My father is hyperactive after a temporal lobe damage. Will he recover?

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com. The hyperactivity he is showing is because of the damage to his temporal lobe. It can be due to abnormal electrical activity arising from the damaged temporal lobe and adjacent areas. The good thing is that he is on his way to recovery. But at the same time, we need to control his hyperactivity. In my experience, I have observed that if we add tablet Trileptal (Oxcarbazepine) as an add on anti-epileptic, the hyperactivity gets controlled. Before starting it, you need to make sure that his complete blood count and serum sodium levels are not low. Please check both, if not low, then your doctor can start tablet Trileptal 150 mg thrice daily in addition to what he is taking now. Chest physiotherapy, limb physiotherapy and out of bed mobilization has to be continued for better recovery.

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com. I understand that the dosages are high, but we have to prescribe it in these doses. We do prescribe these high doses when required, and it does not create extra problems. I saw the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reports (attachment removed to protect patient identity); there is extensive damage to his brain both the sides and lot of abnormal areas. Please follow the precautions before starting the medicine, which I already told you, so that he will be safe.

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com. That is a very genuine question you have. Though it is very unfortunate,it is a fact that once injured, the brain never recovers back to its normal function again. Invariably, some functions are lost permanently. So, complete recovery is not possible. As there are multiple areas damaged on both the sides, he would not recover his higher mental functions like decision making, judgement, executive functions, planning, etc. His recovery would mostly be limited to identifying familiar faces, looking at familiar noises, walk with both side support and it may be a little bit up or down from this. It is unrealistic to predict the exact time frame. The recovery comes in episodes after brain injury. He would recover a little and then for six months or so he would be same. Again, he would recover a bit and like that. Maximum recovery would be around 1 year or so. But, here is a catch. If he gets an infection in between, then the recovery would be delayed. That is where the importance of physiotherapy comes. Chest physiotherapy, limb physiotherapy and chair sitting should be done every day. The target should be physiotherapy for at least 10 times a day and chair sitting for 8 hours a day. This sort of activity will reduce the chance of infection for him.

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com. As we already discussed, you should focus on physiotherapy and mobilization. Other thing to be taken care ispersonal hygiene and nutrition. You can meet dietician nearby your place once, they will prepare a diet chart for him based on his height and weight. Actually, this repetition of the sentence is because of frontal and temporal lobe dysfunction. In medical terms it is called perseveration. As we add new anti-epileptic, we may find some improvement in that. Yes, it would take time to improve. As we discussed, the exact time frame is difficult to predict.