Can a person gets back the memory after getting up from coma?

[Amitbohara]

My gf was in coma for 15 days this morning she gets up from coma but she didn't remember anything or anyone so is it possible that she get her memory back? Can anyone tell me Plzz

[jojokarak]

She will in time at the moment her body still full of drugs which kept her asleep in a couple of weeks she will remember most things. Great news she awake 😀

[Amitbohara in reply to jojokarak]

Means it will take few days to remember previous things about us thank you for ur info

[jojokarak in reply to Amitbohara]

No problem x

[Sepsur]

It took me 11 days to wake up from coma - even then I was confused for days and days. At first I wasn’t sure who or what I was. I was trying to figure out how to ask questions without revealing how little I knew.

Your girlfriend may have experienced intense dreams that will confuse her sense of reality, I wasn’t sure what sense I could trust. Whilst my memory is not the same - I do know most things from my present & past.

[Amitbohara]

I think my gf is also wanna figure out who is she right now so will she remember about past things in few days?

[Videodragons in reply to Amitbohara]

I was in a coma for five weeks. Sepsur (above) says "At first I wasn’t sure who or what I was" and that was exactly my experience too. My memory came back, but it took a while.

[tessauk1]

It’s been 4 months now since I left hospital after going into 2 Comas with Sepsis, pneumonia, Mrsa and kidney failure. I have short term memory loss, which I’ve been told, is likely permanent. However it’s a small price to pay, as I was only given a 1-2% survival rate. I wish your girlfriend well on her road to recovery.

[Hannamanna26 in reply to tessauk1]

I was in the ICU for sepsis, ARDS, and pneumonia in 2005 at 23 and my short term memory has suffers tremendously to this day. Anything from my past especially pre-ICU is extremely foggy. I also had a 2% chance of surviving. It is true, your memory will never be how it was prior to the illness. Thank you for sharing.

[tessauk1 in reply to Hannamanna26]

From what I’ve been told, it’s highly unlikely my memory loss will return. Luckily it’s just my short term memory. So I remember most things prior to this year x

[Lynn2010]

I was in a coma for several weeks. I have no memory of those weeks except for some very weird dreams/hallucinations. I am left with short term memory loss and anomic aphasia where I struggle to pull the correct word from my memory, which is permanent but my family were told several times I was not expected to survive the night.

It’s a long road, many of us have travelled it. I wish you and your girlfriend well.

[Hannamanna26 in reply to Lynn2010]

Wow! I suffer from the exact consequences from being in a coma. The hallucinations is what I remember the most, my short term memory is almost non existent, and I have troubles with words. It really pains me.

[Lynn2010 in reply to Hannamanna26]

I know my hallucinations weren’t real but my god they feel real. It’s difficult with the memory loss and the anomic aphasia but my family and I find it amusing when I’m trying to remember a word. I have to describe the item so it’s a bit like give us a clue! I tell myself as I was expected to die it’s better than that.

[Lifesamystery in reply to Hannamanna26]

I was meeting a friend for dinner .. I remember getting in my car driving for a bit and then NOTHING!! All I know is what I was told .. apparently I drove without killing myself or others - how I don’t know -since I was already starting to die while driving. Arrived @ restaurant same time as my friend, parked my car we walked in together, sat down - chatted for abt 10 min.& I started sweating put my head down & died! IN A RESTAURANT! Rushed to hospital ,stented& medically induced coma for 3 days! I still have no memories since getting in my car ..

I still have no memories (3 years later) frustrating as hell! I want to remember something abt that night - I want to remember what it felt like to die-some way to fill in the blanks.. my front lobe executive functions including memory loss retention permanently damaged! Anoxic brain injury. I too have short term memory loss, repetitive can’t remember what I told someone, making really bad decisions saying inappropriate things.Sometimes later I realize what I said and I’m mortified! I text things and read them later& don’t remember what I wrote - IM SO SCARED& Frustrated..My friends walked away because I said or did something that pissed them off- ( don’t remember)and telling them or reminding them I have a cognitive problem- just not something I tell most ppl- I’m afraid I’m losing my mind.. scared I will have dementia (already feel like I do) feeling like my mind/ memories everything is slipping away..

I just want to remember ..

Memory loss is scary, frustrating and depressing! My friends/ family just don’t understand..

I will never be the same.. and that’s very hard to accept..

Thx for ur story..

[comadreams]

From my experience the answer is yes it took a long time but mostly returned. Best Wishes to both of you.

[angelrock]

Agree with everything that has been said, I still get anxious of my ICU experience even now three years and a month later!!!

[Hannamanna26]

She will remember in time. She probably had hallucinations, which she will remember the most, unfortunately. My memory of my past is very foggy. It’s difficult for me to remember occurrences. I was in the ICU from sepsis and ARDS back in 2005. Although it has gotten better over time, there was not a single day since where I don’t think about my experience. When I woke up from my coma, I thought I was in Florida and that the nurses were alien robots trying to do scientific research on me. I was 23 at the time, but I thought I was 78. Every time a hospital staff came into my room they would ask me what my name was, how old I was, and when my birthday was, which further confirmed to me that they kidnapped me for experimental purposes. I thought my family members were madd up replicas by the aliens. I felt terrible nonstop fear and tried to escape a couple times. Every time I got up to escape, I would fall because I wasn’t able to stand. The scariest part was the fact that these hallucinations felt unbelievably real. The thing I suffer from the most after that experience to this day is the fact that no one, unless they’ve been in the same circumstance, will understand what you went through and the detrimental affects from it unless they’ve been through it. This may be the thing to worry about the most for her, which is the post traumatic affects. Getting psychological help for post coma experience will help get through it. Good luck and I wish the best for you both.

[ianprothero]

Hi Amitbohara, I was in an induced coma for 10 days in 2007 after a serious car crash. I have no memory of my time in the coma but as with others above I had some very distressing dreams, nightmares and hallucinations - these caused a lot of suffering for some years afterwards. These are often what really distresses those who have been through ICU. They are unlike anything I had experienced in the 'real' world and took me the longest to sort out. Your GF may be fortunate and not get them but be prepared to listen and talk them through, also to reassure her.

If she does get flashbacks and signs of distress think about counselling - preferably with someone who has experience of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She may be lucky and get it through your GP.

I found it useful to keep a diary during my recovery to help build my memory back up, also to ask lots of questions about what happened and where I was - I also visited the ICU ward a couple of times to fill in the blanks, the staff were brilliant.

Be patient and carry on with your attempts to understand and help her cope. Use the ICUsteps website to help you both.