Short and long term memory symptoms and conditions

Hi, I have been reading all the postings and my heart goes out to everyone. I been there, done that. Myself, I have a seizure disorder and been on Lamictal since 2003 (I can't recall/remember) - I had tried 5 other seizure meds that didn't work for me. For quite a while now I take 600mg a day and Keppra 250mg to control my seizures. I lost my driver's license twice so far (I know that is the rule in CA) , and once not long ago (I got my license back) I got totally lost in my town, which I used to know like the back of my hand. I thought I had lost my mind. I asked my doc if I was getting demenia and he said oh no you are too young (53). I have also learned doctor's (for the most part) are idiots too. They don't think outside the box for us. I can't spell anymore, get depressed easily. I really want to work, but I can't. I have tried time and time again, but (yesterday) it just about did me in...people explained to me how to do things on the job many many times but I couldn't retain any thing. People just looked at me as if to say what planet did you come from. I cried on the job so hard I wanted to disappear. I am so sick of my family saying "I know you can't - don't remember this or that..... I can hardly bare that. Now I have a potential kidney problem. Suppose it is from these meds? I am really scared.

My sister had horrible side-effects.....she said her brain acted like it was trying to "turn off", skin-crawling, stomach pain, extreme restlessness, insomnia, short and long term memory loss, and more. I saw drastic changes in her behavior, that she didn't seem to be aware of herself. She became quite impulsive, aggressive, and exhibited very bizarre behavior. I blame the Paxil, and caregiver burnout for the tragedy that resulted in the tragic, untimely death of our mother(who was also on Paxil).

If taking Claritin daily, I notice I have trouble grasping for words when culling from short and long term memory. This is much more pronounced in Caritin-D (and had to stop taking it), but is also present in regular Claritin.