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Short-term Memory Loss

Mon, 10/27/2008 - 23:40
So, I have suffered from short term memory loss for about, I would say, four years now.  I believe it is completely related to when I began having seizures, especially since I went without knowing what was going on for like 2 years and was not treated.  I have issues in school because I cannot retain information, even things as simple as historical dates or the names of my classmates.  I went to have a memory evaluation so I could maybe get some help in regards to exams, but the shrink just said "you have ADD/ADHD, that's why you have some short term memory problems" and he completely belittled me and basically called me a liar.  Now, this does not make sense to me because I've known that I have ADD for years; it was very obvious when I was young.  I've never taken medication because my parents didn't want me to have that giant label on my forehead for my entire life.  I did fine with tests aside from a little anxiety in high school and before; this memory problem is new.  Has anyone else experienced this?  What do you do about it?  I have lost half of my senior year of high school because I started having seizures sometime after I graduated.  What do you all think?

Comments

Re: Short-term Memory Loss

Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Tue, 2008-10-28 - 06:25
Is it ADD, or is it an appreciation of the multitude of the finer details of the environment? After reading Proust and "Toxic Psychiatry" by Breggin, and having temporal lobe epilepsy, I may be overly skeptical of psychology. I did have a great memory, with a few problems easily compensated for with simple memory tricks published by Harry Lorraine in his memory books, and then greatly enhanced with techniques in "Remembrance of Things Past" by Marcel Proust (which really helped in all of my college classes). At times epilepsy will improve memory, but it is generally assumed to damage memory; it has been both ways with me. One strong seizure erased in an instant my memory for the notations for tensors in differential geometry after I had been studying it for weeks! The Dilantin I'm taking now really interferes with my short term memory, and I have to rely on copious notes; forming new long term memories is proving difficult too, and this has slowed my reading down, from reading a couple books a week, to taking a couple months to read a book, if I want to remember it well. One seizure was so bad that I was rereading War and Peace in a new translation, and I am still stuck in the middle of it; with a third translation of it by Pevear and Volokhonsky still waiting! One of my vocational counselors told me my memory was bad, yet it was still better than his, and this irked him to no end. Oh well! Good Luck!

Re: Short-term Memory Loss

Submitted by Rachel M. Lusby on Tue, 2008-10-28 - 12:19

Oh, it's ADD for sure, haha, I've learned to mellow out and control myself just through discipline over the years, though.   Anyways, so do memory books really help?  I may look into that, although I can't while I'm in school because I do not have the time =/  It is so frustrating to have to write down every tiny detail of life, especially since half the time I forget to bring my little notepad with me.  Ironic, yeah?

Oh, it's ADD for sure, haha, I've learned to mellow out and control myself just through discipline over the years, though.   Anyways, so do memory books really help?  I may look into that, although I can't while I'm in school because I do not have the time =/  It is so frustrating to have to write down every tiny detail of life, especially since half the time I forget to bring my little notepad with me.  Ironic, yeah?

Re: Short-term Memory Loss

Submitted by AuntAnna on Tue, 2008-10-28 - 18:29

  yea..you are not alone, i have them as well, somoene could be ask me a question, and i'd forget in 2 minutes...i started noticing it more this summer ...i probably started doing it about a year ago. but wasnt noticeable til the end of july/aug.

    I also thought it may be a side affect of Keppra, i was on that for about a month, till my Neuro changed it, i was diagnosed this summer with Generalized Tonic Clonic Epilepsy.  I also lose my balance when i have these seizures,  also could be talking to someone on the phone or in person and totally forget who i was talkin to ?...or their names. Weird huh?...some times i would try to call someone, and forget who was trying to call!...my dr believes i ve had a birth injury, but my mom says no..she doesnt recall that ever happening after giving birth to me. but sometimes i wonder if my mom even remembers, half the time mom doesnt remember which child did what?....so i dont know.

    Theirs not much you can do about losing your short term memory, my dr says, the more u have seizures, the more you lose memory. i've done very well on Depakote Er?...what meds are you on? are u even seeing a Neuro?...if so?...ask ur neuro what you can do about it?, they may suggest taking a vitamin for memory...but dont take anything w/consulting ur dr first. ok??? i hope i helped you!...how long have u had epilepsy? i'm newly diagnosed.

  yea..you are not alone, i have them as well, somoene could be ask me a question, and i'd forget in 2 minutes...i started noticing it more this summer ...i probably started doing it about a year ago. but wasnt noticeable til the end of july/aug.

    I also thought it may be a side affect of Keppra, i was on that for about a month, till my Neuro changed it, i was diagnosed this summer with Generalized Tonic Clonic Epilepsy.  I also lose my balance when i have these seizures,  also could be talking to someone on the phone or in person and totally forget who i was talkin to ?...or their names. Weird huh?...some times i would try to call someone, and forget who was trying to call!...my dr believes i ve had a birth injury, but my mom says no..she doesnt recall that ever happening after giving birth to me. but sometimes i wonder if my mom even remembers, half the time mom doesnt remember which child did what?....so i dont know.

    Theirs not much you can do about losing your short term memory, my dr says, the more u have seizures, the more you lose memory. i've done very well on Depakote Er?...what meds are you on? are u even seeing a Neuro?...if so?...ask ur neuro what you can do about it?, they may suggest taking a vitamin for memory...but dont take anything w/consulting ur dr first. ok??? i hope i helped you!...how long have u had epilepsy? i'm newly diagnosed.

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