Hi cphjohn,
I agree with Ellie and have to say these sound like nocturnal sz. If I may ask do you shake at all during this time or have any form of muscle spasms that you aren't able to control? This type of sz. happens right after you go to sleep or in the morning when you first wake up.
A veeg would be the best thing for the Dr. to see what the problem is. In regards to things that you smell if it's an odd smell then you are also having aura sz. and that's when a person smell wierd odors it usually happens right before a bigger seizure such as an absence or complex partial sz.
I've found seeing an Epileptologist at an Epilepsy Center the best thing I've ever done because the Epileptologist specializes in epilepsy and they are further ahead than a lot of neuros. Stay away from foods with nutra sweet in them like diet soda because it's been proven that nutra sweet (aspartame) can cause more electrical activity in the brain which can cause sz. Another thing that may be causing memory loss is the hippocampus (memory and learning area of the brain) maybe shrinking from having seizures. This is what happened to me after having sz. for over 30 yrs. I have RTL epilepsy and it caused the hippocampus on the right side to become hard and shrink. I had surgery a few yrs. ago to help reduce my sz. and my surgeon removed the hippocampus and 75% of the right temporal lobe. You might want to try taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. a day it's done wonders reducing my sz. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue