Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
Short-term memory loss post- seizure
Sat, 06/04/2005 - 14:56Topic: Family & Friends
Please, does anyone identify with this problem?My son, 21yo now, has always found that after a seizure he has no memory of the past 2-6 hours preceding the seizure.e.g. went out to tea with his friend to celebrate their anniversary and had a seizure later that night. The following day he could not remember anything of that evening from when I had dropped him at her place at 6.30pm. Still doesn't till this day 2yrs later. (by all accounts they had a lovely time..)He finds this aspect of his condition the most upsetting. This is just one of many examples. My heart aches seeing the sad look on his face as we piece together his movements on a particular day.This doesn't help when trying to identify auras etc. either as he doesn't remember.Does anyone find this happens to you?I have read many posts about memory in general and see this in him too, but not seen much about this other aspect.Thanks for your time,Maryanne.
Comments
Re: Short-term memory loss post- seizure
Submitted by BikerJoe on Fri, 2008-04-18 - 22:25
So that's why I don't have auras anymore, I can't remember them. My seizures have changed where I don't get that strange smell or feeling. I must have had a few seizures this week cause I don't remember alot. Only if someone walks me through what I did, I get a vague feeling like I was there, familiar, but don't remember exactly what I did. I am 39 have had epilepsy for 4 years and the seizures seem to have changed over time.
Re: Short-term memory loss post- seizure
Submitted by owl4mom on Tue, 2010-06-15 - 12:26
I had surgery 25 years ago and my short term memory has been bad for a long time. I have a full time job now as a customer service clerk in a furniture store and have been there for one year. It took me much longer to master the job than it took the person that I am working with. That is what I have been going through for many years now. Well, I can do it now, but when it comes to certain things like what happened yesterday like trying to compute math I just cannot do it. By this I mean if you buy something and change the purchase amount it has to be computed . My brain will not let me , or if I can it takes so long I get frustrated with myself. Does anyone ever go through this, if so do you have helpful suggestions. Please don't say write it down. That will not help me, I write everything down, believe me! I just have trouble getting my brain to figure things like this out and do now know why. When the girl I work with does it she makes it look so easy! Cindy
Memory loss post seizure
Submitted by lydia sun on Sat, 2007-12-29 - 22:37
I've had seizures since I was a baby (cut to my head during a c-section) with high fevers and it continued into my teenage life and straight on to family life-I am 35 with a husband and two kids. I have partial and grand mal seizures. I started looking for info for someone else who is experiencing seizures and realized how much I needed it for myself. I lose my memory sometimes for hours prior to the seizure, sometimes I lose days prior to the seizure. After severe seizures I've lost some long term memories and can't even remember what a can opener is used for until after several days of recovery. I've woken up in hallways, ambulances, bathrooms with no idea where I was or why. The memory loss has always plagued me and no matter how many times people replay incidents and interpret what they saw it is never enough for me. I feel like I've lost a piece of myself. When I start to get down about it, I try to find the humor in the whole thing. My mom told me about this one time where I woke up in the car after a seizure asking her where we were going. She said to the hospital and I asked her what was wrong with her? I even went on to ask her if maybe she should pull over and let me drive. Mind you, I was 16 and had already been denied a driver's license!
Also, I am religious about keepsakes. I try to secure memories in other ways: Napkins from restaurants, pictures, notes, postcards...I pull those memories out when I get blue. I hope this helped you.
I've had seizures since I was a baby (cut to my head during a c-section) with high fevers and it continued into my teenage life and straight on to family life-I am 35 with a husband and two kids. I have partial and grand mal seizures. I started looking for info for someone else who is experiencing seizures and realized how much I needed it for myself. I lose my memory sometimes for hours prior to the seizure, sometimes I lose days prior to the seizure. After severe seizures I've lost some long term memories and can't even remember what a can opener is used for until after several days of recovery. I've woken up in hallways, ambulances, bathrooms with no idea where I was or why. The memory loss has always plagued me and no matter how many times people replay incidents and interpret what they saw it is never enough for me. I feel like I've lost a piece of myself. When I start to get down about it, I try to find the humor in the whole thing. My mom told me about this one time where I woke up in the car after a seizure asking her where we were going. She said to the hospital and I asked her what was wrong with her? I even went on to ask her if maybe she should pull over and let me drive. Mind you, I was 16 and had already been denied a driver's license!
Also, I am religious about keepsakes. I try to secure memories in other ways: Napkins from restaurants, pictures, notes, postcards...I pull those memories out when I get blue. I hope this helped you.