My friend has Transient Epileptic Amnesia: Looking for info

Posted by bongo @bongo, Aug 1, 2025

My friend 69 year old man has had trans epileptic amnesia . It has changed his whole life. His memory on a daily basis is so bad. He remembers past things.
He has hallucinations. Angry episodes . Sleeps a lot. Lost his friends due to saying hateful things which is out of character. Does anyone else know of this illness

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So weird about short term memory. I am 72 years old. I remember sentences from shows like the Honeymooners (Jackie Gleason), 3 stooges and others, before the actors say the words.

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Profile picture for wendywoo @wendywoo

So has my husband, he was in his 60s when 'eventually' diagnosed.
He has Transient Epileptic Amnesia, all totally treatable. Lamotrigine.

Repeated questions, episodes maybe once a month, or a daily cluster. Weird smells! Yes, all of those.

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Hi @wendywoo
Welcome to our group on Connect - glad you found us!
I'm really pleased to know your husband's Transient Epileptic Amnesia responded well to lamotrigine.
The weird smells really resonate with me — I have temporal lobe epilepsy myself, and unusual smells are a symptom I know well too. Memory issues are also quite common with temporal lobe epilepsy.
Could you tell me more about what his episodes look like? How has his memory been since starting lamotrigine — have you noticed any improvement? And how are you both doing with the day-to-day of it — is there anything in particular you're hoping to find here in the group?
Chris

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Profile picture for bongo @bongo

Hi Lisa Thankyou for asking. I am helping him again now as he knows he needs my help as he falls out with most people . I go back after a row as I know how unwell he is. He gets so confused and at the moment sleeping a lot . He has hallucinations at night . He dosent seem to be able to function when left on his own nothing in the house gets done at all . So not doing great but I am going to look further for help for him. I will not give up on himThankyou again .

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Hi @bongo
I've not heard from you for a while. How has your friend been doing?
Chris

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Profile picture for royanthony @royanthony

So weird about short term memory. I am 72 years old. I remember sentences from shows like the Honeymooners (Jackie Gleason), 3 stooges and others, before the actors say the words.

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@royanthony
Hi Roy,
The same happens to me — just to remind you, we have the same type of epilepsy syndrome: temporal lobe epilepsy on the left side. I remember so many things from the past so clearly, yet I often struggle with my short-term memory.
Nowadays, I make notes of everything important and rely on lots of reminders on my calendar and phone.
Curious to know, how do you cope with it?
Chris

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@santosha
But do you remember to look at your notes? That's my biggest problem. I was putting notes on my front door but they never registered even if I read them, go figure. Recently I started putting them on my car windshield in my line of sight & on the steering wheel.
Jake

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