Question:
I am interested in anyone who shares in the expierence of Aphasia. I have had avariety of siezures, grand mal, on down to comp p.s, which are my main problem.The complex partial, is in the form of the sudden feeling of the rushing ofblood to my head, (which is also my aura for a g.mal). But then what happens is in this case, #1 I loose the ability to understand what anyone is saying. #2If I try to speak it won't "form" the words I want or it will be jibberish. #3I cannot read even simple written words. As this is happening, I am totalyaware of my prediciment, and I am unable to do anything about it.Its not likeI,m in never never land or something, I just think to myself "Oh itshappening again" It use to last from several minutes, up to about an hour orso. Followed by exhaustion and depression.. Neurontin has just about curedit. If anyone else has similar expierence I would like to hear from them,These occurances are very difficult to explain to someone who has neverexpierenced it.

Answer: My daughter is experiencing same thing. Had several "drop" seizures inApril/May resulting in stitches, etc to head. Also on zonisamide, which hasaphasia as a side effect. Her entire speech is loaded with "um's"; and such alook of exasperation as she searches for right word. I find myself secondguessing her, which is wrong as it stops her from progressing. On the otherhand, her frustration is hard to bear--for her and me! She's 21.

When I would come out of a g.mal (temporal lobe) I would experience #2 and 3 butnot #1. It would last for about a half hour to an hour. I recall once tryingto tell an emergency room doc (I had dislocated my shoulder during an episode.) myname and phone number. I had it in my mind but couldn't verbalize. It was as ifthe road from thought to speach had been disconnected; I could start a sentence butafter a few words I would lose the connection to what I was trying to say. Iwould open my mouth but the right words weren't there. I knew what was going on,and in a wierd way it was fascinating - albeit quite frustrating. I couldunderstand, nod and shake my head, but not verbalize.

In that particular incident I had to point to my name in a phone book, which uponlater reflection, indicated that my thought process was not encumbered, it was justthe ability to verbalize.

Luckily I have been seizure free for a number of years, but I will never forgetthose experiences. I never had to resort to meds and it never occured outside ofthe post-seizure state.