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superchickone

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I am so happy I found this fourm.
I was diagnosed several years ago with epilepsy and am currently taking Lamictal. I haven't had a seizure for about two years now. I am wondering if anyone else is taking the same med as I am. I don't know if what I am experiencing is side effects of the med or just normal. I am having trouble with my memory and sometimes, while talking, a word or words come out as jibberish. I am also having a hard time spelling.
Is this just from the elilepsy or is it possably from the med?

Thanks for any help.:)
 
Welcome Super C.O.

Congratulations on going so long without a seizure. I've don't think I"ve gone a week without them, let alone a year or 2.

As far as your problems, I"d assume that it's the drugs since haven't recently had any seizures.

There are lots of people here on Lamictal, for that matter, name a drug used for epilepsy & I"m sure there's a lot of people here on it. Try doing a search (link at the top, 3rd from the right) for lamictal or lamictal side-effects.

Hope this helps
 
Hi, hello

and how do you do, superchick? Welcome to CWE. Mr B, our host, has built us an AWESOME home here. Feel free to check out the Library and Kitchen for tons of info, and the Padded Room for those times that you really need to vent.....and trust me, we've all been there a time or two....

As for the gibberish....well, it could be both. I'm on Lamictal, and I do have times where I do that, too. Like today. Today is a perfect example. Boy, did I have the customers laughing their arses off. I wasn't even trying, either. Funny as all get out. And all I was trying to say was "And would you like anything from the salad case with that today?" And it came out something totally ..........well, I have no idea what it was, but the customers cracked up. :roflmao::roflmao:
 
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I'm on Lamictal and have had excellent results with it. I have been graceless long before Lamictal was taken. So, I suppose any abnormal activity may be normal for us.

Maybe a good journal can be kept when the gibberish is observed. Is there fatigue, stress, different diet, lack of sleep, ....the list goes one.

Personally, I am extremely systematic about times when I take the meds. I set alarms on watches, cell phones, whatever works. I count out several weeks of meds at one time. I've heard that vitamin D is very good for memory. Maybe that may be something to discuss with your doctor. When we take the same stuff every day, all day and have to remember how/when we did it last, it can tax our memory. It's like asking a normal person who has a whole can of same colored pens exactly which one they used at a specific time of the day. Unless they have a system of keeping them in a certain position, or set aside, it's impossible to tell unless they have photographic memory.
 
Welcome to the site!

My guess is the your problems are from the Lamictal, if you've only noticed them since going on it. I had noticeable word/memory issues while on Zonegran last year. When I went off the Zonegran the problems went away, so I could tell that was the culprit.

I've been on Lamictal for about a year now. No problems with gibberish (unless my friends aren't telling me), but I have noticed memory issues. It's hard to tell if it's from past seizures/meds, the Lamictal, aging, or all of the above. I'm going to have a neuropsych evaluation done to get a snapshot of my current cognitive status; then I'll have another one done later to see if I'm going downhill. It's a good idea to try and keep a record of when your language problems surface, not only to see if there's an identifiable trigger involved (like fatigue), but also if they are getting worse.

Best,
Nakamova
 
Hi SCO, welcome to the forum. :hello:

superchickone said:
... I am having trouble with my memory and sometimes, while talking, a word or words come out as jibberish. I am also having a hard time spelling. ...
Click to expand...

Memory poblems could be a side effect of AEDs or indicative of ongoing seizure activity.

Talking jibberish words sounds to me like a high potential for simple partial seizure activity. See if anything on these pages ring true for you:

http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/types/types/simple.cfm

http://www.epilepsy.com/EPILEPSY/seizure_simplepartial

Spelling issues could be a number of things. Have you been tested for dyslexia or dysgraphia?
 
Thank you everyone for your kindness.
Bernard thank you for the links. It made me both happy and sad. I thinik I may have been having these partial seizures for a while now. And I thought I was seizure free for the last two years.
The jibberish has started since switching to generic meds. But the feeling of Dread, it feels like I am in desperate trouble and I am terrified of gettin caught. I hate it. That has been going on for quite a while, usually at night when I am in bed.

I do want to tell everyone that before I was switched to the Generic med. I called (and here is the memory loss) a Federal agency and asked if it was true that Generic drugs can be 15% off. I was told YES! It was my doctor that told me this and what he said is he didn't want me to take it because the possibility that I would be taking either 15% more or 15% less than the recommended doseage in a given month, also that I could be taking up to 30% more or 30% less month by month. Sorry I know I am not saying this right but I hope you can understand.
 
I don't like being on the generic meds but I have no choice. I guess from what I have been reading, that I have been having seizures and didn't know it.
There was also a very funny, well not funny, thing that happened to me a couple of days ago.
I took my evening pill at about 7pm and around 8 or 8:30 pm I started feeling kind of dizzy while watching T.V. it got worse as time went on and I decided that maybe I was just more tired than usual.
Well about 10pm, about three hours before I usually go to bed, I decided to go to bed. I got up and nearly fell over, I kept bumping into the walls as I was trying to go up stairs. It was kind of like being drunk I guess.
I just thought it would be gone in the morning but when I got up the next morning it was exactally the same. I stumbled my way down stairs and made it to my chair, seriously bouncing off the walls as I was going.
It did finally start to ease up by late afternoon and by that evening I was feeling a lot better. Anyway, I was wondering if it could have been a overdose from this stupid generic med.
Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Is it possible that it was the med and I just got a super dose?
 
Unfortunately yes. I am like that everyday. :( Somedays are better than others. But not by much. And I am not on any E meds yet. (And am seizing almost EVERY dang day!!) Just Elavil which agrees with me- as I have been on and off of for a long time for the Firbomyalgia.
 
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Actually, the

generic meds can be off by as much as 20% either way........Sorry. And although they may have the same basic chemical makeup as the brand names, the generic meds that come from different manufacturers have different fillers to them. If you get generic meds every month, but you don't know that they are made by different manufacturers each time, that can actually make a difference in your seizure control.
 
I agree moonchid, mine happen almost every dang day. and the "grand mals" happen only at night when i am tired and hungry *nocturnal* I havent gotten any meds yet but there was talk about keppra.

Superchick, Congrats. It really is like a second home here.

does anyone have a list of common AED's and their side effects that are common? I wanna know these things before i am put on them. Unlike other places i have heard of, doctors in Manitoba prescribe you something without either telling you what it is and what it does, or the side effects or both. You wait until you pick it up from the pharacy for them to tell you and if you decide the side effects arent worth it you have to make another appointment with your doctor to change the Rx.
 
Oohhhh I know that drunken stumble far too well. When my dilantin levels were too high, I had a hard time keeping my balance and my tongue would trip over the words. It was as if my tongue was on fast forward and my brain wasn't. Also, I'd have to actually stop and think abuot the words I wanted to use. Weight gain or loss can effect med levels...as can foods and supplements. ( for example, calcium and dilantin)
 
Generic seizure meds are trouble...there are a few on here that are ok with them, but there has been a lot of people on here having trouble. I got switched to generic Keppra and immediately starting having migraines, felt just like the ones I get after a seizure. I called my neuro and he contacted my insurance company and told them of the adverse effects and only request brand name only now.
 
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