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Memory Issues after series of grand mal seizures?
Fri, 08/16/2013 - 13:24Hi, I am a 21 year old female who has been experiencing memory loss/ retrieval issues. I've always had not the best memory, but now in the past 4-5 months its gotten to a point where its negatively impacting my life on a daily basis; I can't remember things I've done with my friends, inside jokes, people I've met, what a movie I watched a month ago was about. Every day when someone says "Remember this happened.." It could have been years ago, or a month ago and I can never remember. It makes me want to cry because I am so frustrated and constantly find myself saying "Umm no, I don't, I have a bad memory." It's impacting my University career, I am struggling to remember things, and when I try to remember information I've learned in previous classes in previous years it just upsets me because I can't remember anything and feel like the past 3 years have been a waste. I've tried several different encoding and retrieval strategies I read online to help with memory problems but it does not seem to be helping.
I have myoclonic epilepsy and sometimes experience tonic-clonic/ grand mals, that were mostly controlled by medications for years. I switched medications last september however after developing an allergy to lamictal,to keppra. My neurologist started me on a lower dosage and said he would need to raise it in the spring, but when I called to make an appointment, my neurologist had no openings until next January, and my family doctor would not raise the dosage either. About a month before or around the same time my memory problems started, there was a period of 2 months where my epilepsy got extremely bad. I was having tonic-clonic twice a week and was always exhausted, but after 2 months I decided to raise my medication dosage on my own because I couldn't function normally and no one would help me with my medication. I incrementally increased my keppra dosage of 250 mg twice daily to 500mg twice daily, and my seizures completely stopped within 2 weeks and I have been seizure free for about 3-4 months, but am still experiencing memory issues.
I am thinking that these memory issues were caused by that period of time when I was experiencing so many grand mal seizures, but am concerned because it just seems to be getting worse despite being seizure free. I am wondering if I am on the right track, or if it could it be something completely different, I just don't understand why it's getting worse and not better, and the walk in doctor said it was not a side effect of the keppra medication. Does anyone know if that that spell of seizures could have caused damage in my brain, and if so will it get better? Or I'm wondering if could be something else? My family doctor just said to see my neurologist and keep eating a balanced diet, but my next appointment with my neurologist is January 2014, and I don't know what else to do at this point. If anyone has experienced anything like this, any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Comments
Omg!! This is exactly what
Submitted by murguia91 on Thu, 2017-11-16 - 01:52
Omg!! This is exactly what has happened to me! I feel so disconnected from my memories, I went seizure free since December 2012, then on October 31st 2017, I had a grand mal seizure, soon after waking up, I woke up feeling like a completely different person! Then I had another one on November 10th, same pattern as all my other ones, soon after waking up, with not so many good hours of sleep. But after the one on November 10th 2017, I can't remember much and seem so confused. I feel about who I am, my relationship with my husband. Omg!! I feel horrible! I hope this will go away soon! Did you heal from feeling like this?
Bacopa is natural plant you
Submitted by AllenFontenot on Thu, 2018-02-01 - 02:03
Bacopa is natural plant you can find in vitamin form that has shown to reverse seizures almost completely plus many other benefits. I just found some about 2 days ago after looking up any natural ways to deal with seizures. Look it up because I too have seizures and was taking keppra 500 mg 2x a day. The bacopa has no harmful side effects like dr prescribed meds either. Noticeable results are expected after 2 to 4 weeks and it's much cheaper than dr prescribed meds.
Re: Memory Issues after series of grand mal seizures?
Submitted by christina79 on Wed, 2013-09-18 - 20:51
Hi there,
I understand your frustration with memory issues. I no longer have tonic clonic seizures, but now just complex partials and simple partials (my auras). I've been getting more & more frustrated with my medications, the memory issues, and the fact that my condition is not controlled as well as I'd like. I recently began taking an herbal supplement called bacopa monnieri. Google it. There's good evidence that it helps with epilepsy. With my doctor's approval I began this in addition to my current meds. I have catamenial epilepsy, meaning my seizures are triggered by my menstrual cycle. So during the weeks of ovulation and menstruation I have a lot of them, and then the other 2 weeks of the month I have very few. Amazingly, since I began taking this I've not had a single seizure!! I haven't yet taken it for a full cycle, so I've only been able to test it during the week of ovulation, but since I've been tracking my seizures (a couple years now) I've never went the full week of ovulation or menstruation without a single seizure. Not once, until now. I have read that my type of seizures are the type that bacopa works best on, but it can't hurt to try. Plus, many people use bacopa just to improve their memory. It's similar to gingko baloba in that sense. If you search for bacopa on Amazon there are lots of user reviews saying it's helped them (and some saying it hasn't). Honestly, I haven't yet noticed a difference either way with my memory, but I do seem to have a little more energy. Just something to think about.
Good luck to you :)
A little more about bacopa monnieri: http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2012-02-28/common-herb-water-hyssop-reverses-epilepsy-treats-and-prevents-other-brain-disorders/
Some amazon reviews of people, mostly taking bacopa for help with memory: http://www.amazon.com/Himalaya-Bacopa-Mental-Alertness-Caplets/product-reviews/B0006NZPGA/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_see_all_top?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=byRankDescending
Hi there,
I understand your frustration with memory issues. I no longer have tonic clonic seizures, but now just complex partials and simple partials (my auras). I've been getting more & more frustrated with my medications, the memory issues, and the fact that my condition is not controlled as well as I'd like. I recently began taking an herbal supplement called bacopa monnieri. Google it. There's good evidence that it helps with epilepsy. With my doctor's approval I began this in addition to my current meds. I have catamenial epilepsy, meaning my seizures are triggered by my menstrual cycle. So during the weeks of ovulation and menstruation I have a lot of them, and then the other 2 weeks of the month I have very few. Amazingly, since I began taking this I've not had a single seizure!! I haven't yet taken it for a full cycle, so I've only been able to test it during the week of ovulation, but since I've been tracking my seizures (a couple years now) I've never went the full week of ovulation or menstruation without a single seizure. Not once, until now. I have read that my type of seizures are the type that bacopa works best on, but it can't hurt to try. Plus, many people use bacopa just to improve their memory. It's similar to gingko baloba in that sense. If you search for bacopa on Amazon there are lots of user reviews saying it's helped them (and some saying it hasn't). Honestly, I haven't yet noticed a difference either way with my memory, but I do seem to have a little more energy. Just something to think about.
Good luck to you :)
A little more about bacopa monnieri: http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2012-02-28/common-herb-water-hyssop-reverses-epilepsy-treats-and-prevents-other-brain-disorders/
Some amazon reviews of people, mostly taking bacopa for help with memory: http://www.amazon.com/Himalaya-Bacopa-Mental-Alertness-Caplets/product-reviews/B0006NZPGA/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_see_all_top?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=byRankDescending