Memory loss concerns

[CathyA]

I'm realizing that this is pretty common with aging, but I don't have to like it! :(

I have always had a curious mind. I do think I have a learning disability and maybe that factors into worsening memory problems.
I'm also a compulsive/obsessive thinker. What I mean is, I look at everything through a magnifying glass. I notice all details about everything...........so maybe that takes up too much "memory" space. Or maybe my mind is so busy all the time, I just do some things robotically.

But here's what bothered me alot lately: First, I let the dog outside the other day and then went to the computer for awhile. All of a sudden, the dog put her paws up on my chair, and I thought "How the hell did you get in????!!" for the life of me, I didn't remember letting her in. As I sat there very confused, I did remember giving her a treat after she came in. But I didn't remember letting her in.

Then, the other day, I fed the dog from the canned dog food can in the fridge. Later, when I went to feed her again, I couldn't find the can that still had food in it. After searching, I found it back in the utility room, where I keep her unopened canned food.

Also, sometimes, when I'm in the car, for a split second, I can't remember the gas versus the brake pedal, nor can I understand the radio controls.

Perhaps things like this are very normal in the aging process, and I'm just making too big a deal out of it. But dang, it bothers me alot. And I have concerns that forgetting which pedal is which in the car (if only for a second), might cause someone harm some day.

Any similar stories to share? My doc seems to make light of these things, but they do concern me.

[SteveinMN]

I think any activity you perform regularly is subject to being filtered out of one's consciousness. In the past, several coworkers have said that they, too, have days when they're walking in the front door at work not remembering the details of the drive. None of us were sleeping through the commute; I'm sure we were observing traffic and lights and exits. But it was such an ordinary ride that it promptly faded from memory.

Of course, I would not admit (and, therefore, could not get corroboration from coworkers) that sometimes I walked through that front door at work and had a moment or two when I could not remember where my desk was. Left? Right? Escalator? (That's kind of scary.)

One thing I have noticed is that, since I stopped working, my memory has improved. It used to be that, if I didn't write it down, I wouldn't remember it at all. No longer true for me, thank goodness!

[catherine]

I do things like that all the time. But I'm scatterbrained. It's usually not ONLY because I'm getting older, but just because when I'm doing mundane tasks, my brain is on another planet. >8)

[creaker]

It doesn't sound like memory loss - it sounds more like you just may not have been very present when you did these things. I actually used to do this much more when I was younger - just completely lost in thought while the rest of me was on autopilot.

[iris lily]

Cathy, exactly those tings happen to me.

How did that dog get in the house? A split second of driving: where am I? If I think about the brake vs. gas, I cant's tell which is which, I have to use it automatically. And yes, it's true that one time I did step on the wrong one.

You've ok, I don't htink you have to worry too much about these things.

[Square Peg]

I am reading this interesting book entitled Rapt. She talks about the different levels of focus we use. It doesn't deal with forgetfulness, but you may still find it useful or interesting.
My mom is 82 and has Alzheimers. I had quite a few aunts on my dad's side who it before they died. My dad died young (64) so I don't know if he would have had it. I am 41 and every time I can't remember a name, it scares me!
http://www.amazon.com/Rapt-Attention-Focused-Winifred-Gallagher/dp/0143116908

[Blackdog Lin]

Cathy, I am going through the same thing and yes, it is very worrisome. And with me, it's not just my normal scatterbrained-ness and unobservant-ness, which I've learned to just live with. It's worse.

Earlier this week I forgot how to close an umbrella. Yep, I guess I just plain spaced it off. I opened my old big umbrella to use it, and when I got inside of my volunteer gig building, I pushed and pushed the (bottom) button and it wouldn't go down. No problem, left it spread while I worked, but when I went to leave I tried again to close it and couldn't - pushed and fiddled and messed with that button - and ended up throwing it in the back of the van still open. Took it in and told DH that it was probably broken, it's so old, but would he look at it to be sure I wasn't wasting money buying a new one. He looked at it, pushed the (top) button (THE CORRECT BUTTON, THE PLACE WHERE ANYONE WITH HALF A BRAIN KNOWS THAT THAT'S WHAT YOU DO TO CLOSE AN UMBRELLA) and of course it went right down. I confess I kinda fudged the truth saying something like well, it's so old it must be getting balky and not always working but I'll keep it till it gets completely unusable.....

Worrisome, I tell ya.

[JaneV2.0]

There's nothing more fear-inducing than the specter of dementia, IMO. I've noticed some minor memory problems (What was that actor's name? You know, the one in Buffalo Bill and 9 to 5..." Dabney Coleman. I had to look it up, because I never can remember his name. Or what "heuristics" means.) For the most part, my memory is good--and a recent on-line test for short term memory rated me average--but I notice some sluggishness when my blood sugar is low. And then if I try to remember, it really goes blooey. Insulin issues have been implicated in Alzheimer's, so I'm hoping keeping that low and level pays off.

[CathyA]

Blackdog Lin.......I've had things like that happen to me too. Its very disconcerting........Things that we have done for years become foreign to us. And if I'm under pressure (like there's people around me), I can think even LESS. On several occasions, while I was talking to DS or DD on my cell phone, I was walking around saying "Dangit, I can't find my cell phone." And they'd say "Uh.....mom....."
DH and I are such a pair. During dinner, we're constantly saying "what's the name of that thing...." or "What's the name of that person?" It seems like I spend half my day, just trying to remember words.
My memories of the more distant past are crystal clear...........its just recent stuff I can't seem to remember.

Jane......that site online where you took the memory test.........do you have to give them your email address? Sometimes I take those tests and then they want all sorts of info, and I don't want to give it. They should say that up front.

One curious thing I've noticed........I love doing crossword puzzles. Sometimes I am totally stumped about what a few words are. I put it down and go back to it the next day, and I know the answers right away.
I would love to have a PET scan. I think there would be alot of very dark areas!

The thing about me I hate is that when something confuses me, like how the dog got in, it almost puts me into a panic attack for an instant. I feel so removed from the moment at that time. And when someone else says something to me that makes no sense to me (because THEY are confused), I get that same feeling of spinning out of control.
I know............I'm weird. I think I'm just a control freak and these things throw me more than they should.

[Blackdog Lin]

Yeah, Cathy, "spinning out of control".....that says what I feel sometimes. DH will make remarks to me that make absolutely no sense whatsoever - and when I say "what?" and he gives me context, I think "why in the world didn't I get that? Of course that's what he meant."

Yeah, I worry about dementia. I think a lot of my worrying is that I've never had any patience at all with "stupid" people - even though I frequently am one of the stupid people myself.

[JaneV2.0]

This is the memory test--no e-mail ID necessary:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/tmt/instructions_1.shtml

[dado potato]

Memories are sometimes precious and useful. But if I forget the name of that actress (Ingrid Bergman), it's not the end of the world. "Here's lookin' at you, kid."

To the OP... It sounds like you raised your concern about memory with your doctor, and it was not something he/she thought even needed to be rigorously tested. So, either you got nothing to worry about, or your doc is a nut.

[chord_ata]

I have claimed that I have had "senior's disease" since I was a senior in college, which is when I first noticed my tendency for absent minded ness.

I seem to have gotten more aggressive at automatically multi-tasking which sets me up for showing up automatically in a place I didn't remember thinking about.

I think all of our memories are much worse than we are publicly allowed to admit. That's being human.