My Brain Doesn't Work The Same

[Bee91]

Have you ever noticed that you can't do the things you used to be able to do before you had Epilepsy?
I don't know whether it is because of Epilepsy, brain damage, meds, or the bumps on my noggin, but I don't work the same as I used to.
Simple math is NOT simple. I used to be so good at math and now, I have not one memory of how to do that. It's depressing. And when I learn something new, it stays in my head for a couple of days, and then it's gone. I got a 10%on a paper today in math.
I used to be able to do this. I never stopped doing this. I used to be awesome at math (I averaged a 97% for my freshman year) now My little brother out smarts me. It's really depressing.

[Bernard]

My wife had a hard time with any/all cognitive processes when she was going through a period of heavy uncontrolled seizures. Once she got it under control, things slowly returned to normal over the course of many months.

EEG neurofeedback can help restore clarity to the thinking processes.

[homemom360]

don't feel alone. i use to have the best memory in the world before i started having seizures. After word i was lucky to remember why i walked from one room to another in my house, very annoying and made me feel very small inside. i was on my way to an architechtural degree, and now i look at the things i did before and it's like it's writen in another language. after lots of hard work and lots of "repotition, repotition, repotion," i can now at least go to the store for two or three items and remember most of them with out a list. if you try there is a light at the end of the now dark tunnel. just know your are not alone and you are no less of a person now than you where then you are just a little diffrent person.

[darkmarkshark]

Yes, same here. One of my friends wants me to practice, but practice is upsetting because it forces me to realize just how much I can't do that I used to do with ease. I can't even begin to understand the material I was writing without effort just a few years ago

I've read that our intelligence doesn't drop - its just that we become slower. So you can still get a 95 on that same test. But you'll need longer time than everyone else - you should see about getting accomadations for that. Also, I guess its relatively common for our reading ability to regress quite a bit after a large seizure and it might take a few months for it to recover

[dfwtexas]

Yeah, I used to remember all sort of trivia...knew everyone I worked with spouses name, kids' names....now I have trouble remembering it I did something 5 minutes ago! I think it comes with the territory

[RobinN]

These days Rebecca's brain function is interestingly working better.
However , she is med free and does neurofeedback at least once a week.

[Bee91]

you should see about getting accomadations for that.

I do have special help at my school. I get one on one help from intervention specialists except for my College Prep class(English) and my elective classes (latin and psychology) and in those classes, the teachers still help me and give me extra time on every assignment and test. I have an IEP so that helps out a lot.

But I was so ambitious and it seems like if I can't understand simple concepts, how am I going to go through college and lead a normal life again. I'm not even having seizures anymore, but I still am not the same person I was 3 years ago....

[hawke86]

Sometimes it feels like my brain quits working.

[stilldancing_98]

I will tell you after my "infection, status, coma-stroke" I forgot who my own child was for a while. All that happened at the same time. Another stroke victim told me that when I forget to calm down because I get embarrassed, relax, and just wait it will come back. Sometimes it does ,sometimes it does not. But it is very good advice. And the other thing is repitition. Rope learning. Like a kid. Teach them the same thing over and over again it finally sticks in there heads. Like typing.But the more flustered you get the easier it is to forget.

[hawke86]

My Brain quits working most of the time.

[Kathie]

My son Alex was put on Dilantin along with the Trileptal, for about 2 weeks now, because the Trileptal was increased (can't remember at what level he was at).He had a bad reaction to what we think was the Trileptal and his sodium levels. We started cutting back the Trileptal slowly to what he was on before the adverse effects, told our family gp what we where doing.

He is not himself at all. He is so exhausted, he drops his words in the middle of a sentence, in the middle of brushing his teeth he realize's "Oh I'm brushing my teeth".
Does Dilantin cause this type of problem with people, he uses incorrect words sometimes in his sentences, Told his sister he was going out front to cut the grass, when he meant shovel the driveway.

He is going to see the neurologist next Friday, we are not happy with her bedside manner, but are giving her another chance, because we can't see anyone else until either later in Dec. or the other one we have lined up is in March.

Alex just had his blood levels done last Friday so at least she will have those to look at.

I really hope she takes him off Dilantin and can try something else.

Now I have just read through everyones posts and I hope it's what you all have said, after the major seizures the poor guy has been through, it will just be a matter of time for him to heal.

Any thoughts????

Kathie

[cbmc]

Brain not working well - I don't understand if it is the meds or the seizure that causes the problem. Spent some time with a friend recovering from a brain injury and the similarity in symptoms was scary sometimes. I have had one major seizure in May and some simple partial since then and take Dilantin (500 mg) and Keppra (1000) but the change in my ability to remember, think and process information is scary. If seizures don't cause brain injury and the meds are stabilized why does this continue and how do you explain it to people?? Not everyone with epilepsy seems to experience these problems.

[RobinN]

From my experience and watching my daughters abilities on and off medication. She had more problems on medication than she has off. I have found alternatives to be improving her cognative abilities.

[Lil 1]

Does Dilantin cause this type of problem with people, he uses incorrect words sometimes in his sentences, Told his sister he was going out front to cut the grass, when he meant shovel the driveway.

My experience with Dilatin was brutal (at least from my point of view). I was cutting potatos in the kitchen, forgot what I was doing and cut half way through my index finger - then while bleeding all over decided super glue was a good way to fix it. I also had word problems. I felt like I had an inability to think and talk at the same time. I would start saying something which would make me think of something else and would start saying what I was thinking instead of finishing my sentence. I quit Dilatin cold turkey.... and of course had a seizure.

[alivenwell]

College is still a possibility. Maybe you can obtain the college textbooks ahead of time and study their material. I did that one over a summer and had a less stressful semester afterwards.

[Lil 1]

College is still a possibility. Maybe you can obtain the college textbooks ahead of time and study their material. I did that one over a summer and had a less stressful semester afterwards.

I did this before seizures & epilepsy too. It became important to me after being diagnosed because it became a way to make use of my extra time when my license was taken away, made me look like a genius in class because I knew the answers the professor asked and it limited the amount of stress during the term so I could focus on what I was struggling with instead of trying to catch up on readings when I should be writing papers.

[brain]

Sometimes I feel like a nut
Sometimes I don't!

(Kudos to Almond Joy and Mounds
for that line ...)

Why did I post that?

Because it's the same application to those
who have Epilepsy; I feel like a Yo-Yo at times!

Sometimes I'm sharp as a tack!
Sometimes I'm the dumb blonde that I am!

As one poster had posted:

"EPILEPSY TAKES YOU FOR A VERY STRANGE RIDE"

Epilepsy is very strange, and strange indeed!

What I once excelled in, I am now deplorable,
but yet, what I once was so deplorable in I excel?
Oh the ironies of it all - Epilepsy, Medication, or
did we just have a seizure? Is our brain in mal-
function junction? Why is it that something so
simple and easy to comprehend that a "kiddy"-
gardener can easily do it but is a constant ever-
lasting struggle, a major Mount Everest for us
to tackle? Neither this can we understand nor
compensate, but yet at the same time, come now,
lying before us; the very thing we loathe and despised,
suddenly, we proceed, and are left in total astonishment?

Indeed, Epilepsy is a very strange thing!

Is it the medication(s)? It can be.
Is it Epilepsy? It can be.
Is it both? It can be.
Is it the brain damage? It can be.
Has things changed? It's possible.

All the more to loathe "E" and then some! Frustrations
mount, as struggles to toil on to get things accomplished
which never seems to end.

Moreover, I can totally understand and you have all my
sympathies and hugs (((((((( lots of it )))))))!

One thing you can do is to discuss this over with
your Doctors, to cover all the baselines, for it's
true that Epilepsy can change as we grow older,
medication(s) may need to be adjusted; but lest you
forget - there is just one thing that lies before you ...
the new profound stress that you've never endured
beforehand. Deadlines to be met, Pressures for
completions, then there's this, then there's that,
and everything on top of it - can push the seizure
threshold up as well as causing the brain to not fully
to function properly as it should.

I've been through it all before, far too many times,
knowing what lies in store - REST and taking complete
control is the major thing to keep in mind which is
far easier said than done. This is where one must learn
to become ORGANIZED; for there is no time but now
to learn this or otherwise, total disarray will then become
denominate in your life, leaving you with needless
and unnecessary strain.

I am not "preaching" or being on the "soapbox", but
rather sharing what I've endured and learned on my own,
the HARD WAY!

[ziggidypoo]

Epilepsy is a part of our life - part of what makes us be unique - medications change us - seizure damage changes us - memory loss changes us - etc.

I had a 4.0 GPA in college - yet, now, I cannot even read a book w/o problems and sometimes having to look at the previous paragraph or going back to the beginning to remember what I am reading - as I am reading it. NOW, my abilities are tremendously deminished. I am finding w/ E - sometimes it is harder on the families and friends - coping - than the actual person. For me, I hate not being able to go out on my own for fear of a seizure because mine are complex partial and nobody seems to know what to do - Epilepsy UN-Awareness.

Living in this Assisted Living Facility, we are a collection of about 100 people who all WERE something but now are SOMEBODY dear to us - each has changed from stepping stone to stepping stone - each is a history book - each is "peculiar" as a result of life's lessons and illnesses and just whom they have become. It is the same with E. Changes are like stepping stones, we learn and grow from our changes. I LOVE horseback riding, swimming, running, driving, etc. - however, it is an impossibility NOW in life to do any of these - happy memories. I also loved my dear brother - he passed away - it is an impossibility to see him again on this earth - happy memories. Changes in our lives from E or any drastic change brings a level of grief for who we used to be and what we used to be able to do - I think this is normal.

Why do I joke and kid around all the time? Walk in my shoes.

Why is someone else so serious all the time? Walk in their shoes.

I yam what I yam - toot toot - {popeye}

oops back to the corner