I forget

[Gary]

I have been having an issue with forgetting words in the middle of a sentence or walking into a room with a purpose and then cant remember why I am there. I would not dare go to town without a list. I would come home with a load of stuff that has no resemblance to what I went there for. This has been going on long enough and frequently enough that it has become noticeable to me. I haven't asked my family if they noticed it because welllll........... I am not sure I want the answer. Yeah I know "De-nile isn't a river in Egypt.

It is common words and its not like I have enlightening conversations about partial differential equations or something. Yesterday I was working on a diesel tractor and 3 times I walked into the shop for a wrench and couldn't remember the size I needed. Fortunately my son has been helping me and he sets up a card table and a chair next to whatever we are working on. Plus he makes the trips to the shop, a whole 25 feet.

Anyone else have this problem? I began really noticing it within the last 2 months or so.

[Jeanie Z]

:) I do that too and have for quite awhile. However I am 74 now and it could be old age or the MS. If I go back to where I started I can sometimes remember what I went to get. Jeanie :)

[Frog42]

Forgetting what size you need is one thing. Forgetting what that tool is called would be more worrisome by far!

[agate]

I think really young folks get more bent out of shape than they need to. There's no need for them to start whispering about Alzheimer's and a need for "more care for dad" or whatever.

We spend our waking hours taking in information. The more years we spend doing this, the more crowded it gets in our brain. Maybe we reach a point where there just isn't enough room in there for all of the information we're storing. So we forget where we put something and we need lists and memory aids. Sooner or later we remember. Or we if we don't, it often doesn't matter or it will come to us a few weeks later.

As Vicky said, not remembering something basic is more worrisome, and not remembering who people are when those people are your close relatives shows a real problem. (Just my opinion but I've heard this in connection with how to tell what might be an Alzheimer's symptom from what probably isn't.)

[SuzE-Q]

Don't you remember, you already posted this question last week?

J/K

I agree with Vicky too, it's more worrisome to forget the name of a common item than what you went into a room to get.

Maybe try some lumosity puzzles, it's amazing how quickly you can see improvements, even after the first practice, our brains are very plastic.

But like agate, I also think too that in our technological age, our attention is more divided and we don't absorb things or concentrate as fully as we used to, so it's easier to forget things that we barely imprinted to our memory.

What was your question again?

[Howie]

I didn't used to, but now I wouldn't think of going to the store without a list. I went today, and have already found three things I didn't get! That seems to be my norm now. Two trips to the store every time.

[Pegakafarmgirl]

Gary. its bad for me too,,I write a list and forget it,, or buy groceries and leave them at the store and come home,,its the age thingie..MHO..

[Howie]

You calling me OLD? Put 'em up, put 'em up!!!

[Cherie]

do it a lot! Asked David for the wastebasket a couple of times and was peeved when he brought me a wastebasket instead of a dustpan!

David is getting worried because he totally did not recognize our tenant when he was showing the house to people who will be renting when these guys move out. And this is the one of the 4 that he has the most face to face contact with. He has started making notes in his date book by a name like (young blonde man with glasses or tall guy with curly hair) so that he knows who he is talking to. He is getting concerned. He doesn't seem to realize he has done this all his life. Maybe it's a little more pronounced now that I'm not there so much to cue him.

MRI for me on Tuesday. Neuro is asking for brain atrophy measurements as my words are getting so mixed and I am doing more and more what Gary speaks of. It's kind of scary and more than a little humbling.

[agate]

Cherie, my latest MRI, which was about 4 years ago, showed brain atrophy indicating the brain of an 85-year-old woman. However, the neuro put me through a fairly long cognitive test and said I was still doing OK in terms of memory and cognition, but I do use the wrong words for common things, and lists have been essential for many years.

As Peg said, remembering where I put those lists is a challenge. An old motto sees me through quite often: "A place for everything and everything in its place." If things get discombobulated around here, I'm sunk--can't find lists or anything else.

[Lazarus]

Ditto ditto ditto....did I say ditto?!

I have enormous trouble finding words for things I use every day, remembering names of people I know well or remembering what I intended to do. After years of worry and embarrassment I noticed that these concerns were related to activity. Things were worse when I walked to get someplace and if I just waited a second after the walking activity then I could do the thinking activity.

I just mean that I have learned to concentrate on one thing at a time. When we go into the greenhouse to work I am always saying "wait" and then after a moment I can listen to what my husband is saying.

These cognitive problems are a huge problem for me but I have been successful minimizing them by adding time between movements whether those movement are mental or physical. Now I have the calm of a wise old woman!

[Parsi]

It's been happening to me for a long time.
BTW I'm 64.

[SalpalSally]

It's been happening to me for a long time.
BTW I'm 64.

Youngster!!!

[agate]

After years of worry and embarrassment I noticed that these concerns were related to activity. Things were worse when I walked to get someplace and if I just waited a second after the walking activity then I could do the thinking activity.

I just mean that I have learned to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Linda, this has been a major discovery for me too, and I'm alwaysl having to relearn it.

[jendie]

Years ago I was visiting my mom at her work, I wanted to ask if I could have one of her funnels, but I couldn't think of the word. I wanted the funnel to make it easier to refill one of my wild bird feeders. I'm 46 now, but this happened about 6-8 years ago. It was definitely a MS moment, I was having lots of memory issues at the moment and it was exacerbated by heat and stress.