Hi...I know exactly how you feel. I have the exact same symptoms. Last Thanksgiving I just couldn't make the meal come together, and I was SO embarrased. I have trememdous long-term memory loss and total short-term memory loss. I had to quit my job because my memory was gone and I didn't know what was wrong. The "seizures" I was having were odd and not identifiable as Epilepsy at that time. I had been diagnosed with Altzheimer's.
At 3:30 AM on New Year's morning this year, I had a grand mal seizure; since my husband did not know what was happening to me, he called 911 and I was taken to the E.R. We spent the day there and after many tests and procedures, I was advised that I have Epilepsy (much better than Altzheimer's!). My tests were all perfectly normal, but the doc explained that my synapses (nerves that carry the information) have been fried by all the excessive electricity my brain had been spewing out for 2-1/2 years. In my case this was most likely caused by a fever of 105 degrees about 20 years ago, or possibly by the viral spinal meningitis I had 10 years ago. Enough brain cells were destroyed to result in Epilepsy.
Now I have to write everything down. If I don't, the information is gone within minutes. If someone calls me on the phone I write down everything they say to me. If I get up to do something I usually forget what it was before I even get to the room I was headed for. I make list after list after list of "To Do's". I can only make a recipe by re-reading it twelve times! It's really pathetic. I can't do any math anymore (I was never good at it, but this is ridiculous). The worst thing for me is the language loss. I have a B.A. in English, and now my only skill is gone. I forget words, and often use the wrong words. I have lost about 15 years of memory, and only recall the distant past if someone reminds me of events. They don't come to mind on their own.
I have coped with this by taking early retirement at a great financial loss to me (this all started when I was only age 59), and by explaining to people that memory loss is a medically-caused condition no different than loss of vision or hearing. People become VERY irritated with me because of the memory loss, as if I was forgetting on purpose! Even my husband did this until I reminded him that it is simply a disability.
I don't know if this helps you, or if it is simply catharsis for me. If you want to discuss anything else about your symptoms, you can certainly contact me at [email protected]. My very best wishes to you.
Sue