View Full Version : Forgetting things constantly.........
They say that you don't have Alzheimer's, if you think you have it. I guess people who have it are very adamant that they don't have it....or just have no clue about their behavior.
Anyhow.......when do you know that your forgetfulness is just normal aging, versus early dementia?
I have to remember sooooo many trivial things during the day, maybe my mind is just too full. But I can't remember so many names, words, etc.
And I might take a pill and immediately forget if I took it or not. I've made myself write it down immediately, but if I sometimes forget, there's no way I can remember if I took it or not, and it might not even be 2 minutes afterwards.
The other day, I was looking all through the fridge for quite a while for 2 things I needed for dinner. Couldn't find them anywhere. Looked on the counter, and there they were. I had absolutely no memory of getting it out.
DH keeps saying it's normal.........but I sure don't like it.
Anyone else having these kinds of problems? Funny thing.......sometimes I can't remember a name or a place, or a word. Then hours later, all of a sudden it pops into my head.
Actually google is great for finding those words/names I can't remember, so I don't have to spend the day racking my brain.
Chicken lady
9-18-17, 9:32pm
Well, that sounds like me always.
One of dh favorites is that i once told him about a guy i went to school with who got a perfect SAT score. But i couldn't remember the guy's name. Hours later, i woke up, sat up in bed, and yelled the guys name outloud (first and last). Woke dh and then had to explain why i was yelling some guy's name. We were in our 20s.
I think it's pretty normal to have forgetful episodes. It's more a lack of focus sometimes or as you said, too many thoughts period. I often have to force myself to focus. One of my frequent ones is that while in the shower, I can't remember if I just washed my hair or not. It's as if my mind disappears while I'm in the shower. I wonder too if our frequent activity on ever-changing screens isn't affecting us too.
My mother has gotten like this. She speaks in ever more vague terms as her vocabulary is shrinking. For instance, she said, "You know that thing that women your age get." She could not come up with the word menopause. This happens in pretty much every conversation with her, which I have at least daily.
She also tells me the sanme stories two days in a row.
No one else in the family thinks it is an issue.
She reads all this internet science. One article said if you can smell peanut butter from the same distance out of each nostril you do not have Alzheimer's. I am not convinced this is valid science. However, her long term memory does not appear better than her short term so it could be some other form of dementia.
The smell thing can be related to stroke, too, and is a sign of brain damage, so yeah, valid science there.
Hmmm.....I had a virus about 28 years ago and lost a lot of my sense of smell and taste. But I blame that more on a virus than developing dementia.
It's funny........I remember sooo much minutia throughout the day. Maybe it just takes up all my brain space.
iris lilies
9-19-17, 1:02pm
This mornng I couldnt remember if I had fed the dog breakfast. If I asked him, he would not give me a truthful answer, being a big chowhound who will eat any time. Fortunately his bowl was wet from slobber, so that told me I had, in fact, given him food.
I still am able to remember if I have given him his daily pill.
This was weird because it was the first time I wasnt able to remember feeding him. We have a routine where that is the first thng I do in the morning, but for sme reason this morning it didnt sink into my brain. slightly worrisome.
My memory is like a messy desk - it's there, but sometimes it takes a while to find it. Or I'll come across it long after I don't need it anymore.
Name recall is awful until I have someone "memorized". OTOH, I can note what page # I'm on in a book if I don't have a bookmark, pick up the book days later, and remember it.
I'm hoping as I get older, they develop a Siri-like AI that is more geared to help someone with memory issues. I might need it.
Teacher Terry
9-19-17, 1:09pm
I think our brains go on auto pilot when we do the same things everyday. At 50 I had to take meds for the first time and I often couldn't remember if I took them or not. So I bought a pill holder by day of week and problem solved. IL: when it comes to food you can't believe dogs:D.
frugal-one
9-19-17, 3:10pm
I find that if I don't take my daily 2T of lecithin I forget words and phrases. It is remarkable on how well it works for me. YLMV
I never can remember the name of Niles Crane's wife. Other than that, I'm pretty much OK.
Lilith? Bebe Neuworth, right?
Lilith? Bebe Neuworth, right?
No, that was Frasier's ex--and I can remember that one.
I never can remember the name of Niles Crane's wife. Other than that, I'm pretty much OK.
LOL..........there are certain names/words I can NEVER remember and I try to make associations with them, and sometimes that helps. Like capers.......forever I could NOT remember that word. If I just remember that it starts with "C", I can usually get it.
Isn't Niles's wife the english girl that is Frazier's maid? Can't remember her name though. haha
When I used to have chickens, I'd close them up in the coop every night. But then once I got back in the house, I couldn't remember if I did or not, and it drove me crazy and I'd have to go back out and check. Then I started saying outloud what I was fixing for dinner.........roast beef/chicken parmesan/pizza/pasta, etc.,........and for some reason I could remember saying that and would know that I, indeed, had shut their door.
Sometimes I really have to talk slowly, in order to remember the words that come next. DH is even worse and it takes him 5 minutes sometimes to get a short bit of info out. I usually complete his sentences for him, to move it along.
Daphne was the dad's caretaker. She did marry Niles but wasn't he married to somebody else before or am I confusing him with Frasier?
Sad Eyed Lady
9-20-17, 9:35am
Daphne was the dad's caretaker. She did marry Niles but wasn't he married to somebody else before or am I confusing him with Frasier?
Yes, Niles and Daphne did marry in a later episode, but Niles was first married to Maris - whom we never saw.
Sad Eyed Lady
9-20-17, 9:38am
CathyA, I heard something a few years ago while listening to a TV news report about Alzheimer's. This really made sense and has stuck with me. The person gave this example: if you forget where you put your car keys, that is forgetfulness. If you don't know what they keys are for, that is Alzheimer's. Maybe not 100% accurate in the quote or the example holding true, but I found it a good distinction.
I struggle, when i forget something i really forget it. One year it was taxes, like no twinge at all that something was missing until a month later. Since it was a refund there was not a penalty. I can remember all 192 kids in my programs, most of their schedules. I have most of the parents and who they relate to, but parent names are not gonna happen. I tend to not get names quickly so i have work arounds to remind me, I have rosters for kids, i put photos of kids and notes in my work phone with family phone numbers. Outside of work I just give myself a minute and try not to panic, like when i run into someone in the grocery store. I am at a loss in the moment usually.
I write lots of lists, a lot of them, and have a system each school year to stay organized. I keep the checked off lists to track that i did my job. Still i goof up one thing every year, typically not minor, based on forgetting or being interrupted offen.
iris lilies
9-20-17, 9:49am
Maris! Yes, one of those off camera characters, like Wolowitz's mother on Big Bang Theory.
I forgot about Maris.
Thank you for that--it was bugging me. The elusive Maris.
Thank you for that--it was bugging me. The elusive Maris.
I remembered it a couple of hours after I posted--without having to look it up, which I did the last time I forgot it. Progress!
Don't you wonder what the heck is going on in our brains, when there's no way we can remember a name or a word, and then from out of nowhere it pops into our heads later?
I guess those little synapses have minds of their own!
Man, I'm glad I read this thread! I always think I'm the only one!
Here's how pathetic I am...sometimes in the shower I can't remember if I already did the first shampoo of my hair. (Yes, I know, you probably don't really need to wash-rinse-repeat, but I do.) So I've taken to setting the tube on the floor of the tub after the first application, then I know I still need to repeat! Gawd! And I have a supplement I take in the morning and in the evening. After taking it at night I place my cup on the left. In the morning after taking it, I place it back on the right. That's how I know if I took it or not.
I'm continually leaving something behind when I leave in the morning...papers, phone, etc. And words don't come to me when I wish, either....I just keep snapping my fingers at my DH saying, "oh, you know, that thing!"
Here's a few little self-tests for excessive memory problems: http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/2016/04/alzheimers-dementia-memory-test.html If you get abnormal scores, you could check in with your doctor.
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