Personality changes

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I had radio-surgery three weeks ago. I am noticing personality changes: reckless behavior, memory loss, and an strongly increased sex drive. Has anyone else experienced this?

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I did not notice a change, either through the bleed or Gamma Knife. Although the location of the AVM/treatment within the brain can impact. Where was your AVM and are you on any medication that could be impacting? John.

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The AVM is at the base of my cerebellum. The radio-surgery has already had a positive effect. My episodes are milder and shorter in duration.

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Good to hear improvement, and from July until now with SRS a few weeks back is not a long time in our brain world. I was on a seizure medication(Keppra) that made me lethargic, and have switched and find I have a little more energy. I know there are some out there that can have a variety of side effects. Take Care, John.

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Hey @Gregory62 ,
I have had a few differing neurosurgeries and those changes are there, but for me my reckless behaviour minimised, I became more calculating rather than reckless, my memory was OK, not great, but ok. Now, if I don’t write it down, ‘poof’, and it’s gone. My memory is REALLY bad. I often joke with the wife “There’s nothing wrong with my memory…” then look her in the eye and say “And who are you, Again?” it is said as a joke, but the reality is right there. I can hang up from a phone call, then think ‘What was that all about again…?’ And it’s gone. I had little pieces of paper everywhere, with little notes, I ended up getting a book to write it all down in.

As for my sex drive, it didn’t just drop… …it fell off a cliff and hasn’t really recovered. I do still enjoy but prior to surgery… …my drive was very high.

But I have to agree with @JD12 “Good to hear improvement, and from July until now with SRS a few weeks back is not a long time in our brain world”. Brain recovery is unlike any other bodily organ and often the best thing is time. Time for the body to adjust to the changes. Time for you to adapt. Some people report improvements 12mth posts SRS, you’re seeing them already. That’s a BIG plus. On ward and upward from here.

Merl from the Modsupport Team

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Thanks - I so appreciate your comments and insight.

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Hi, I experienced a deterioration of my memory. At the moment when I had an epileptic seizure, my memory was severely impaired: I remembered my dog’s name, but almost forgot my own. After that, I spent some time in intensive care, and then I underwent embolization and radiosurgery. At first, my memory noticeably worsened, and I mispronounced words or took a long time to recall them. Over time, however, it began to recover. I think this was related to the medications that were supporting my brain function.

In addition to this, I experienced aggressive behavior. For a long time, both my family and I did not understand why I had become so irritable. It turned out to be a side effect of the medication. I had to change a large number of drugs before I found the one that was suitable for me.So you could try discuss this with your doctor, it could also be a side effect of some medication.

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In addition to this, only after a long time did I realize that I had begun to feel less emotionally. It was as if I experienced both joy and sadness only halfway and could not fully feel them. It turned out that this was also a side effect of the medication. The medicine suppressed my emotions. For example, experiencing strong negative emotions can raise blood pressure, which is dangerous in cases of malformation, especially in the early period after surgery.

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Thank you for sharing this information with us.

By the way, I also noticed that I started to get tired very quickly after surgery, and I still don’t know whether this is related to the embolization or the radiosurgery.

Because of this, I was very angry at first. I felt like an old woman in a young woman’s body. But now I have either gotten used to it, or I no longer get tired as quickly.

What is most distressing is the uncertainty — not knowing whether this will last forever or eventually come to an end. If your daughter is going through similar experiences, I wish her patience and the ability to be gentle with herself, no matter how hard it feels.

I hope that the MRI results will be good.:folded_hands:t3:

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