Speech issues

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350spider

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Hi! I'm new here and wanted to ask if anyone else suffers/has suffered from the following:

I have complex partial seizures in which I stutter, can't find my words, slur, etc. This is "normal" for me. However, the other day, I had multiple seizures and I started grunting and clicking.

Has anyone else had that?

Thank you! :hugs:
 
Hi 350spider, welcome to CWE!

I don't get partials, but plenty of other members do, and I'm sure they will chime in.The speech issues do sound like typical complex partial symptoms. Do you think they represent some sort of change in your seizures?

Best,
Nakamova
 
Hi Nakamova!

Thank you for replying. I really appreciate it. I was a little worried that my speech issues changed to grunts and clicks as opposed to my normal slurring/stuttering, as I've not had that before. The last 3 years I've had a lot of seizure types, so I was wondering if this is just an extension of my speech arrest during my seizures, or something else. Hopefully, someone else might have experienced this, too (well, not hopefully, because I don't want anyone else to have this, but I hope you guys know what I mean!).
 
Years ago before I was actually diagnosed and put on medication and before my tonic clonic occurred I had interesting "speech / vocal" things occur. I had "sniffing" / funny breathing noises. I had groaning loud inhale / exhale followed loud talking. This is what my wife passed on as I did not remember anything about what occurred.
 
! ! ! ! Welcome to cwe ! ! ! !

350spider,
What you are describing sounds like what can happen to a person w/E. This happens because there are so many(millions/billions) brain cells and there may be a different action taken by the body for each of messages sent from these various cells. There is a possibility of a person's E to change anytime the connections the cells in the brain are different. A person may have only one kind of seizure if there is damage and scar tissue in only one spot.
The biggest problem is that there is always the possibility of E making changes as a person ages.
There is no real one and only one way E may occur and show itself in what the person does as a result of the seizure. A person's E may start one way, but change in how it shows itself many times.
This may make you ask questions about your E many times! :ponder:

acshuman
 
gnault - thank you so much for sharing that. It makes me feel a lot better to know the vocals can come out in other ways.

acshuman - thank you for the great information. I started with Grand Mal as a juvenile, went clear for a while, then had some Grand Mal again, then complex partials started in the last four or five years. I'm not used to them yet, and whenever something is a bit different, I get nervous. I don't want to continuously feel like I'm bugging the doctor with what might be stupid questions, so I really appreciate you answering here. I suppose it's going to take me some time to get used to these and their unpredictability. My meds are great for the main chunk of my seizures, but some get through the cracks.
 
Use This To Keep A Record Of Seizure Diferences

350spider,
You can lower some of your concern for the differences in the way your seizures happen. You should google 'efa epilepsy diary'. This gives you the ability to keep a record of your seizures and you would also be able to write how each seizure was different from the others. This is on the website for EFA(Epilepsy Foundation of America). This way you would be able to keep a record of your seizures and also make a note on each of them about what you would like to ask your doctor. All you would have to do would be to print the diary out so you could take it with you when you see your doctor. This would also give you a document that your doctor couldn't question because you would be entering each entry right after it happened.
Try this and see if you like it! :ponder:

acshuman
 
Oh wow! That is a wonderful tool. I never thought about that. I'm usually really lax in writing down my seizures, but using a proper diary would help me with this (especially one on the computer). Thank you so much for the info. It's highly appreciated!
 
Hi 350spider, welcome to CWE.

I have TLE with simple partial and complex partial seizures. My seizures often affect my language skills and during or right after a seizure I will get different problems. Sometimes I can see the word I want to say in my head but all that comes out is "buh, buh, buh" other times I cannot understand what others are saying, my speech can slow down and slur like I am drunk or very sleepy, and word finding problems often happen too, either I cannot find the word or the wrong word comes out.

I also make a grunting/ moaning sound during some seizures, usually this will happen when the epigastric rising/nausea and or olfactory symptoms are lasting too long. There can also be swallowing with a clicking tongue sound and lip licking/smacking.

These symptoms have evolved over my many years of epilepsy.
 
Oh Frink, I'm sorry you suffer that, but it is also incredibly reassuring, as this is very close to what I've been suffering with my seizures lately. My epilepsy has morphed a lot over the years (I was born with it), and this latest development surprised me. Thank you so much for sharing with me. You really have helped calm me.
 
Sometimes I'll 'talk' (if you want to put it that way) during a seizure. It usually just comes out as sluing things. After a seizure my husband will ask me simple questions - what's my name, what's his name, he'll pick something up and ask me what it is - for example. Sometimes I won't know the answer, I might give him the wrong answer (he'll show me the phone and I'll tell him it's a couch) I might slur the answer. When I start answering things right in a strait voice he'll know I'm coming out of the seizure or be out of it.

I have a problem with words in general. I know exactly what I want to say and can describe it but I just can't think of the word that it is. I'll want to say cat but all I can do is say it's the furry thing with the tail that runs around the house and likes to play with the string.

I keep a seizure diary in a note book but print it out on the computer and give a copy to my neuro. He's complemented me about this because it saves a lot of time to discusses things during the visit.
-The time and date of the seizure
-How long it lasted
-What I did during the seizure (Shook, stared, played with something, walked around for example)
-If something happened after the seizure (having a headache is the most usual)
-And anything else that I think might be important
 
I have a problem with words in general. I know exactly what I want to say and can describe it but I just can't think of the word that it is. I'll want to say cat but all I can do is say it's the furry thing with the tail that runs around the house and likes to play with the string.

This made me LOL! Boy does this sound familiar.
 
Valeriedl - You guys have definitely inspired me to keep more notes on my seizures. I've always been a "well, I think this happened" for the seizures I've had on my own, and leaving people around me to describe the other ones. Okay, so I realize that makes me sound pretty stupid! Yesterday, I made my first entry into my diary re. a seizure from the day before. Wish me luck with this organizational stuff! haha

And like Frick, I had to laugh at the image of the cat! :)
 
Hi 350spider,

I have complex partial seizures and there will be times when I am trying to talk before I blank out and the words won't come out or I start to make a odd sound. My Epileptologist told me this was happening because it was affecting my speech which is on the left side of the brain and neurons were firing up to stop the speech. This has been going on with me for many yrs. I wish you only the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue
 
Porkette - thanks for sharing your experience with me. I'm hoping my neurologist will help me through this, with the possibility of not upping my meds. I like my meds just fine the way they are - they cover 80% of seizures and have no side effects. It's really helpful to know that other people have the same symptoms as I do, as it makes me less stressed over it.
 
350 spider,
I get "speech arrests" a couple times a week (for the past 38 yrs.).
In fact, I had one just yesterday, I can hear everything going on around me but I can't respond, the words just won't come out (recall doesn't work).
It lasts about 1 minute and then I get a headache and extremely tired.

My Neurologist says that if I wasn't on meds, i would have a full gran Mal seizure.

Randy
 
Thanks for the input Randy. I had Grand Mals before my meds, so perhaps this is what it is coming out as now. Really interesting, and I'm back to my neurologist soon so I am going to ask about this!
 
I once had a seizure that resulted in me repeating words randomly during a whole day.
I have speech issues that are always the same and they are from damage inflicted by seizures.
 
knothing - that's an interesting insight for me about the words repeating during a whole day. I've not experienced that yet, but it helps to know it could be a possibility. Thank you!
 
It was strange and was one of the few times I had a conference call for work that I could not get out of. Spent 5 minutes explaining the speech issue.
 
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