Transient Epileptic Amnesia
 

Does anyone here know about this? I just came across it in a clipping a friend sent from a medical journal -- it's the first time I ever heard of it.

I've been to this board a few times, the first four years ago when it was BrainTalk and I had just been diagnosed with CPS after an 8-hour blackout in an airplane. The second time a little less than a year ago after the second blackout -- three hours, in my apt, during which time I somehow managed to break a rib. Again, a call of CPS, from yet another neurologist.

I didn't/don't agree with any of the doctors (now 4, including the famous Orrin Devinsky) who said CPS; the events are just too different, especially the amount of time I was out of it. All the info I got from this site, and its links, described a CPS as lasting 2 - 4 minutes; none came close to 8 hours.

I googled Transient Epileptic Amnesia (and to anyone else doing so, don't try TEA -- you'll end up reading about Darjeerling!) and found a few hits from England (Oxford) where research has recently being done. The neuros there are now classifying it as a distinct form of epilepsy, and it's symptoms are sure a lot like mine. Unfortunately, even including the residual impaired memory.

I am most intrigued and if anyone has more details, I'd so appreciate it.

Heather

Hi Heather,
The type of sz. your are discribing are a status cp sz. where a person is out of it for 30 min. or longer. This happened to me when I was put on Neurontin for my absence and cp sz. I began having absence status sz. where I would be out of it for 30 min. to 3 hrs. and it caused more brain damage.
TEA is known as memory loss for a period of time and it happens to a few people especially those who have temporal lobe epilepsy like myself. What happens is a person will be fine and then all of the sudden they don't remember anything for a few hrs. I found a lot of info. about it on google. I just typed in transient epileptic amnesia and got a lot of great info. Sometimes this happens do to yrs. of sz. and a persons hippocampus shrinks and get hard from many sz. like me. When I had my brain surgery done my surgeon removed the right hippocampus because it shrunk and was hard.
It's up to you but I would go to an Epilepsy Center and see an Epileptologist I've had more luck seeing an epi than any neuro in the past 35 yrs. of sz. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

Thanks and, Sue, you are the only one I remember from BrainTalk that I see on this site. That place was so comforting and helpful to me when I needed it most. I miss it.

Going for a sleep-deprived EEG this Monday, though I doubt it will give any answers. I think the thing that is most alarming to me is that I seem to hurt myself during the seizures/trances/trips, whatever they are: when I lost 8 hours in an airport, I fell and smashed up my face pretty badly and when I was out of it in my own apartment for 4 hours I fell and broke a rib. I was unaware of either event and have no idea of how either happened. Is this typical? I would have thought the instant pain would wake someone out of the seizure.

Hi Heather,
From my past expericences with E. what you are describing isn't typical and I ask myself if maybe something more is going on like the beginning of alzhemiers. I hope I'm wrong but my grandmother and great grandfather both had alzheimers and some of the symptoms you have mentioned make me wonder.
Just to let you know the old forum is up and running just type in Neurology web forum and when you see a posting titled braintalkcommunity click it on and you can go to the E page or any other pages you want to check out.
Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

Hiya Porkette,

Just about your reply, I have the amnesia, and it can last anywhere form a few min to a couple of hours. My doc assured me that it wasnt alzheimers, as that was my first worry. He insists it is part of the epilepsy. I don't have any other alzheimers type symptoms either...should I get a second opinion on that?

Thanks

Tea & rta
 

I have had RTA retrograde Total Amnesia since 2005. The last year and a half I have been having memory losses. They now suggest it is TEA. Am interested to hearing from others with this.

I was diagnosed with epilepsy about 10 years ago (the result of an RTA in 1995), but only had 3 minor episodes over a period of 3 years, and then nothing until this year. I've woken up a few times and not remembered what I did the previous day. They've said it's TEA, and I suppose it must be, although what I experience doesn't seem to match the pattern I read about. The main problem is that it frightens other people, and most doctors have probably never come across it in the flesh before.
I've on Lamotrogine for my epilepsy and they've just increased the dose and so far so good. What I would suggest is that you find out all you can about it and educate those close to you so that they don't cart you off to hospital, where the staff probably won't know what TEA is and insist you mean TIA!

Nice to meet you!!
 

Wow, old thread! I don't have the diagnosis that those above are talking about, but I experienced a kind of "emotional amnesia" after my status epilepticus episode, a series of seizures that lasted for, I don't know, about an hour and resolved in the ER after a bunch of drugs were pumped into me. It's my understanding that severe seizure episodes like that can cause brain damage, and that I'd suffered some. When I came home from the hospital four days later-and this was just after christmas, so should've been a lot of emotion involved, seeing all the unwapped Xmas presents I'd bought for my children, etc-I didn't have any emotional response to my neighborhood, house, family members, or anything. It was like I was visiting it for the second time. Remembered it, but no emotional attachment to anything.

Over time, I think I re-build emotional attachment though maybe it came back. I don't know. I had some more grand mal seizures after that, while on depakote, but nothing status, and I did not experience loss of emotion or anything (just typical exhaustion and headache afterwards).