Do any of you get symptoms like dementia,the last few relapses i have had, i am getting really weird dementia like symptoms, like i can be getting a shower and i forget how to wash my hair,or brush my teeth, i DO manage to do it but it takes such effort,and i end up being really upset,the confusion clears after a while,but its scaring the hell out of me,and this is something i find very hard to deal with, i feel like i really am loosing my mind.
No you are not. It is common among many of us.
The key is to take active steps to help in everyday life to help with it. You will find many threads on here in a similar vein.
The society and ms trust do factsheets which will give you helpful hints and you can develop your own ways of doing things with prompts like alarms/post it notes etc.
At the end of the day you can always wash your hair again to be on the safe side, but if like me it is the things you have just done that you forget then that would be dangerous with medication. I recognize I have a problem so meds are always in a pill box so I can see if I have had them or not.
When you are tired it is likely to be worse so make at point of not making important decisions or do things that take increased effort at these times.
Ask a family member if they see it as a problem as it is always easy to blame the ms,they may feel you need to see a doc just to rule out any ms problems…but I am afraid its more than likely your little MonSter giving you a reminder
Take care
Pip
hiya
pip has given u a good answer
i was just ‘saying’ yest how stupid i must appear to others! i know that i am not but give that impression. i have and still do,speech problems,saying the wrong word and not saying what i mean allows for confusion. i hear the word i want in my head-it just doesnt come out my mouth! going in room and forgetting why u are there.putting knife in fridge instead of knife place (i rest my case,cant find the word!!!)
you are not daft-its the messages going the long way round. ‘messages’ can be changed for thoughts/actions.
i have found ways of coping over the years. first one being completely honest-sorry,please remind me. if an event, and i wasnt alone i ask the other person if i appeared to enjoy it,if yes then i believe them! no point in beating myself up over something i cant remember. the action (or lack of) is the first problem,beating yourseld up brings more grief,try to avoid it,made life easy (ier!) for yourself
its frustrating but is very possible to live with.
take care of you
ellie x
One other thought is…I have problems thinking I can still multi task,in reality I can’t most of the time.
To organise my thoughts if I have to plan something I write it down step by step and tick them off as I do each step. I feel a right numpty doing it as it seems child like,but I accept now if the task is important then it has to be done that way.
If you need a tick list for going away for example,I have just learnt the hard way that one for the journey home must also be made as the items will of changed
Family are key if the need for prompts etc are vital .Mine now accept my mantra of “if its not on the calendar then it will not happen” it makes them take responsibility for things they want doing etc,and helps them realise I am different and they cant take for granted that I can spin 6 plates at a time anymore.
When its not visible and is so variable even family can forget there are issues.
Pip
its the confusion thats scareing me, though,i can be in the middle of doing something,when i just cant function because i am that muddled and confused,i start to cry then,i think what i am describing is different to what you are saying,about memory loss,i do have a bad memory also.and use all sorts of things to make that easier. i cant multi task anymore,but thats not the problem,like i have said its the severe confusion thats worrying me, i get words muddled up all the time and say daft things ,but have learnt how to deal with all that,but this makes me feel like i am loosing my mind.
I sometimes get this, I feel like my brain has turned to mashed potato, the other day went to turn down my shower because it was too hot and spent ages looking at the taps because I had forgotten what I was supposed to be doing and how to do it, it seemed like my brain had stuck on the thought that I needed to cool the water and wouldn’t move on to the next stage, how to make it cooler, difficult to explain… I have mentioned it to my ms nurse and she said it’s called brain fog, not sure if she really understands what I meant…
I too get words muddled up and sometimes, especially if I am in a boring meeting, the words might aswell be in Japanese and I lose the plot. thats something different though, all these mind games ms play with us eh?
Hiya
As the others have said, it is a very common thing with MS and for me it’s one of the things that bothers me the most as when it happens I don’t feel like me anymore. I’ve had a couple of cognitive assesments done at the hospital which have confirmed that I have trouble with my short term memory and given me tips on how to deal with the things that I struggled with most. Things like using alarms in my phone to remind me, keeping a note pad handy etc.
I now have to make sure I take a list when I go shopping, not just of the things I need but the things I don’t need too. I learned this trick when I ended up with 5 jars of coffee, millions of tea bags and enough toilet rolls to not have to buy any for at least a year! Now when I go shopping I’ll look at something and think ‘oh I need that’ so I check my ‘need list’ if it’s not on it, I check my ‘don’t need list’ to make sure that I don’t already have it. If it’s not on either list I can buy it knowing that I haven’t already got a cuppboard full!
The other thing I’ve done a few times is made lots of drinks… ‘sitting there thinking oh I fancy a cup of tea’ go to the kitchen to make one, sit back down, think ‘Oh I fancy a cup of tea’ go to the kitchen to make one, sit back down…only when I had no cups left in the cupboard did I realise that I had 6 cups of hot tea lined up next to the kettle!!! I wouldn’t mind if it had only happened once!
You do sort of get used to it over time, even though it’s scary at first, especially as you know it’s not normal!
Sue