college student w/epilepsy & memory problems
 

My daughter is a college student. She takes Lamictal for partial seizures that don't occur often and only last seconds. (Focus on the right side) In her classes, she completes all assignments and usually makes an A or B on them. On the tests, which usually cover multiple chapters, she cannot make over a 50 or 60 in "easy" classes and 30s and 40s in the tough ones. I helped her study for a chapter, quizzed her on it, had her take a multiple choice practice test online, and she did great. This was several weeks before the test, but she again made a 60 on it. It seems like things work well in her short term memory, but it doesn't stay in long term. (or never goes there.) She scored low on a test of verbal memory, and I am having her memorize poetry all summer, and she struggles with it. I am doing this because there is one study that showed that rote learning helped memory. Has anyone else experienced this problem with verbal memory?

I also had a question about Lamictal; I don't notice side effects, but I have noticed that my daughter doesn't have much of an interest in anything. She hangs out in her room daydreaming or listening to music when she isn't at her summer job. When I take her shopping with me, she follows me around and shows no interest in things I think she would, like clothes, makeup, boys, music,etc. She is very even keel but seems to lack motivation. This is in contrast to the way she was in junior high and younger, when she was on Tegretol. The neurologist tells me that Lamictal makes people "happy" and they usually like it because it works in a different way than most anti seizure drugs. Anyone else unmotivated on Lamictal?

Hi wbwo,
Welcome to the forum! I have had right temporal lobe epilepsy for 37 yrs. and just like your daughter I have had problems with my short term memory. I had brain surgery a few yrs. ago to help reduce my absence (petit mal) and complex partial seizures, it was then that I found out that the right hippocampus of my brain had shrunk and become hard from so many yrs. of seizures. (The hippocampus helps a person with their memory.) I found that neuropyschological tests were helpful to pinpoint all of this problem also. It has been proven that AED's (anti epilepsy drugs) can often cause memory problems for people. I've tried tegretol and lamictal. Tegretol worked well for me but lamictal caused me to break out with a rash so I had to stop the drug. If I may ask does your daughter use a cell phone often? The reason why I'm asking is because it has been proven that cell phones cause the hippocampus to shrink, cause brain tumors, and they can trigger seizures. I learned this from my neurosurgeon as well as from the FCC that's why I use a ham radio instead it won't cause all these problems and I can to a lot more with ham radio than I can with a cell phone and I don't have to pay a monthly bill either. In regards to your daughter listening to music it has been proven that the right temporal lobe is the area of the brain that people use for music and emotions. I know that I also enjoy listening to music and writing poetry. Here's wishing you and your daughter the best of luck May
God Bless You Both!

Sue

Not sure exactly what to say about the lamictal. But one thing you might
remember is everyone has a different reaction. And I would be very concerned just like you are. I think I'd either want to check out depression
or anxiety in her. Or think about adding something for this.

I'm wondering if she just isn't letting you know that she is anxious and
worried about being away from you when your out.
And then being in her room not doing things is a slight depressive state too.

OR so it is for my son. He just went off lamictal because of the amount
of time he was on it. And we have found it was a big memory problem
for him.

Donna

Thanks for your information, Sue. She just had neuropsychological testing and this is how we found out about the verbal memory deficits. She also uses a cell phone, but she is not much of a talker so she doesn't do it excessively. I am aware of the issues you brought up about cell phones and got her one of those headsets so that she can keep the phone farther away from her head.

I am reading lots of memory books and reading alot about memory in various journals, and I thought about something I recently read---that the adult brain is far more "plastic" than previously thought. So I am hoping both you and my daughter can retrain that hippocampus! Thanks again for the info.

Thanks for the thoughts, Donna. She is anxious, and everything you say about her wanting to be close is probably true. She is also a lifelong loner, so all the time most kids her age spend on calling friends and being with friends is time she spends in her room. I just thought I would ask about the Lamictal to see if there were many people with the same reaction.

Is there a limited time that one can be on Lamictal? My daughter has been on it for about five years.

Hi wbwo,
You are correct the adult brain is far more plastic than thought. One way I was able to better my memory was to do word search puzzles, crossword puzzles and brain teasers ex. What 8 letter word has 1 letter in it? Answer: envelope (8 letters in the word envelope but only 1 letter is in it when mailed.) My neuropsych. told me to do things like less to help better my memory and I can see where it has helped me a lot. Here's wishing your daughter and you only the best. May God Bless You Both!

Sue

wbwo, I went to college with E and graduated but had a hard time. I forgot allot of what the professor said. I saw many ppl recording their classes & wish I would have done that. My major was art (was gunna be one) & I was good at that. One time however, I had a sz. durring an exam in art history & failed it. Right after the sz I was still 'woozy' & was thinking of going up & telling the prof. about it but wasn't sure about doing so (at that time I didn't want to talk about my E). (The question was something like 'who painted the Mona Lisa' & I wrote Van Gough.)

I take Lamictal & it doesn't bother me (I think)(but we are all different) The fact that I get mad easy could be due to Lamictal but maybe not. It controlls my GMs though. My last GM was the day I started it ....... in summer 1996.

Recording class is a great idea, Ior. A friend of mine gave me the same advice and said that she listened to the recording in the car. It surprised me to find out that the teachers now post their notes online, and the students just download and print them. For a price, the professor will sell them printed. If she is a visual learner, this should be a big help, but maybe more would sink in if she heard it instead of read it.

Good to hear that you have successfully been on Lamictal for 9 years. wbwo

i am a college student and i am currently enrolled myself. i must say that it is difficult. when you have this condition, you must get sleep, or your memory in the hippocampous will be shot. it's almost like you have to study 3x's more than the average person! and it gets a little difficult especially when you have a job where you must work 30 hours a week.

i have been struggling and am forced to drop a class, for the fact that there is not enough time in the day to do anything. my normal day consists of having to go to my first class at 945am until 1115. then from there i have to be at another by 12 and that class ends at 2pm. and afer that class i have another one that begins at 230 and that one ends at 4. and guess what....i have to be at work no later that 5pm. and i wont get home until midnite. and i start to study and type papers at 1230 at night! most definitely takes a toll on your body and the way you live your life!

the fact that i cant retain any information into short term memory really sucks becasue my psychology class is just that. remembering terms and putting terms together. as i live my life as a college student i see that i cant keep pushing myself like that. it has to have an ending somewhere. but i really want to let you know that if you can do, do it. and if you cant, dont! your health is most important in every way you look at it.

I was on Lamictal for quite a while and didn't notice a lot of memory problems associated with it, it could in fact be the seiszures that are affecting her attention span. I'm on Topamax now and have a severe memory deficit (albeit after right temporal lobectomy surgery like Sue). Topamax as my doctor has told me is nicknamed the "Skinny Stupid" drug. Because of what it does to your memory. So not only is my memory damaged from the surgery but is even more so from the drug. Does great for the migraines and I've finally found something to control my seizures, but I guess the price I pay is the fact that I have a terrible memory. Verbal is terrible and visual is not much better (watching a movie twice in one night to not recall it the next day at all). But I can function now, so that is the choice I make.
How is she otherwise?

JUst reading to catch up on this thread.

Donna

I had the exact same problem when I went back to college. I attempted to alter my degree to a more epilepsy friendly one however my grades were very...very bad and I had been a A student prior to my seizures. I utimatly ended up dropping out so that my original GPA was still high.:thud:

hi wbwo,

Just like your daughter I am a college student and I am on lamictal. My long term memory isn't the best either. Sometimes my family will talk about things I have done years ago, which I should remember, and I have no memory of ever doing it. It also effects my school work like your daughter. I have biology as my major and it requires a lot of studying and the information you are learning is constantly building on top of each other from class to class. When studying for tests I read the power points, or notes, over and over again until they are like pictures in my brain. When I get to the test it's almost like I can recall the exact slide, or place I wrote it, to answer the question. I study the most the two days leading up to the test and make sure I read thru every single thing right before the test just so it's fresh in my mind. I also have to sometimes review past classes to refresh what I had previously learned, because I have a hard time remembering it. I know everyone is different when it comes to studying, even when they don't have epilepsy, so it's even harder when it's thrown into the loop. These are just the things that work for me. I take hours studying but it pays off in the long run.
I just got done playing 4 years of college water polo so I can't say I've experienced any of the lack of interest you are talking about. You say she wasn't always like that, so like one of the previous people said I would look more into the depression side of things. I know medications can effect people differently, but I also know personally that constantly studying and getting grades back that aren't showing how much time and effort you put into it when you know the material is very defeating and embarrassing. To know that your struggling in your classes because you have to struggle outside of your classes with something no one else has to worry about makes you just ask yourself why it had to happen to you. None of those things are easy to deal with and you may share everything in your relationship but those feelings are a little more difficult to share. I luckily had a team as my family at school and as my backbone to keep me going and to pick me off the pool deck a couple times when I "flopped" haha.
I don't know if any of this helped, but I guess to know someone else has the same problem helps. It helped me to see some other people were having memory problems and it wasn't just me, so thank you for that.
Hope your daughter does well!!

Hello tortor1990, and welcome to NeuroTalk.

I'm not sure if you realise that this thread is an old one from 2009 or not but because of that, the members who did post back then just may not see your reply.

Feel free to make a new thread of your own if you would like to, or maybe introduce yourself on our New members Forum : http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum88.html

Welcome again. Please let us know if we can help you in any way.

Great to meet you!!
 

tortor1990,

:Wave-Hello: It is great to have you come and be with us. You will fine a great number of dear friends to listen when you are in need of ears. Please, just let us know how we can help you out. You will find out we are supportive and relaxing place.

Please keep us up to date on your condition. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.:smileypray:

:hug:

From successful college student
 

I have had likelong epilepsy, which was well-controlled through high school, until my freshman year in college. In the thirty years since then, it has been diagnosed as right temporal lobe, and my frequent (several per week) seizures never been controlled despite a wide range of med, brain surgery, and the VNS.

Despite this, I have always been a very successful student. In college. I was able to double major, complete my BA, and go on to get my MA. I am taking both Lamictal now, although I am unable to remember if I was taking it then.It does not seem to reduce my interest in my hobbies, such as writing both prose and poetry, reading in general, and maritime history.

This problem which you describe should be discussed with her MD. Even if not a direct side effect of the Lamictal, it could also originate in the side effect of the interaction of whatever she may be taking. Good luck, and Happy New Year, Eddie