If you have had short term memory loss has it reversed?

I have word retrieval and short term memory loss. My memory was one of my best assets.

For any of you that have experienced these symptoms, have they reversed?

What do you think helped?

Thanks.

Huddie - mine is better - not completely but better than it was a couple years ago.


I'm having a different brain issue though...not sure what it's called.
more of a confusion than memory loss. I get confused if I'm trying to plan things when my husband isn't working and there are no appointments...I'll stare at the calendar and get overwhelmed....just trying to decide when is the best time to do something.

Very strange.

Yup, both. Word retrieval issues come and go.

I kept forgetting the word....... Uh, ummmm, hmmm, oh yeah, shoot..... Uh....... Oh well, it'll come to me. That's it, "atrophy". When I can't find it, I just substitute something else like "muscle wasting". I fear returning to work because I'm a health care professional and it's these medical terms especially that I know, but can't find sometimes. Yikes. The words are still there, but it's like someone else came and misfiled things my cabinet. It gets worse when I'm overstimulated or on the spot.

Short term memory: when I first got sick, I subscribed to lumosity. It has problem solving, flexibility, processing speed, memory, and attention games. I've always considered myself to have above average intelligence. When I first started lumosity, the games were hard and I felt ruined cognitively. I was aghast to imagine myself in the 40th percentile but there I was. I do this every day religiously and over time, my scores have come up to where I expect them to be.

I've noticed that my scores are lower when I don't sleep enough. I was taking low dose doxepin for sleep for a couple of months and that took a measurable bite out of my cognitive function. Meds can do that but that's far from the whole picture.

Now, I struggle with executive function. I have a piles of paper and other things that have accumulated and I'm not dealing with them. Don't know of any executive function games.

BJD,

You are a so wonderful! Thanks for making me feel better.

I used to do Luminosity before Lyme. Haven't done it since. Great idea.

I always had high IQ and outstanding memory. This is devastating to me. I worry more about my son though. He has high IQ, good memory and good student. He is at the most important time in his academic career. Not sure what will happen. He was told he has executive functioning issue with processing (mostly in reading). Wonder if that is Lyme related.

Luminosity for all of us.

By the way I bet people don't notice your words and you are still very intelligent.

Thank you.

Huddie said...
BJD,

You are a so wonderful! Thanks for making me feel better.

I used to do Luminosity before Lyme. Haven't done it since. Great idea.

I always had high IQ and outstanding memory. This is devastating to me. I worry more about my son though. He has high IQ, good memory and good student. He is at the most important time in his academic career. Not sure what will happen. He was told he has executive functioning issue with processing (mostly in reading). Wonder if that is Lyme related.

Luminosity for all of us.

By the way I bet people don't notice your words and you are still very intelligent.

Thank you.

Hang in there Huddie, keep challenging yourself cognitively and things will improve, I promise.

This conversation got me thinking about this brain fog and cognitive impairment. Years ago when in college, I worked in a paint Store for a month or so. One time I pissed off the boss so he gave me the daily detail of keeping the paint mixing room in order. Now that was back when much of the house paint was still petroleum based. I'd spend 15 minutes in that room and came out with nasty brain fog that ruined me for a couple of hours. I couldn't quit that job quick enough. We're all dealing with toxins that are throwing a wrench in the cognitive machinery.

What a meanie your ex boss was.

I agree that it is all toxins of some sort.

I'm thinking ammonia and maybe the Anti-Toxx is moving stuff out.

You are also correct about it being worse when tired.

More sleep, more luminosity, more hope.

I hope you get better too.

I may be weird compared to the others, but I experience this the worst when I am stressed. So mine varies widely. My whole functioning level teeters on my stress level at any given time.

I also had all the above everyone is mentioning, plus I developed writing dyslexia real bad too.

This was during, what felt like my "most toxic" time. This all made the stress worse, and my tremors worse to, I was a total basket case at that point which was 2014-2015........gut candida too LOL.

Remembering the technical terms at work was just not gunna happen. I had to plan ahead every sentence. Dealing with the few "A personality" technical people was most difficult, due to the lack of patients some of them have.

Lost my keys a lot, learned to put them in only two places, my pocket or the counter top. Had Post it notes scattered all over the house and car dash for reminders.

This was when my siblings really got to witness what lyme can do. During visits / family gatherings they were like, whats wrong with you? My response: So you STILL have not goggled lyme symptoms?

Its better, but still not the best. Speech acts up most when fatigued or stressed, guess that makes sense. I dont type reversed as much, and my hands work way smoother writing too.

As a whole......feeling more like myself. In dog talk more like a Lab vs the drunk Terrier I temporarily was.

Oh.....and that pile of papers. I thought that was just procrastination, but there's a special name for this now too LOL?

Adrenals might impact all of the above too....? I know they were shot.

Post Edited (astroman) : 5/2/2017 10:10:48 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Huddie!

You will absolutely heal your cognitive issues!

You aren't going crazy. Your poor brain is just inflamed. Once the infection is treated your brain will come back. And all these healthy supplements esp. Japanese knotweed might make your brain even better. I think there are studies that say it works on amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's patients.

Stay strong and big hug

Huddie, not to put you on the spot here, but you and I email frequently enough you should be able to answer. What do you think of my brain function?

I was having late stage dementia issues, no working short term memory (more than 3 minutes and I had no idea what had been said or seen), no access to long term memories (yep, couldn't remember even bringing my kids home for the first time after they were born, and zero childhood memories), and learning something new was out of the question. I couldn't even participate in most conversations, as tracking the conversation was just exhausting by itself - there was no way I could participate even if I didn't have word retrieval issues.

Most say that I'm doing really well now - and I am back in school and getting pretty good grades, besides continuing my 'education' about Lyme and company.

Hang in there!! Like BJD, I joined Lumosity, and I have done many other 'games' to work on different aspects of brain health/function. It's a muscle, we have to use it to get it back is what I figured!

Kudzu root has been a big help with lowering the brain pressure, which makes it easier to think clearly.

But I believe my biggest help has been taking Gingko Biloba- Buhner suggests 150 mgs twice a day.

I also eat eggs (with runny yolks) every day that I can. It has phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylyserine in them, both helping my brain. www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2011/1/feed-your-brain/page-01

Yep, I went into a deep depression when I realized that I couldn't pull up any memories. It was a really, really hard time in my life, as I was also very, very ill in other aspects. I was 30 lbs underweight, the sides of my mouth had split about an inch on both sides (still have the scars), and couldn't participate in much of life, even grocery shopping had massive implications for me - forget being able to do any kind of math. I had to rely on being able to take my kids with me to do things like grocery shopping, and we had to leave the store before we had finished getting food many times because of my panic attacks or nearly passing out too often (more than 3 times, I would leave the store) and so much more.

Regaining function is hard work - it rarely comes easily or quickly. But, being dedicated to your healing will go a long way. You got that part! So, all you have to do is keep looking for the things that help you.

LOL! Well, I"m allergic to soy, so I can't have the "man made" phosphotidylserine adn phosphotidylcholine, but if you aren't allergic to soy, you could buy it!

Personally, I'd do the kudzu root first. I never herxed on it at all. It's easy to get up to full doses and have it help if it's going to.

I'm not completely sure just what caused my mouth to split like that (it was scary though!) - but I suspect it was either a sever deficiency of B6 (or something like it) or just general malnutrition -as I said, I was 30 lbs underweight, and had just buried my last husband, had two teenage kids by that time that I was still home schooling, a full working farm... and sick as a dog. So it was no surprise that it all happened, but I was still shocked when I realized one day that every single piece of clothing I had hung on me like a sheet I had wrapped around me. I had lost about 60 lbs seemingly overnight to me, but everyone around me confirmed that it had been happening for quite a while. The toll these infections take are amazing - but that doesn't mean that the body can't heal and come back from it quite amazingly!

I had to find my own way out of this mess too, which is why I try to share so much information. I was "forced" to learn it in order to heal. It took me two years of searching online and reading (or trying to) to figure out how to avoid using pharma to treat my infections, as I had become afraid of them because the use of them is what lead to all of this. I was very lucky to find the only practitioner in my area that wasn't afraid of me, and even she wanted me to admit myself to the hospital first (which never happened).

I was never SURE I would heal, but most anything would have been better than where I was currently with my health - sad to say, but I even would have welcomed death as an alternative, but I wouldn't take my own life. I knew that I couldn't just sit there and do nothing though, and I knew that herbs worked well for me, so I just kept at it until I found something that I *thought* might work. I had no clue that I had hit on the one protocol (and with my doc's help found the others) and practitioner that would take me all the way to being healed. I was in shock for a bit once I realized that I had healed!!! I was afraid to say it for even longer! But, I wasn't afraid to get out and DO THINGS!!!! LOL!!

LOL!!! No, I don't look good in a cape - it makes me look even shorter and more round!!

There are other stories out there, and honestly, if I write, I'd much rather write to help others, not about my own story. Besides, I'm NOT a writer! I have no idea how to get it all down on paper, as I still don't remember everything or the timeline of it all very well. I actually just placed the time when I had the most trouble with walking night before last - during a panic attack of course!!! Ugh. I had to talk myself through the panic attack, and part of what I did was reassure myself (over and over again!) that it had happened a very long time ago (1997-99, with only a couple of 'bouts' after that), and that my illness is NOT taking that same turn this time, simply because I'm already in treatments.

If posting some of the things that I went through on a forum in an attempt to help someone else feel like they are not alone, or to show that there's a way out, then I get much more fulfillment from that than I would ever get having my full story in print somewhere. LOL. Goofy, I know, but what can I say? I'm goofy!!!