Memory problems after induced coma

[Grateful83]

I was placed into an induced coma at Christmas after a sudden illness were my Liver and Kidneys started to fail. It literally did come out of the blue. I am fit and health 40 year old, with no health issues.

After 7 days I was doing well enough to start reducing the sedation.

When I was fully awake again I had no recollection of the 2 days prior to the coma. During this time I was making phone calls, and having conversations with family. I had a 2 hour ambulance journey to the specialist liver unit however i don’t remember any of this.

I have been told all of this is totally normal. None of the professionals have ever said anything to me to suggest that I might now have cognitive problems so I’ve not really asked any questions. All my questions have been around how long it’s going to take me to regain muscle strength and the constant fatigue. But i have noticed since December that I am forgetting so many things that I would not normally forget. I have never had any memory issues. my job is very data oriented and this is quality checked all the time so if I was to forgot certain information or input the wrong information i would be picked up on it by a data analyst and this very rarely happens. I am not yet back at work but this is worrying me now as I am noticeing certain things like forgetting words in sentences. I will be having a conversation and I won’t be able to remember the word I want to use to finish what I am saying, or another thing is I can be told something new to me that is new information for example the name of someone I’ve just met and then an hour later I’ll forgot their name, the same goes with seeing someone I’ve not seen in a long time and I’ll forgot where I know them from but I know I know them. Another thing is numbers, I went to call a number written on a letter I received today and it took me 3 attempts as I kept inputting the wrong numbers.

Has anyone else who’s had a similar amount of time on life support suffered with this? I don’t know if I should be saying something to my GP about it or not.

Another thing I am doing that I have never done before is wetting myself! This is because now when I need to go I can’t hold it in long enough to get to the toilet. Again this is something I’m petrified of happening when I’m back at work. I mean I know there’s things I can buy but I’ve only just turned 40 but am I just suppose to get on with now does it get any better? Should I be saying something?

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to reply back and give any advice x

[Sepsur]

Some of the sedatives used on us to put us in an induced coma, cause retrograde AND anterograde amnesia.

It means I will have holes in my memory & I will struggle to problem solve in the future & present.

[Grateful83 in reply to Sepsur]

Wow I never knew that thank you for sharing this information with me i wish there was more information given after that covered these things unfortunately the booklet I was given didn’t include this x

[Lux95]

Memory loss and cognitive issues are both common side effects of ICU sedation. After two years, I still forget common words in conversation. At times I even type the wrong word, such as "hear" instead of "here" or "there" instead of "their". I used to pride myself in being accurate in writing and conversing - always saying and writing what I intended, and never confusing homophones in either case. It isn't always an issue, but enough to be annoying, and require proof reading, and being more guarded in conversations.

I wish I could tell you these will improve, but only time will tell. I've had to readjust my expectations for conversation, remembering tasks, and how I approach my work. It is annoying at times, but it is what it is. We survived, and that's the most important thing. The rest is just a minor burden to bear by comparison.

[Sepsur in reply to Lux95]

I still at times use ‘almost the right word’ - speaking & writing 8yrs on

[Lux95 in reply to Sepsur]

I've come to accept this as normal now and try not to let it bother me. No one is perfect after all.

[Grateful83 in reply to Lux95]

Thank you for sharing your story and you are very right we are the lucky ones who survived so we do have to remind ourselves of that.x