Memory loss - funny

[valeriedl]

I know that alot of us have memory loss, mine is pretty bad. I'll deal with it in a funny way, there's no use in getting upset over it cause it's been going on for such a long time that I'm just used to it and don't let it bother me anymore.

My friends and family understand what's going on with me so instead of getting fed up with having to tell me things over and over then we've just learned to laugh about it because they know it's probably always going to be that way and in about a week or so they are just going to have to tell me again.

I love it when people tell me stories of things that I've done in the past, even if it was only just last week. We get the biggest kick out of the goofy things that went on and can't believe that it's still not up there.

The best recently, that I can remember that is, my husband and I went to a bar where a band was playing. That night they were letting other musicians come up and play an insturment with the band, my husband plays drums.

I was talking to a guy at the bar and his wife. I know that we talked to him for a pretty long time. My husband went up and played for a few songs and I went down to watch him. After he was done he came back and sat with me and we talked for a little bit.

I went up to the bar to get another soda and started talking to this guy at the bar and asked him if he was playing tonight. He gave me a wierd look and told me that he was just up there playing guitar. I started laughing and said that I was watching my husband so I really didn't know what else was going on.

I started talking to the guy a little more about some things and asked him his name and he just gave me this wierd look. I stopped talking and said "I've already told you all this haven't I, and you told me your name too didn't you?"

I told him about the epilepsy and the memory loss and he started laughing. All the rest of the night he kept introducing himself to me and told me he played guitar, we both got a kick out of it!

Anyone else deal with their memory loss with a good attitude?

[sbncmo]

I have severe memory problems too, only some of my memory losses cover years not just a few moments or hours. I have a lot of memory blackouts from traumatic events during my youth. But I've had a happy married life, never a problem with my husband, & we had the best son anyone could ask for. But I have relatively few memories of the past 27 years. A couple of months ago, my son was saying how he missed a jeep we used to have. I have no memory of it at all. He said I always liked it, saying the engine purred like my cat did. Still a total blank. I have always been upset by my memory losses, but this really bothered me. I mean, how can you forget something in your life for a number of years? Then I found out that it is the epilepsy that has caused the memory problems.

I've been seeing a psychologist for about 15 years & he was always confused about my adult life memory losses. The childhood memory losses of blocks were understandable, but he couldn't figure out the adult memory losses. When I told him that it was the epilepsy, he was like "Now it all makes sense. I don't know why I didn't think of that, knowing that epilepsy causes damage."

Anyway, I try not to let it bother me anymore. Just last night my son was talking about a car we had when he was 11. We went on a 2 week trip to Oregon. I remember a couple of things about the drive out there, (nothing about visiting family while there), a couple of stops on the return trip, overheating in California & having to sit on the side of the road for a while, but not much else - not what kind of car we had, but my son remembers. He told about the car & several things that happened on the trip that I have no memory of. Another car that I don't remember even though we had it for a number of years. But now that I know why I don't remember things, I don't get quite as upset.

Even so, I feel like I've missed out on a very large portion of my life. I can't even remember very much of my son growing up. I have some memories & they are very precious to me, but my husband & son & other family members are always telling me stories of things from the past that I don't know anything about.

I have the short term memory loses too. When I was driving, I would forget how to get home. I didn't realize I was having seizures when that happened. I still have those seizures & get totally lost when I'm a passenger. And I'm always forgetting people & have to ask my husband who someone is. It's a trip!

Shelia

[Endless]

Wish I had a funny story to tell about this, but I don't.

For some time I couldn't remember huge chunks of my past. I thought it was a side effect of the seizures, but it turns out it was the anti-seizure meds I was on at the time. I have complex partial seizures where I don't remember what I was, what I did or where I went (but for only about 5 minutes, and the memory never comes back). And I have Jaimas Vu where I don't recognize where I am - that memory is completely gone, but it returns within a few minutes.

The meds still make it so that sometimes I can't remember conversations, promises, lists, or even the last page I read in a book.

Yep. Memory problems. Check.

[sbncmo]

Hi Endless, I wish I could blame all my memory loss on the anti-epileptic drug's, but I started having the memory losses long before a neurologist diagnosed me with ep & started me on meds. My son was about 10 years old when I first started on Neurontin, but I actually started having complex partials 12 years before that - I just didn't know what they were (I had them last anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes). And like you said, the memory loss from complex partial seizures is gone for good. I try not to be angry about it, but I do still feel sad quite often. We have to remember, every time our brain short circuits or misfires, it does some sort of damage somewhere in our bodies & unfortunately that damage can be permanent. I wish my memory losses could be counted as funny, but I don't think they are. And I hate being in a conversation & not being able to remember what I wanted to say or remember names or words. But it is what it is.

Shelia

[Endless]

I know how you feel... I didn't remember whole conversations before I was diagnosed, too. Turns out it was several complex partials a day, which definitely isn't good.

Laughing... I guess I traded one type of memory problem for another.

[stephk]

all i can do is laugh at my horrible memory. Me and my husband joke about age all the time in my house... it always ends with him telling me that my memory is that of an old grandma. I dont have a comeback, because he has a great memory... sometimes he gets a lil aggravated though when i have to continually ask him questions over and over. He does make funny jokes... some that i ahhh can't talk about on here.....

[valeriedl]

Stephk - do we have the same husband?

[sbncmo]

Endless, that's what happened to me. When I was 18 I started having complex partial seizures, just once in a while, but within a year or two, I was having them several times a day. Came out of more seizures in near accidents than I can even remember - some could have killed me & others if I hadn't come to at the last second. I'm relieved not to be driving now. But I sure wish I could remember my son growing up, family vacations & stuff. I have pictures, but they don't mean a thing to me. It really is frustrating.

Shelia

[Elsie]

Last night I was typing a post here and totally couldn't get my brain wrapped around the word Neurologist. Couldn't figure out how to spell it. Looked it up in the dictionary. Oh, yeah, it's a g not a p... My memory of words, meanings of words and their spellings is getting worse. I know it's not from seizures unless the damage goes back years and years, I feel it's the med.

My poor friends. I can never remember their names. Over and over I forget. I wish I could find this funny and not just irritating.

[sbncmo]

Hi Elsie, It certainly is frustrating. I abbreviate words when I can, like neurologist instead of neurologist, or epileptologist instead of epileptologist, or even ep for epilepsy. That sentence took a couple of minutes trying to remember how to spell.

Names for me are just as bad. I went to a very small school - 330 student K-12. My grade had 30 students, so I knew my classmates very well. After I graduated & started having the complex partial seizures, I started having trouble remembering people. Maybe 4-5 years after graduation, I was at the airport & a classmate saw me (he & I were in the top 5 of our class). He was so excited, but I couldn't remember him for the life of me. I tried to wing my way thru the conversation, but I think he left wondering why I acted rather oddly.

Your memory problems could be from meds or they could be from seizures. I went years having seizures without knowing I was having them and all those years of seizures is what has ruined my memory. I started having seizures after graduation & in just a short time, damage was done. I always wing it, then after the person is gone I ask my husband "Who was that?" Even when he tells me I may still not remember them. Ah, the joys of ep! Hang in there.

Shelia

[Endless]

Oh, Elsie....

I can tell you are a fellow game-show player.

You know, the game where you are in the grocery store and you say to the clerk, "Hold on while I find my......." (then you can't find the word!)

So you ask the complete stranger next to you in line, "you know, the little square paper things that give you money off on stuff?"

The stranger says, "Coupons?" You say, "YES!" And that stranger looks like they just won the lottery.

Most people over the age of 40 comfort me by saying "oh, that happens to me, too." And I think, "yeah, but not 50 times a day."

[matchu]

ha ha, my grandma refers to pizza as tht round thing we cooked the other day. i am horible with names, can forget someone imediately after being told a name. I feel bad as lots of people come up to me with a pleasant smile and refer to me as Matchu and i have no idea who i am talking to. Apparently i made a good impression as they are really excited to see me. This happens quite often too.

[sbncmo]

Endless, I think a lot of us are in the same boat. I start to say something, forget the word & start saying "oh! what is it? That...oh, I can't think of the word! You know. Urgh!!!", all the while my hands waving palms up in front of me. Or I'll start out with "I needed to tell you something, but I can't remember what it was. What was I going to tell you?" (I must expect people to be mind readers or something.) It makes likfe interesting.

Shelia