sudden memory loss

[mompuzzled]

My daughter is 17,physically healthy,moderate mental retardation and some autistic characteristics.A week ago I found her lying in her bed in early afternoon blinking rapidly.As I began talking to her I realized she couldn't tell me the day,time,date,month(all are her 'strengths')Her pediatrition admitted her to the hospital.Her memory worsened.Not even knowing her own name.She knew me(mother)all along,but no one else.Her other symptoms have been:hallutionations,cold but sweating especially at night,loss of appetite,fever the first day of 100.1 but not since,sleeplessness(I asked for Ambien CR yesterday from dr.Tried that last night.1 1/2hours later she slept for first time in 7 days),aggitated and aggressive(not her 'norm).Her memory is improving,still becomes confused and is forgetting to do common everyday things that are routine for her.She asked if we were going swimming(its 35 degrees where we are).Still no appetite and no natural sleep.CT scan and Lumbar Puncture have been done.These showed nothing.She did have her period the day this all started.I wondered if that could be realated to her problems in any way.I'm becoming very frustrated with her dr.He has deemed her 'well' because she can now touch her finger to her nose and kneel on one knee.I know these are comnon neour.exercises,but she is NOT her self,and I want to know what caused this,could it happen again?Could you please share anything or give me some suggestions as to where to go from here.Thank you,from a worried and sleepy mom.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-SH]

First of all, keep in mind that I am unable to diagnose you because I am unable to examine you, this forum is for educational purposes.      
   The symptoms and story you describe are concerning for a seizure.  People with mental retardation have a higher incidence of epilepsy than the background population.  The symptoms of repetative blinking and unresponsiveness that is followed by disorientation and memory loss are common in temporal lobe seizures (but can be found in other seizure disorders as well.  I share your doctors concern that possible infection in the spinal fluid due to the fevers and mental status changes (that is why they did the lumbar puncture), and I am glad that it did not show anything abnormal.  I would recommend that you get an EEG (electroencephalogram-or 'brainwave' test).  I would also recommend a MRI of the brain (CT is not good enough) to evaluate for any structural lesion that may be causing seizures.  Patients with autism spectrum disorders (also called pervasive developmental disorders [PDD]) can have aggitation and sleeplessness in a new enviroment, especially with a new illness.
I hope this has been helpful.

[alchris]

Hi I posted to your post on the undiagnosed symptoms forum.  One day while watching tv I saw something on a disease called kleine-Levin syndrome.  Though I am not sure if this fits exaclty I dont beleive all the symptons have to be the same to be diangosed with this syndrom (syndrome).  Even if it isnt the same the website below has contact information, maybe they can help you since it is a neurolgoical disorder.  Maybe there is a possiblity that when you contact them they can steer you in the right direction since they now about neruolgical disorders.  I hope this helps you somewhat and best wishes.

the website is:  http://www.klsfoundation.org/site/kls/

[mompuzzled]

Thanks so much. I will check out the wedsite right away!

[vega1318]

Sorry to hear about your daughter.   Has she ever had seizures?  Make sure her doctors checked this possibility.  Even though she may have never had overt seizures, her history predisposes her to having them and uncontrolled seizures (even those you cannot see) can cause personality and memory changes.   It also sounds as if she may have had some kind of illness around the time of this occurrence - it is reassuring that her spinal tap was good but does not rule out the possibility that she may have had a mild case of meningitis or encephalitis.  

Good for you to have mentioned that she was having her period at the time.   It is also possible that this was an atypical migraine -- these can certainly be severe enough to cause neurological changes in susceptible individuals, and sometimes they come in cycles (i.e., with a woman's period).  Perhaps, you even have a family history of migraines - either way, it should be brought up to the neurologist treating her.  

Glad to hear she's slowly getting better, though.

[mompuzzled]

Hey.I thought of the possiblilty of seizures,but when they did an EEG, it showed no seizure activity.I hadn't thought of migranes. I used to suffer from them,really severe ones, but haven't had one in many years.She never complained of a headache,but of course,that doesn't mean she counldn't have been suffering other migrane symptoms.She has a hard time expressing excatly what she is feeling physically sometimes, so it's a guessig game at times.When the doctor was doing the spinal tap and they were taking blood in the hospital, she appeared to have no normal since of pain. I've had a spinal tap, and it hurt like heck,but she had no pain response. I found that odd.All tests so far have come back 'normal'.The only one we're waiting on now is an 'organic acid urine test'.She's continuing to improve,so I'm thankful for that! Thanks for you concern.

[vega1318]

Re:  spinal tap.  It actually doesn't have to hurt at all so I'd say, maybe your daughter was lucky to have a doc who knew what they were doing.   It should be no worse than getting blood from your arm if done correctly.  But you're right, migraines can come in various forms and do not need to have a headache accompany them in order to have symptoms:   weakness, confusion, TIAs can all happen.

[mompuzzled]

Thank you for your response concerning my daughter. She has now had an MRI at my insistance, and an EEG. Both were normal. She has also had an Organic Acid Urnine test. We are still waiting on the results from it. Her pediatrican has recommended that she have a full psychiatric evaluation done. That is set for March 1st. At the onset of her symptoms, she had her monthly period. Do you think there could be any hormonal reason this could have happened to her? Do you have any suggestions as to what other tests could be done to determine what caused such memory loss? Thank you again!