Do you sometimes think to yourself "I'm losing it"?

[zanana1]

I'm 71 and Alzheimer's runs in my family, so every time I forget somebody's name or have to think about how something is spelled, I worry. Does that happen to anyone here?

[ThreeNoSeep]

1. I worry too, but a dementia care specialist told me once

When you decide to make yourself a cup of coffee and you go into your kitchen and stand their wondering why you came in the kitchen, chances are it's not Alzheimer's. It's competing memories, distractions and all the other bits that always trip us up. However, if you decide to make yourself a cup of coffee and you go into your kitchen, and you can't remember where you store the coffee cups, that's when you might have a problem.

My Mom has it, and so did some aunts. It can worry those of us approaching their age.

[LudwigPastorius]

17. Yes, one is Alzheimer's, and the other...

is just CRS*, and is not serious.

*Can't Remember Shit

[Easterncedar]

2. Constantly

I’m 66 and both my parents lived long, 86 and 93, and were mentally fit all the way. My memory is clearly not what it should be. Covid as a disruptive event in all our lives and then my actually getting a light case this year have had some effect, and then recent years of personal stress have amplified it. I hope I can recover some capacity, but just today I have been struggling.

[Harker]

3. I'm 65, and have always been something of a trivialist.

Since retirement I've been living in a quiet, rural setting, and contact with people other than my wife is rare and brief.

As a lifelong trivialist, I do sometimes find that I have to dig more than usual to remember one obscure detail or another, a name to match a face, but I haven't been losing track of what's most important, and I don't let it worry me much - I just work through it as best as I can.

I continue to wonder, to think, to listen, and to learn new things -- I can't let the aging process demoralize me, so I focus on what I know and I delight in what I learn each day.

I hope you'll not worry to the point of distraction.

[lark]

4. Yeah, unfortunatley it does.

I am constantly going to a room to get something and forgetting what I went to get. Dr. says I don't have dementia, just old age. I will be 72 next month, so we're very close in age. Dr. said that when you forget words and can't remember even with context clues, that is generally the start. Hope she's right!

[3catwoman3]

15. Look up a phenomenon called Event Boundaries - you'll feel reassured.

https://brainpages.org/why-you-forget-what-you-were-doing-when-you-walk-into-a-room/

There are lots of links. The very brief explanation is that our brains prepare for an anticipated new activity in a new location when we move from one place to another by compartmentalizing the most recent activity.

Happens to me all the time. I'll bein my kitchen and think of something I need from upstairs. By the time I get up there, I end up saying, "Now, why the hell did I come up here?"

[hlthe2b]

5. If I can get up and be at the park with pup to walk 4 miles with friends at 5AM...

and remember the names of people (and their dogs) whom we all used to know from years past as well as answer just about any question about the latest news events in detail, answer their questions about pharmaceutical names, generics, diagnostic procedures, and alternatives (and the like), I feel pretty good about it.

I prioritize sleep, however. If I tried to do the same with the same amount of sleep I used to get when I was in my last years of school and training, some might wonder if I had dementia.

Sleep, exercise, eating right, and continuing to learn new things. Those are what I depend on and hopefully, that will continue to pay off. Being tired changes a lot. So does stress.

[stopdiggin]

8. not sure if that really helped out a lot

But glad you're feeling good!

[hlthe2b]

11. So do you always denounce posts you don't find personally helpful?

or is it just mine?

I didn't know there were parameters on what is acceptable to you in terms of responses. If so, perhaps you need to post specifics of what you are looking for and do so in one of the health forums. I would be happy to follow your specific guidelines or like most here, move on if I had nothing to contribute.

[stopdiggin]

16. I was perhaps a little sideways

with the zippity-do-da, look at me, response
to a poster that seemed to be having some legitimate personal concerns and questions

but I take your meaning. you do you. - - - - - - -

[hlthe2b]

18. I wish you well.

regardless. sigh.

[Basic LA]

6. Yes & it can be disturbing.

But normal forgetfulness & lapses that come with age is just part of the deal. Don't let family history blow it out of proportion. Your awareness of these common little slips proves you're OK.
With me, it's the physical lapses that are worrying. Twice now in a month I stumbled & fell. Once on my back steps that have no hand rail. Then stepping off a curb that was twice as high as a normal curb and I wasn't expecting it. At 78, I have to remember to be more careful.

[Fla Dem]

7. All the time. I'm a bit older than you, but experienced this for a few years.

I can be looking at someone I 've known for years and can't think of their name. I talk to a member of my family and will mention something, and they'll say, I know I told you last week. It'd generally little things, and family and friends tell me they experience a bit of that type of forgetfulness. But it's very disturbing when it happens.

I equate my brain to an old computer with limited RAM. It's so overloaded with information it takes a while for the memory/ information to surface.

Thankfully Alzheimer's doesn't run in my family. I hope for you it's just the aging process and you'll be "mind healthy" for many years to come.

[stopdiggin]

9. virtual every day. it's worrisome, but the advice I've gotten

says (mostly) not to sweat it too much. because a) memory lapses are common coin. and most of us are in the same boat. and b) there really isn't much that can be done about it (in medical terms) - so stressing and fretting over it only serves to ruin your peace of mind.
and finally) if you have serious concerns stemming from real functional handicaps - there is testing available that might help at least pin things down and give you some answers.

[Niagara]

10. I use to but not anymore.

I'm several decades younger than you.

There was a time that I was worried about "losing it" but it's quite normal to forget things and not have a precise recollection of lists, memories or insert fill in the blank here.


I work with dementia clients and they repeat questions constantly. My dementia clients don't want to be physically active. My dementia clients aren't aware that their memory is slipping either.


Not everyone is the same, but generally right before someone is diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's ... there's junk food cravings and the sweet tooth monster is on full display. The brain changes due to the disease and in the process there are changes eating habits.


Hope this helps!

[Dear_Prudence]

12. Yes!

I grope for words when I am tired. At a second-hand store, I spotted the word game Scattergories. I bought it to exercise my mind. When I got home, I went to put it on the stack of games we have, and there was a a brand new unopened Scattergories game. I have no recollection of purchasing it. Yikes!

[zanana1]

13. Yup. I have duplicates of books.

Recently, I bought a copy of "It Can't Happen Here". I figured that now would be a good time to read it, seeing that the presidential election is getting closer. When I finished it, I went to put it in my bookcase, where I found another copy of "It Can't Happen Here". Yikes.

[Mr.Bill]

14. I'm 70 and I think I'm still mentally pretty

intact. Frankly, I think what has kept me fairly sharp has been making over 80,000 posts spreading over this place and a few car forums.

What's fading more is my physical ability. I can still walk well do things around the house, but I'm just not as strong as I once was. Last night I was walking downhill on an asphalt driveway and slipped on some loose gravel and fell. I have a sprained left hand and a few bruises and scrapes. It could have been a lot worse. I had been drinking, and I know I really need to do less of that.

I do have the good fortune of never having been injured seriously in my adult life. The only thing I have broken in my life in my right wrist. That was a skateboard accident when I was 12.

Age will catch up with all of us if we live long enough.