I have noticed increasing memory loss for the past several months. I feel like I really ditz out at times. I have always been a relativly sharp person, and I wonder if this is related to RA or just stress. I have read that short term memory loss is a symptom of Lupus and I just wanted to get some feedback on anyone elses experiences.
I suffer from short term memory problems sometimes. I find I am worst when I am A) in a lot of pain and taking lots of pain killers B) sleep deprived C) under stress D) all of the above at the same time. I think RA gives us 'D' a lot of the time so its almost inevitable that we will suffer from various seemingly unrelated symptoms.
I have taken to writing myself notes for EVERYTHING. I just have to remember to read them. My house is covered in Post-it notes.
Pam
I write myself notes, but I forget to look at them...its really sadI'm with ya everyone. Even before the pain meds I had 'fog'..days
when everything was just plain dull in my head. I fight this as
much as I can. I love coffee
Coffee, my best friend!
Maybe some of the brain fog is due to the fatigue. I suppose if you are using all of your spoons to clean the house then you just cant remember the grocery list or the appt time etc. Boy I am with you on this one. I get 1/2 way through a sentence and forget what I was saying. My children (Thank God) have a great sense of humor when I do this (22 and 24). So... we make jokes and poke fun at it all. I too was once a bright person. I was a financial controller for a LARGE company. I find it hard just to balance a check book now. I do believe I am worse off when I have pain, stiffness or frustrated trying to do something or pushing myself. Hang in there... and remember "inch by inch it's a cinch". That's my saying anyway. I do the same thing, I get half way through a sentance and I uh...mmmm...what was I saying? Oh yeah, I totally lose my train of thought. FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS!!! aarrrrgggghhhh!!
MELODY MELODY, I agree with you on the blurred vision and not being able to read, with me even wearing the glasses does not help, the changes are from day to day. One thing with the memory I can attest to is that this was probably my first sign something was really wrong, I worked for a large transportation company, in thier safety and accident dept, while taking reports I would notice that during the report I was miss spelling words, putting words in that were not words I heard for the person on the other end of the phone and it got me in alot of trouble with mu super. So based on that info, my husband and I started watching for things, we kept track of when I would do these things and then usually within 24 hours I would have flares. One other problem with the memory ws that I repeatedly, repeatedly would ask questions over and over and over, or on the other hand would tell things over and over. Im not sure what the connection is, it still happens although not at the severity it di then. Has anyone ever left the stove burners on and caught something like the house on fire? or what about leaving the outside water on for days, or other similar things. Hmm. Blurred vision. I walked into the grocery store the other day &
I have the blurries to sometimes. Leaving the water on outside and flooding the yard? My husband does that all of the time. I always attributed it to laziness!
I am going Monday to get my eye exam. I have noticed light sensitivity for the first 24 hrs after my MTX shot.
I HAVE BEEN THE SAME WAY WITH ASKING THINGS OVER AND OVER AND THE TELLING OF THEM ALSO. I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE BECAUSE I WAS ON ANTIDEPRESSANTS, BUT IT MAY BE THE RA INSTEAD. SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING THAT GOES ON WITH US IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE RA!!!! I ALSO WEAR GLASSES AND HAVE A NEW SCRIPT BUT STILL HAVE ALOT OF TROUBLE SEEING. A DOC DID GIVE ME DROPS ONCE TO MOISTURIZE THE EYES. MAYBE THE RA DRIES THEM OUT. I WORRY SOMETIMES THAT IF I AM THAT FORGETTFUL NOW ABOUT THINGS HOW WILL IT BE IN ANOTHER 10 YEARS!!!!! IT IS JUST REALLY NICE TO HAVE PLACES LIKE THIS TO SHARE YOUR CONCERNS AND YOUR VICTORIES. MELODY Mel- stress and fatigue do make you fortgetful. The eye dryness could be of concern. Are you having dryness often and in your other mucous membranes? hey crunchy, eyes mostly get dry when trying to read , but i had mouth dryness that drove me crazy. i mean no spit at all!!!!! i discuessed this with my rheumy and he did acupuncture on me and have not had dry mouth since!!!!! it was amazing! he has done that to several of his patients and even did a seminar for other doctors about it. that has been several months ago and it is still working. he also did that one day when i had a really bad headache and got rid of it. since he was just doin research at first, he didn't charge those of us who would let him work on us. i do worry about the eyes though. i should go in for an exam soon and i will discuss it with the eye doc. thanks for caring. melody Same thing here. I now carry a pocket full of post-it notes. The only thing that has helped me with the fatigue and resulting short-term memory loss is Humira. But that is still not all the time. I think we need to allocate some of our spoons for short-term memory and cut back on housekeeping!
Pam Same here. I run my own online business making custom invites and candy wrappers and when i did my orders the other day I was printing the wrong things, forgot to change something on one and some other things. Husband tells me things & I forget, it drives me nuts. I feel horrible when i do those things, of course i feel horrible all the time just from RA so it's just another little added quirk. Mel, Dry eye and mouth is very annoying.
I too suffer memory problems. In 1998, before I knew I had r.a I joined a writing course. I have always loved reading books and finally had time for myself as kids had grown up. I started well enough but I noticed my hands and whole body would be stiff from writing. I ignored it. Then I suddenly found I couldn't remember how to spell the simplest words. My sentences didn,t make sense and I was forever having to re-write everything. I couldn't keep up with the deadlines so I gave it up and lost the course fee in the process. Then, in 1999, I got a job in a garage, where they trained you for 2 days, then left you on your own, and went through 12 weeks of sheer hell cos I couldn't keep up with it. It was chaos. The more people came in, the more worked up I became, andthe worse mess I made. like the first time I had to serve a disabled man who regularly came in his little 3 wheeler disabled car. I had to turn on the pump inside the shop,then run out and fill up his car as I'd been shown, but I pressed the wrong button
anymore. I'm forgetting more things. Some of it is definitely pain. Pain
fills big chunks of my brain at times. Some of it is just fog. The
prednisone makes me feel "funny." I've heard people say it causes
anxiety. I don't feel anxious. Just funny. Not quite right (maybe they really
gave me clown pills? I'll sprout a big red nose tomorrow?).
It is really sad.
couldn't see anything. It was scary. My prescription is only about 4
months old - and some days I can see just fine. I never thought IT could
be part of RA. Sigh.
I haven't forgotten anything critical - except paying the bills, which has
become so hard to deal with. It's almost impossible for me to finish a task
on time. Or to focus on anything for very long.
four years ago and wanted to comment about the memory loss.
I have always been able to remember phone numbers and names
(sometimes from clients that I had years ago) now I can't remember a
phone number long enough to make it from the phone book to the
phone to dial. I leave my cell phone at home, forget about meetings
and last night I forgot the name of a long time client of my
newspaper. I was talking to him and I was hoping that I wouldn't
have to call him by his first name.
I don't know if its the Ambien (I couldn't sleep without it) or just
stress from the new diagnosis (or taking medicines that I didn't need
for 4 years)
It's very frustrating, especially for loved ones that are used to the
"old" me.
MarisaMelody-I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your son. I just cant imagine the pain that I know it caused you. I am glad to hear that you and your family have stuck together and found a way to carry on his memory for a good cause. I actually stopped taking the meds for ADHD a long time ago because I thought I could get by with out it. I learned study techniques when I was in school so that I was not dependent on the drug. But now I just have so much more going on in my life and it is more difficult to stay organized. I think I could benefit in that way and maybe lower my stress level a little bit---therefore reducing my chances of bad flare ups. In theory it all makes perfect sense...now if I could just remember to schedule my doctors appt..........
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