit overwhelming at first, but the more you can learn, I find it easier to accept and understand. I've had mine for at least 5-7 yrs. and only recently diagnosed this past fall. I am 41 yrs. old, married and we have 2 teenage children. Best wishes to your wife! P.S. Tell her she is NOT going crazy. Tell her about this site..it'll really help her feel better!!

Michelle : )

[skillefer]

Hi Gary! Welcome to CWE. Hawke is right. Memory loss is a side effect of the seizures. Think of it as rebooting your computer....everything you were working on is lost. You'll find that lots of us here have memory issues. Either due to seizures or medications, or both.

And I agree with Michelle. Check out the threads on memory issues. Epilepsy can be overwhelming at first. And REALLY frustrating. Especially when your trying to figure out if a medication is going to work. And then of course there's the memory issues. I can't tell my hubby half of what we've done in the years we've been married because I honestly can't remember. I don't remember people, places, movies we've seen, conversations we've had. I know it frustrates him at times. And trust me, it REALLY frustrates me. So tell your wife she's not going nuts. Then tell her about this site. It's really nice to be able to just talk with someone who understands what exactly you're going through. Oh....and, she might want to keep a journal. It'll help, because she can always flip back and look at what happened. Also, try to stay positive. I think of it this way....my hubby has a lot of DVD's that he's said we've watched. Half of them, I don't remember. So for me, they're always new. Same with books. I know it's hard to think of Epilepsy and see anything funny about it...but sometimes, if we didn't laugh, we'd cry.

Anyway Gary, if you or your wife have any questions, feel free to ask. We're a friendly bunch here. Take care, and say Hi to your wife for us.

[Georgiagirl88]

Hi Gary..again!

My Drs. also recommend the journals to help know how often they are happening and what exactly is happening....such as how long they last, what they feel like if I can recall, what preceded the seizure..jerking etc. That was something that was important for me to finally figure out. I began to track when I was going to have a seizure. For me..I will feel bad earlier in the day..such as a bad headache,shaky,jittery,weak and sometimes little electrical feelings all over. I just feel all over weird. Then I will have the seizure later that night. other people have a weird feeling just moments before a seizure. This info. helps the Drs have good insight into what's going on, especially when newly diagnosed. For me, mine are nocturnal and very weird ones and were hard for Drs. to realize they were seizures. Mine are complex,partial temporal lobe ones..And since I am new as well..all these terms were really hard for me to understand..complex,myclonic,partial..etc.
Having a few new editions of books written by noted Drs. or Mayo clinic etc. helped me to refer to. It was all really confusing..but I have learned alot and this site has been really informative. With the books I was able to refer to them whenever, the internet was also helpful. Please tell your wife..it will be o.k. and we are all here whenever she wants to hop in. This has truly been so helpful to me and the people here are wonderful friends and we all support each other!!

Best wishes,
Michelle

[RobinN]

My daughter is only 16 and has terrible memory loss.
Lets hope it isn't Alzheimers related.

Some are thinking that Alzheimers is adult onset Autism. We know from current medical files that many are curing their children of Autism through alternative bio-med treatments. So perhaps there will be hope for many with Alzheimers too.