I’m going to have DBS System surgery at the end of October

everyone is different

@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member
I still have a poor memory with the RNS. However, I still have seizures and take meds. If you stop having seizures your memory will probably improve.

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A MyEpile...

Lowering the amount of anticonvulsants will help improve your memory recall some because there is a cumulative side effect in all anticonvulsants and some other medications that hampers memory recall too. As we get older (further away from being a baby (100% memory recall) all {except perhaps those with Eidetic memory or hyperthymesia (full memory recall)} humans memory recall is reduced. And those of us with Epilepsy have advanced levels of memory recall -- even if on no medications and having been seizure free for years.

Note: hyperthymesia: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hype...

PeggySylvia, I have the epilepsy memory loss and impairment issues due to a TBI, and the epilepsy meds don’t help. However, having further seizures also impairs the memory’s ability to retain new information. I don’t know anything about RNS and its effects upon the mind’s hippocampus. But its action is by electrical impulses, which in addition to regulating chaotic trends in seizures, can kill brain cells as well, and in the end, you might not be able to go off the meds anyway. Once there is thinking capacity loss, improving the memory involves re-training ourselves to remember in different ways. I know this is what I’ve experienced, anyway.

I guess what I’m saying is there are no guaranteees. I wish you luck with the surgery if you decide to go that way, and hope it works well for you.