Memory: Seizures, Medication or both

[Laurie Palmer]

I've always been quite a good speller. Now I fumble for the dictionary. I fear my seizures have taken their toll on my memory in this area and lightly on other facets of memory. I'm on strong medications since my recent episode and like to think when I adjust to them this will pass. I've had three grand mal Seizures this year and wonder how my mind is holding up with all these electric shortages.

[Georgiagirl88]

Hi Laurie,

I consider myself pretty intelligent and over the last several yrs. my memory/focus and recall seem to be really getting worse. I kept mentioning it to Drs. (prior to diagnosis) and they kept telling me it's normal for a Mom..blah,blah,blah. I said NO, it isn't like that. Not little things..like major where it really is upsetting to me and my husband and teenage children can notice it. It is different. Not,oh I forgot that guys name from yrs. ago. More like...I can't remember basic things. at times. This was prior to me being on meds. I was not correctly diagnosed for yrs. and I've had seizures for yrs.
I try to play jeopardy with my hubby each night, and on nights I lose I blame it on my slow left-temporal lobe!! But I also say my right side is super fast!!! HA! Really not funny, but I try to make light of it.

Michelle : ))

[Laurie Palmer]

Thanks for replying. I consider myself pretty smart too and hate to think this malady will affect my writing (I'm writing memoir with creative license). Monday I'll be back to it and will see if my ability to thread reflection, action and dialogue as well as before. My Dr. told me my left hippocampal volume is half the size of my right brain and other areas of my brain have been compensating all these years. I hope these areas will continue to compensate. For now I'm comfortable blaming adjusting to medications the problem. But who knows? Laurie

[Bernard]

My wife was at one point a complete vegetable - unable to talk in complete sentences or remember anything - short term or long term. She was having tonic clonic seizures once a week with several other types of seizures daily in between. She was also on depakote at the time.

Once she got the seizures under control (and switched off of depakote), her memory and cognitive functions slowly returned to normal (mostly anyway - she still has some memory issues) over the course of several months.

[LynnW]

I think I can relate. For several years now I have been having trouble coming up with words in mid-conversation. They are everyday words - for example: chair. I can finally get the word by picturing the object or by describing it (you know...the thing that you sit in). I used to amuse my family with every other sentence containing "you know...that thing..." and they would guess what I meant. They've gotten pretty good at guessing now.

I was just recently diagnosed with epilepsy, but if I think back, the word problem probably coincided with the start of what I now know were seizures. Coincidence?? I don't know. I'm in my 40's, so maybe it is just age related.

Also, I just started taking anti-epileptic drug's, and they have totally made me a basket case at times. I have been slowly increasing my dose, and I especially have memory difficulty the first day of an increase. I'm hoping that my body will adjust and this won't last forever.

[Bernard]

Most anti-epileptic drugs create some measure of brain fog, but it sounds to me like your issues are more related to seizure activity. Hopefully you will get the seizures controlled and things will start improving (cognitively).

[skillefer]

My lousy memory is due to seizures. My memory didn't start to go downhill until my seizures started flaring up. It's really frustrating...especially when my husband asks if I remember something we did, and I don't. Luckily, I still remember the day we met....but part of me is scared that someday I'll forget.

[BuckeyeFan]

I think you will find the memory issue very wide spread here. I know my anti-epileptic drugs can be part of it, but I also think the E might also be part of the cause.

I have the same problem losing my thoughts mid-sentence. That is one reason I love the internet and e-mail. No one notices my pauses when I am typing. Plus I can review what I said and clean it up if I am having a bad day. The other day I saw my grandson and had to pause to come up with his name. That is when it scares me. My tonic clonic seizures have been under control for 4+ years, but I wonder if I am having other issues that I didn't notice before.


Oh, by the way, WELCOME to CWE. Make yourself at home here. Would you like a cup of coffee or hot chocolate?

[skillefer]

Just thought of a good thing about my bad memory... I can see movies more than once and enjoy them just as much each time.

[Laurie Palmer]

Thanks Bernard - Re: your wife's present memory issues. Does she have difficulty with short or long term memory. I'm dealing with short term memory failings. Hey. There are plently long term memories I would'nt mind forgetting. My neurologist told me the small hippocampal volume (50% less than the right side) could have very well been stunted by early psycologial or physical trauma. In my case it was psycological since around the age of three. When he told me this I cursed my father...The byproduct of my proffesional memoir writing is, naturally, some catharsis. Could coming to terms with these memories inrease the hippocampal volume? A naive question, perhaps, but it's a hopeful thing to think about....How other areas of my brain have compensated for the left brain lack is a question I'll address in another post. Bernard, thanks for getting me started in the forum (still a lot of traveling to do - very impressive and sophisticated site) and thanks for responding to the stuff of memory. Lauire

[Laurie Palmer]

Lynne - I'm in my early fifties and am new to seizures, too. I'm on medications but I have to ask you - what are anti-epileptic drug's? Anti Epileptic Drugs, I imagine. Yesterday, I thought it was next week and got dressed for my Dr's appointment which wasn't until the 26th. Then, really fogged, I had to get bills out-no choice. The dating of the bills were still off and for the first time in my life I spelled my name wrong. I'll admit I'm scared and hope my faculties will return. Hearing from people like yourself eases me while I'm in this uneasy place.
Laurie

[Laurie Palmer]

Skillefer- I've often enjoyed movies more that once but some years back I was diagnosed with a dissociative condition and that seemed to explain why my So would say "we just watched that last week!". I have to speak with my neurologist and psycologist about a possible overlapping of dissociation and epilpepsy. Your friend, the movie goer and goer...
Laurie

[mamaruns]

I have major memory issues also (mostly short-term) and I can honestly say I know it's not the meds. I was just recently diagnosed and put on meds (very low dose) but the memory issue has been steadily getting worse over the past few years. I have fibromyalgia also which doesn't help at all, so it's hard for me to tell how much of the memory loss is from that, and how much is from the epilepsy.

You would not believe how many times I've washed my hair twice while showering, because I forgot I washed it the first time. It happens several times a week. You'd think I would have learned by now. People also tell me things that I have no recollection of hearing. It's extremely frustrating.

[Bernard]

Thanks Bernard - Re: your wife's present memory issues. Does she have difficulty with short or long term memory.

She has holes in her long term memory.

[wvueers]

I am not sure, but age and meds seem to factor into some of the memory loss. Seems like the more meds, the dopier i get. The doc just added another lam, that makes 6 100mg a day along with 4 750 keppra. I don't know why but with the 100mg added i feel so sleepy all the time. My biggest problem is with people's names. I just can't remember them. By the way, my name is a, duh, well, man my hurts. Dave

[RobinN]

I am always so sad to hear Rebecca say that she doesn't remember her day when she has had a seizure.

[Georgiagirl88]

Robin,

I can only imagine how hard it must be to watch your child with seizures. Our son who is now 16 1/2 and very healthy thank God, had yrs. that he was very sick. He had a low immune system (IGG) and had constant recurrent pneumonia along with bad asthma and was really sickly. You'd never know it now. I worried so much about him and felt so sad when he was ill and missing out. Do Rebecca's Drs. think she may eventually not have seizures. I hope so!! I am new to all this, so I don't really know. Maybe it is a good thing she doesn't remember those days. I hope you don't take that the wrong way..I just mean a blessing to not remember a really bad thing. Some days I would like not to really remember,ya know? I think I know what you mean by not remembering days. Sad to (as a young lady )not remember things. I hope she is doing good and continues to do well and seizure-free!! : ))

Michelle

[brain]

My memory is all distorted! I can
remember things vividly in the past,
but when it comes to time, date,
location, etc ---- BLANK!

My short term memory - *groans* - is
hideous! I've got to write it down or I
will forget! But even if I wrote it down
I'll forget where I put it! Thank goodness
for my computer calendar! My mom tells
me to mark it on your calendar (she
means on my computer) - because it's
the very FIRST thing that pops up when
my computer is started!

PLUS it has a week at a glance, and you
can log your diary, seizures, etc, and
much more...

My memory isn't as sharp as it is, only
when I am typing - for it's the only
thing that seems to be in sync: hands
& brain. *sigh*

I won't even elaborate on my speech
and brain ...



There's been a lot of times I'm out
of sync completely. My mom often tells
me now to go to bed. My Doctors, ER
Doctors, Nurses, etc - have witnessed
it ... and even my son complains about
how it drives him up the wall. I have
more bad days now than I do good or
50/50. I stick to typing.

They are noticing my memory as well
as my handwriting has declined as
well as the seizures are increasing.

[CJR]

I haven't noticed any partial seizures since the night she began the medication (YEAH!!!) but I have noticed other odd things. She was asked to go downstairs and put something next to the furnace for me. Three minutes later she came back upstairs because she couldn't remember which mechanical system (the water pump or the furnace) was the furnace. Hmmm, that's odd. Then she was asked to set out three napkins for her and her siblings and to put 5 crackers on each napkin. She got out 5 napkins. I reminded her that we only needed 3 napkins and that we needed 5 crackers per person. "OH." She seemed to get it but then she went to get the crackers from our cookie drawer (they've never been in the cookie drawer) and she got agitated when she couldn't find the crackers. So I had to help her remember where we keep the crackers.

Like I said, ODD but not nearly as scary as a cluster of 24 seizures within 3/12 hours like prior to her starting the meds. I've placed a call to the Doc and await his reassurance that I'm overreacting.

[RobinN]

Robin,

I can only imagine how hard it must be to watch your child with seizures. Our son who is now 16 1/2 and very healthy thank God, had yrs. that he was very sick. He had a low immune system (IGG) and had constant recurrent pneumonia along with bad asthma and was really sickly. You'd never know it now. I worried so much about him and felt so sad when he was ill and missing out. Do Rebecca's Drs. think she may eventually not have seizures. I hope so!! I am new to all this, so I don't really know. Maybe it is a good thing she doesn't remember those days. I hope you don't take that the wrong way..I just mean a blessing to not remember a really bad thing. Some days I would like not to really remember,ya know? I think I know what you mean by not remembering days. Sad to (as a young lady )not remember things. I hope she is doing good and continues to do well and seizure-free!! : ))

Michelle

Yes Michelle it is very difficult. The more information I have learned the easier it is to deal with. Her doctors have not said she would "grow out" of her seizures. I believe I need to get her health back to a place where her body can be strong enough to handle the different triggers on its own.

It would be different if she had brain trauma, or birth defect. I keep faith by knowing she was find for 14 yrs and then due to poor nutritional choices, and medical choices, her body has not been able to carry her over the "humps".

Of course this is just my intuition, but they say that weighs in a lot more than a 10 min appt with the doctor. I also see that when all her ducks are lined in a row, the events become fewer and fewer. My belief was, and is, that the anti-epileptic drugs further compromised her system and created an environment that was not allowing her to heal.