Trouble Speaking

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I have MTLE (mesial temporal lobe epilepsy) and for a while now I've noticed having difficulty when speaking. For the longest time I had trouble "finding the right word", but who doesn't. But, lately, I stammer; can't get the words out, even though I know what I want to say; and forget things I've been telling patients for over 2 years!! (I work in health coordination.) I sound like a moron! This isn't only affecting my life, but my work. I am seriously concerned I will be fired because of my inability to properly speak 60% of the time I'm interacting with people on the phone. I don't have an issue writing. I'm working on my second novel, in fact. However, when it comes to technical documentation, I have to keep rereading it. My company makes changes too often for me to keep up! In January, I am scheduled for a stay in the epilepsy monitoring unit. But does anyone else have this problem?

Comments

Hi, Thank you for posting, we

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2019-11-26 - 15:49

Hi, Thank you for posting, we understand this must be very frustrating for you to experience. We are glad to hear that you’reschedule to stay in the EMU in January, further diagnostic testing. The change in your speech could be related to several things from seizures, your epilepsy, or a separate issue. Cognitive problems - problems with thinking, remembering,paying attention or concentrating, finding the right words, or other symptoms –can be due to side effects of some seizure medicines. To more about the effects of epilepsy and seizure medicines on cognition, visit: https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/challenges-epilepsyIt’s important that you’re continuing to follow-up with your healthcare team to address these challenges and concerns you may have and if you experience changes in seizures types/frequency, moods, behaviors, sides effects & symptoms. This will help to determine what individual treatment plan is best for you. A key part of managing epilepsy is knowing how it can affect a person's independence and day-to-day needs. Visit our independent living pages here: https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/independent-living to learn more about resources that are available & when help is needed. Additionally, you may want to consider keeping a journal or a diary. My Seizure-diary: https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/epilepsy-foundation-my-seizure-diaryis a great tool for tracking seizures, setting reminders, recording your medical history, managing medication & other therapies, recognizing triggers, side effects, behaviors and other health events, which can be shared with your healthcare team. Sometimes it's helpful to connect with other people who live with epilepsy, to ask questions, share experiences, find &give support to each other. Contact your local Epilepsy Foundation at: https://www.epilepsy.com/affiliates to find support groups, events, and programs in your community. Or contact our Epilepsy and Seizures 24/7 Helpline: epilepsy.com/helplinewhere trained information specialists are available to answer your questions, offer help, hope, support, guidance, and access to national and local resources. 1-800-332-1000, contactus@efa.org.

Hi, Thank you for posting, we understand this must be very frustrating for you to experience. We are glad to hear that you’reschedule to stay in the EMU in January, further diagnostic testing. The change in your speech could be related to several things from seizures, your epilepsy, or a separate issue. Cognitive problems - problems with thinking, remembering,paying attention or concentrating, finding the right words, or other symptoms –can be due to side effects of some seizure medicines. To more about the effects of epilepsy and seizure medicines on cognition, visit:  https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/challenges-epilepsyIt’s important that you’re continuing to follow-up with your healthcare team to address these challenges and concerns you may have and if you experience changes in seizures types/frequency, moods, behaviors, sides effects & symptoms. This will help to determine what individual treatment plan is best for you. A key part of managing epilepsy is knowing how it can affect a person's independence and day-to-day needs. Visit our independent living pages here: https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/independent-living  to learn more about resources that are available & when help is needed. Additionally, you may want to consider keeping a journal or a diary. My Seizure-diary: https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/epilepsy-foundation-my-seizure-diaryis a great tool for tracking seizures, setting reminders, recording your medical history, managing medication & other therapies, recognizing triggers, side effects, behaviors and other health events, which can be shared with your healthcare team. Sometimes it's helpful to connect with other people who live with epilepsy, to ask questions, share experiences, find &give support to each other. Contact your local Epilepsy Foundation at: https://www.epilepsy.com/affiliates  to find support groups, events, and programs in your community. Or contact our Epilepsy and Seizures 24/7 Helpline: epilepsy.com/helplinewhere trained information specialists are available to answer your questions, offer help, hope, support, guidance, and access to national and local resources. 1-800-332-1000, contactus@efa.org.  

Hi, Thank you for posting, we understand this must be very frustrating for you to experience. We are glad to hear that you’reschedule to stay in the EMU in January, further diagnostic testing. The change in your speech could be related to several things from seizures, your epilepsy, or a separate issue. Cognitive problems - problems with thinking, remembering,paying attention or concentrating, finding the right words, or other symptoms –can be due to side effects of some seizure medicines. To more about the effects of epilepsy and seizure medicines on cognition, visit: https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/challenges-epilepsyIt’s important that you’re continuing to follow-up with your healthcare team to address these challenges and concerns you may have and if you experience changes in seizures types/frequency, moods, behaviors, sides effects & symptoms. This will help to determine what individual treatment plan is best for you. A key part of managing epilepsy is knowing how it can affect a person's independence and day-to-day needs. Visit our independent living pages here: https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/independent-living to learn more about resources that are available & when help is needed. Additionally, you may want to consider keeping a journal or a diary. My Seizure-diary: https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/epilepsy-foundation-my-seizure-diaryis a great tool for tracking seizures, setting reminders, recording your medical history, managing medication & other therapies, recognizing triggers, side effects, behaviors and other health events, which can be shared with your healthcare team. Sometimes it's helpful to connect with other people who live with epilepsy, to ask questions, share experiences, find &give support to each other. Contact your local Epilepsy Foundation at: https://www.epilepsy.com/affiliates to find support groups, events, and programs in your community. Or contact our Epilepsy and Seizures 24/7 Helpline: epilepsy.com/helplinewhere trained information specialists are available to answer your questions, offer help, hope, support, guidance, and access to national and local resources. 1-800-332-1000, contactus@efa.org.

I have MTLE, in my right lobe

Submitted by jimmieD on Fri, 2019-12-06 - 20:08

I have MTLE, in my right lobe. I have the same issue with finding the right words, mixing words in a sentence or a letter in a word. I've had surgery and it was the same before surgery. How long have you had epilepsy? As they've mentioned it could be the meds. I take Lamotrigine and Vimpat, I used to take dilantin. I do have to read things twice for it to stick occasionally. Writing I don't think is a problem, I've been writing since I was young. I've also been trying to write a story for awhile now. I've done the epilepsy monitoring before as well as many other test. They were all done at UC San Diego. I would hope this helps some how an good luck with the monitoring, hope it goes well