Transit Global Amnesia

My dad had an episode of transient global amnesia at age 53. Luckily, his employees knew his behavior was abnormal-he was repeating himself a lot in a meeting-and they called our family. We immediately took him to the doctor. The tests (EKG, CAT, MRI) showed no reason for the episode, and we have never found out the cause. He was completely normal within days; he just couldn't remember the hours involved.

My dad's research on the topic showed that evidently, people who experience this have high IQs. :)

Yes, my friend's mother had it. Her husband was in the hospital and her stress level was extremely high. She was about 55 or 60 when it happened. She did not suffer any other effects from it. She did start to remember patches on information, but it was about a day of memory she lost...

I got goose bumps when I read the title "Transit Global Amnesia".

My dad had this last summer! It was so scary and terrible, until they told us what it was. He was totally normal within days. He still can't remember about 2 days of his life, though.

It was so weird.

They told him it's rare and they think he over exerted himself (he's 70 and still working-physical labor- 40 hours a week), which may have contributed to the problem. i can't remember much else.

Yes, that happens with several perscription drugs. It is a side effect.

My mom had it happen last year. She was 64. She is back to her "normal" self now. It was scary at the time. I worry that it will happen again. I think my mom carries a lot of stress and maybe that's how the stress manifested itself.

D.,
My husband has had this twice in the past 20 years. The first time I don't think he told me until after he went to the doctor. The second time I was really worried and took him right to the emergency room. He has had all kinds of tests, but they never really found a cause. He was fine after the events, but just couldn't remember those days/hours. His doctor said it was nothing to worry about. Hope your MIL is better now, and doesn't worry too much.
MamaP