Top Ten Memory Complaints

After years of evaluating patients with memory complaints, we have compiled a list of the most commonly reported complaints. Some of these reflect primary problems with memory. Others reflect a disturbance in other areas, including attention and concentration. Read on in this section to learn about how epilepsy relates to these types of symptoms.

  • My problem is with short-term memory. My long-term memory for things that happened 20 years ago is OK. I can't remember what happened yesterday.
  • My husband says I keep asking him the same questions, over and over again.
  • I forget appointments, when I have to be somewhere or go somewhere.
  • My wife says I don't listen to anything she tells me. She says it seems to just go in one ear and out the other.
  • There's a word I want to say and I just can't think of it. A half-hour later, it comes to me.
  • I go to the store and forget what I was supposed to get. I walk into a room and forget why I went in there.
  • I forget the names of friends I have known for years.
  • I am having trouble with reading. When I read a page, the words just don't sink in.
  • I'm forgetting numbers. I write them down and they are all scrambled up. I also have trouble with phone numbers.
  • Sometimes I want to say a word and another one comes out. Other times, I know what letter the word starts with or what it rhymes with, but I still can't come up with it.

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