Memory Loss during post-iptic

[stockiingmelissa]

My name is Melissa and I am relatively new to the seizure world. I started having seizures after head trauma. Anyway I am having a problem that is really scaring me. I do not remember my post-iptic responses which I am told is normal but during the responses I have sometimes dramatic memory loss. I am talking about years. Last night for example I lost 8 years out of my memory. I would really like to know if this is normal or if this is something that just is me. I had another similar event to this where I must have had this response and I woke up in the woods in the middle of the night under a treebranch with my head split open. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Nakamova]

Hi stockiingmelissa --

Is the memory loss permanent? In other words do the missing memories eventually return?

Some memory loss is "normal" in the post-ictal phase, but it can depend where the seizure originated. Seizures near the hippocampus can interfere more with memory. Another thing to consider is head injury during the seizure, as well as the effect of meds.

[stockiingmelissa]

Yes my memory does eventually return. I am not sure where the seizures are originatins but the initial head injury was near the left temperal lobe. I also have TMJ and migraines because of it. The only medication I am on because of the seizures is Topamax.

[stockiingmelissa]

I am also having a problem with feeling with my legs. I am unable to walk for long periods of time after my seizures.

[Cint]

Melissa,

Head injury near the left temporal lobe can cause memory loss. I have a damaged hippocampus and had a left temporal lobectomy, resulting in memory loss, aphasia. I also take Topamax, called Dopamax. One of the side of effects of it is forgetfulness.

Have you gone to a neurologist rehab center since the injury?

[skillefer]

Sad to say, but the memory loss (temporary) is actually normal. And, don't be surprised if you lose a certain amount of memory due to the seizures and the meds. Fish oil capsules can help.
I once forgot I was married and called the cops because there was a "strange man" in my apt. It took the statements of my next door neighbors, a copy of my marriage certificate, and my hubby showing the cops my meds and telling them I had epilepsy to get the cops to leave.

[stockiingmelissa]

CINT * No I have not. I am just getting in to see a neurologist who is willing to deal with the car insurance and still see me as a patient.

SKILLEFER * I know that feeling. When I some out it is so hard becuae my husband is hurt and I don't know how to help him. I run away from him and he thinks that it is just him even when I try to reassure him that it is me and that it would happen no matter who I was with.

This really scares me because I don't wanna lose my husband. It also terrifies my kids when I seize and my husband has to hold me down afterward to keep me from running wildly into the road or something.

[Rae1889]

I have done it to my fiance. hit him, bit him screamed and cried cuz I didnt know who he was or where I was and thought he had kidnapped me and wanted to hurt me.

[Zoofemme]

you know, my husband said I use to be quite agressive and nasty toward people when I came out of a seizure...didn't want to be touched, would slap at them, etc. He says he just leaves me alone now until I'm "aware" and ready to get up. It just takes some time until we're firing on all cylinders again.

[stockiingmelissa]

The worst part for me is the not remembering. I can't even comfort my husband because I am not sure how to. He tells me not to worry about it but I do. And the absolute worst part is the headaches that drive me away from the family because I am so bit*hy while I am having them. It feels like somebody has hit me all over again.

[Endless]

Melissa,

I used to have horrible postictal migraines, that lasted from 1 day to 3 weeks. There's hope. I think my seizures are now under control, and I haven't had a migraine in a couple of months.

When your seizures are under control, your life will change. Work with your neurologist. There's better living through chemistry (drugs!).

[RobinN]

Rebecca tells me that the loss of memory is the worst for her too. She has tonic clonic seizures and she loses memory that involves hours before her seizure. She can never tell me what led up to it, or how she felt. She is also still in HS, so the fact that her morning classes are all forgotten about, is very scary and frustrating.

She did have one terrible memory loss. It began in October of the first year she began having seizures. She had tried one med at that point (tegretol) and I believe she had recently come off of it. I dropped her off at school, and somewhere in that first hour, she had some sort of episode and she lost all memory. She knew "how" to do things, but not how she learned them. She did not know her family or her home. It all had to be relearned. I am going to fast forward, to December when it came back just as quickly. She was asking such odd questions to her friends online, that they all began to call us.

I have since learned that hypoglycemia targets the same part of the brain as memory. I was reading a great site just the other day, and now I draw a blank on where I saw it. It was very interesting and made a lot of sense in regards to my daughters situation. If my "memory" returns I will post a link to the article.

My daughter now controls her seizures by making nutritional changes. She has been seizure free for almost 5 months. When she was taking meds she had 6 each month.