Speech problems

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137Alice

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Hi, everybody! For a long long time trying to figure out what it is - one minute u are OK and then just unable to speak. Sometime u also can´t understand what is being said to u -it sounds like a flow of sounds. Or even more interesting (ha-ha) - u don´t understand what u are reading. If this happens just a couple of times it’s bearable, but when it is more often...
Does anyone have the same problem?I have it for a long time and not one single neuro was able to help. From the info i found it looks like aphasia, but then normally people have it after a stroke or brain injury. Would be grateful for any info!
 
Hey 137Alice, welcome to CWE!

As Frink notes above, what you describe can be a form of a "complex partial seizure". (In partial seizures, the person remains conscious but can partially impaired.) Certain kinds of speech and language disturbances that show up during complex seizures tend to be linked to (originate in) the non-dominant temporal lobe. And post-seizure aphasia is linked to the dominant temporal lobe. So you may be experiencing seizure activity in one or both temporal lobes. Have any of the neuros you've seen been epilepsy specialists? Have they had you undergo any testing such as an EEG or an MRI/MRA?

The symptoms you describe can also be related to certain forms of migraine, but if you don't have a history of migraine, that's less likely to be the case.

Do you keep a diary of your symptoms? That can be helpful for gauging whether they are changing in frequency, duration, or kind, and can sometimes point to a secondary trigger that may be a factor. A diary can also be very helpful to the neuro in making a diagnosis.

Best,
Nakamova
 
Aphasia

Posted a long reply that strangely enough disappeared. Will try to make it short. I had all possible tests, even spent 2 days in observance lab, with no conclusive result. My epilepsy started about 16 years ago with tonic clonic seizures and for 2 years i tried practically every med existing. Ergenyl and Keppra,helped with tonic clonic but now my diagnosis is focal, and this aphasia thing can really get on your nerves. It lasts perhaps 1-2 minutes, but when it goes on and on i have to take Frisium and sleep for at least an hour. I read that people with aphasia after a stroke can have some sort of treatment but was wondering if anybody knows about it in connection with focal seizures. Thanks to everybody.
 
Got it, sorry -- I didn't realize that you already had the epilepsy diagnosis.

Aphasia due strokes can sometimes be treated by speech therapists, but I think for short-term aphasia due to seizures, the main treatment is just trying to prevent or arrest the seizures with short-term meds (such as ativan or lorazepam) and/or techniques like paced breathing.

I've read about one treatment for more chronic aphasia which involves using strong intense sound patterns to "shock" the speech areas of the brain into proper firing. Might be worth trying something along those lines (assuming there are no contraindications).
 
Sorry, Nakamova, could u please be more specific about those strong intense sound patterns, because i never heard about it. As for breathing - those things are too sudden and also u are completely out of control but about meds i will talk with my doc. And thanks again.
 
Auditory treatment is primarily used more during therapy sessions for those recovering from aphasia in stroke situations. It involves very simple questions or cognitive or tasks presented at a steady pace, followed by strong tones (like three repeated chimes) after each correct response and a different sound for a wrong response. It's a way of conditioning a correct language response through sound. Perhaps some sort of pre-recorded program to listen to through headphones would help when you are struggling with seizure-related aphasia.

Even though your aphasia is transient, you still might benefit from seeing a speech therapist who specializes in aphasia treatment -- he or she might be able to provide tips and workarounds to get your brain back on track when the aphasia occurs. as an example, aphasia patients can sometimes sing words even when they can't speak them, So if you are able, you could try singing next time the aphasia hits to see if it helps.
 
I did read somewhere that Asl/bsl having good results with this
 
Thanks, Seagull, the problem is that even though u are aware of what is going on u are not in control, so there is not really much one can do. If i try to describe the situation the most realistic would be as if u are sort of being conscious but not really being able to do anything about loosing your speech, reading or understanding ability, so using sign language could also be a bit of a problem.
 
It sounds nasty thing to have.my daughter speech therapist I ask her
 
Aphasia?

hi, seagull. Would be interesting to hear what your daughter says. I found more info on aphasia and think perhaps all treatments are OK only for people after a stroke, when they loose speech completely. What is interesting to me is to see if one can sort of find some means to control those separate episodes/blackouts i have.
 
Hi Alice,
I get the same thing as you, have for 38yrs. I get it about once or twice a week. It lasts for about 2 mins.
I'm totally awake and can hear and be aware of everything around me and all written material just looks like garbled, but I can't respond.
My Neurologist calls this a "speech arrest" (for lack of a better term) and is caused by the AEDS meds (for me anyway)
It's an indicator that the meds are doing their job. If I wasn't on the meds then these "speech arrests" would be full out grand Mal seizures.

After I have a "speech arrest" I then go into a" post ictal state" for about a half hour, then gradually come back to normal.
 
Thanks, RanMan. My only question is how do u know it is your meds that cause this problem?Over 16 years I tried practically every one, now i am on Keppra and Ergenyl (sorry, am not sure about American name, actually it is just good old valproate) and it was always the same. During my last appointment i just stopped speaking and my doc made EEG a few minutes after. He said that now he saw definite signs of a focal seizure and suggested i take more Keppra.After a few days i saw that i feel worse and went back to my 500-0-750.
Actually i am more or less sure this speech arrest thing is somehow connected with weather/pressure change. There is practically no info on how those things affect people, and practically no research. Would be interesting to see if u ever noticed something like this. When i do not forget i look into "Bioweather" in my region for the day i am not OK and in 90 % i find correlation.
 
Hi Alice,

I think what Ranman was saying is that the "speech arrest" (a small seizure) is not progressing to a full tonic clonic because the medication is working, not that the medication is causing the speech arrest.
 
Sorry if i misunderstood him. My epi started with Grand Mal and meds did more or less controlled it, but after a couple of years my"speech arrests" started and so it goes. U can more or less get used to it If it happens just once a day, but it`s more difficult to have a whole day of it. Then I have to take Frisium and sleep for a couple of hours and there is no guarantee it doesn`t continue the next day.
 
I feel you pain

Alice,
I am loosing my job over this exact thing. Mine is a bit worse than yours though, as mine are 3 to 5 times a day until I hit a cluster which lasts for hours.
My first doctor also called it speech arrest at first, but I learned later that exactly what the others have said about it being partial seizures in the temporal lobe.
I agree with most of them, the medicine is basically keeping the seizure from spreading throughout the brain (in a simple term).
I had a 5 day in patient EMU study, and trust them that you don't want to let you levels get too low or you will go into a generalized seizure. And for mine, I was awake and conscious for the entire first grand-mal, and most of the 2nd grand-mal before I finally passed out. Felt like I was being electrocuted and a helicopter landing on me at the same time.

I wish you well and know how you feel.

J
 
fromwhat I am reading even trying the sound is A note different hz frequesy is having success I am trying it myself you grit your teeth a bit cos some of sounds like cat on heat/but strangly it do work that ad certain breathing teckniques.

I sorry this reads like retarded snail but ipad is possecced by the devil and changes my grammer and spelling I tried doing all things suggested but the devil appears to be winning on ipad
 
I tried topamax just as many others

No. i am on Keppra, Ergenyl chrono and add Frisium on a bad day. If it`s really bad i take a bigger dose and sleep for a couple of hours -quite often it helps to spend the rest of the day more or less normally.
 
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