Sudden memory loss in 40-year-old woman

[Dickmacd]

My girlfriend, who is 40, had a recent incident in which she lost much of her memory for about 8 hours.   She thinks this may have happened before but she was alone at that time and slept for a few days until she got better.  I was with her for most of the incident this time.  I stayed with her until she went to sleep; after about five hours, she woke up remembering most of what she had fogotten.  Though I have known her only 8 months, she says she has gone from being able to digest and process information fairly rapidly to having significant problems focusing on complex information (she deals with accounting, project management, detail-oriented matters).

She does not want to go to the doctor as she has been diagnosed in the past as "depressed" and given anti-depressants.  Though she may have a mild case of depression, she primarily exhibits symptoms of stress.  Before this incident three days ago, she had a few anxiety attacks.  Upon trying to return to work yesterday (against my recommendation), she suffered another anxiety attack and never made it in.  She had forgotten a few things and then got disoriented driving to work.  She later realized that though she knew where to go (a long drive she does twice a week), she had no idea how to get there, nor could she remember how to do some of the complex accounting work she would have done once there. So she turned around and went home.


I have been urging her to see a general practitioner who can refer her to a good local neurologist.  Do you have any recommendations?  During her recent "attack," she said time was "jumping around" and she was totally disoriented.  She was extremely sound-sensitive and intensely focused on just a few things.  She knew I was her boyfriend but couldn't remember my name or things we'd done together.  She didn't remember her children being 19 and 17 and instead said they were young.  

She has been complaining of "missing time" for some time and knows she sometimes can't account for small amounts of time (a handful of minutes).  This last incident, however, was more serious and worrisome.  It lasted fully 6-10 hours where she had significant memory loss.  I am worried about her and want her to get the best help.  Finally, she has never been in a serious auto accident, hasn't used drugs and has drunk some alcohol but has not done so recently.  She cannot remember any trauma to the head other than having been punched in the eye about 10 years ago.

Thanks and God bless you!

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

I suggest you visit the neurologist. An MRI of the brain may help. The memory loss and disorientation spells are quite specific for cortical damage, which will show on the MRI.

Regards

DrAbhijeetMD

[Dickmacd]

Thank you.  Not quite sure what you mean by "quite specific for cortical damage" -- do you mean that cortical damage often manifests memory loss and disorientation spells; or something different?

Does anyone else have any experience in dealing with this kind of situation?  She's been to doctors in the past and has had CT scans, etc., but they've not turned up anything of substance and she's ended up getting treated with antidepressants that haven't helped because it's not really a full-blown depression.

We're both praying about it now and seeking The Lord's guidance.  Would appreciate feedback from anyone who's dealt with this type of situation.

Thanks and God bless!

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hi again.

Yes. Cortical damage manifests with memory loss, especially of the verbal kind, Like ... forgetting names. And it also manifests as disorientation.

Regards

DrAbhijeetMD

[Carol in PA]

Your account reminded me of something I read about Transient Global Amnesia.
http://www.spacedoc.net/transient_global_amnesia.htm
Click on the links to articles near the bottom for more.

Carol

[scarlet37]

  I sympathize with what your girlfriend is going through and thankfully she has some great support in you! I have struggled  for roughly just over 2 yrs. I could have written that post myself!
First it was found to be a problem due to my enlarged thyroid. I had surgery a year ago. I felt wonderful for approx. 6 months then i slid backwards again. Forgetting where I'm driving to, forgetting simple tasks such as how to work my answering machine, putting milk away, etc.  I now too have lapses of time that go by and have no clue that 15 minutes passed while i was drying the same glass!! I too was prescribed an anti depressant- the only improvement has been the disappearance of PMS symptoms!!!

     I am now seeing a sleep specialist to see if I have a sleeping disorder. I have been through tons of lab work, mri's, cat scans, etc. too. According to my sleep doc( a great doc- thank god!), when all tests come back normal and you still have memory issues it most likely is a sleep issue. So I am scheduled to have a 2 part sleep study- one is night time for Upper Airway Restriction ( UAR )  and a daytime study to check for Narcolepsy ( N ). I'm sure if you check out a site called talk about sleep dot com you will find tons of info that may be of some sort of help.

Please keep us posted as to the progress- and best wishes for some speedy answers.
  god bless-
    

[Dickmacd]

Dr. Abhijeet, thanks for the advice!  Lord willing, she will get to a neurologist and get those tests.

Carol, thank you; you're right, some of the symptoms sound similar, though she's never used one of the statin drugs.  Interesting!

Scarlet37, please keep us posted as to your sleep tests.  When I showed Paula (girlfriend) your post last night, she said she feels sleep is definitely involved; she's been working until real late on and off the past few months (as in 1 o'clock, sometimes even 2) and I'm sure it's decreased her seratonin level (and created other problems).  Thanks again and May The Creator of the Universe shed His Glorious Grace upon you and your family!