Memory...compared to normal comment

[Lady E]

Anyone who this has happened to, please raise your hand.
Have you ever had an awesome idea or some kind of "thing to do", so you get up, walk ALL the way out to the other side of the house, or the garage, attic, basement..and just as you get there, you can't remember what it was you went there for? LOL
This has been happening to me almost dailey lately.  At least now I'm starting to be able to laugh at myself), and tell myself "it's only the medication" LOL
I'm starting to feel like the little fish in Finding Nemo (played by Ellen Degeneres)..sorry, can't remember her fish-name.

[GrandOak]

I think I also do that on this forum too ;-P

[Lady E]

HAHAHAHA!  I'll (try to) remember to take advantage of it as needed. *wink*

[sfbaygirl]

It happens to me all the time, drives me nuts! I wish my house were smaller.Especially when I am out of breath when I get there in the first place and have to return!  Another thing I have done is come upstairs to get my purse and come downstairs with a book. One day I was in the kitchen, answered the phone as I poured some milk. I put the milk on the reciever and the phone in the frig. Hubby won't allow me to write checks anymore...I could go on. At least we laugh about it too. John always says,"Is Brian Fog visiting?" referring to a thread where someone spelled Brain as Brian. As you can imagine, the forum made lots (and still does) of Brian jokes.

[bobbyullc]

what was the question,,,,i had to go back to read your name again? i stand at the fridge wondering what i want? 3 months post tx. it was worse during tx. my wife would laugh when i would ask if we were going for the mail. we just left to p.o.?
this cr3p is poison to the gray matter.
i can remember a phone no. from 20 years ago but not your name.
bobby

[tonybuck]

My hand is raised high. Today I left work after two hours the body was telling me to park it , so the brain fog today is at it's maximum. My thinking process on tx is allot different than prior to tx.Wish you all the best.



Sfbaygirl Hi there hope everthing is going well. I made the call to the doc today for some ambien. He wrote me a prescrip. for the lesser of the two doses. Sounnds like he may up it after 30 days if I need it. I think that are heard you write that you were taking it and it helped a bunch. I wonder if my failure to work today was due to the effects of the insomnia, well it got me into action to try to makes things better. I am also starting to doubt the effectivness of my ad. I am not one to be a good judge of how I am doing emotional. Though I am not real sad I have trouble shutting the mind off at night. I wonder if the right ad. could help that two. Hope you catch this post.

[tonybuck]

Sfbaygirl Hi there hope everthing is going well. I made the call to the doc today for some ambien. He wrote me a prescrip. for the lesser of the two doses. Sounnds like he may up it after 30 days if I need it. I think that are heard you write that you were taking it and it helped a bunch. I wonder if my failure to work today was due to the effects of the insomnia, well it got me into action to try to makes things better. I am also starting to doubt the effectivness of my ad. I am not one to be a good judge of how I am doing emotional. Though I am not real sad I have trouble shutting the mind off at night. I wonder if the right ad. could help that two. Hope you catch this post.

[returntosender]

How bout this one - I pull into my driveway.  I have a package on my passenger seat.  As I am getting out of the car - literally getting out of the car - I say to myself "dont forget to get that package from the other side of the car."  I get out of the car and by the time I close my drivers side door I forget about the package!  That happens almost every time!  How amazing is that.  I tell myself not to forget something that has to happen 1 second in the future and - I forget!  That is some big time brain fog.

[sfbaygirl]

I could probably take six xanax and they have NO effect. I have tried 3. Ativan knocks me out! My shrink gave me some and it is great when the anxiety is so bad you just want to pass out for awhile. It is funny, because he told me xanax is the strongest one! Ativan isn't. Valium, I haven't taken since back in the day, so I am afraid to go there again, but it works.

The only thing that seems to work for me (besides the ativan) is a big glass of chocolate milk. They used to sell the drug in milk and took it off the market when some Japanese got a bad batch. Forget the name...

Yeah, sometimes I can't wait until it's bedtime so I can take my ambien and get away from the jitters!

[sfbaygirl]

Mine are 5 mg too. I asked my son about them, he said,"take 3, that will work!" He was a druggie, so I think he might know....they didn't do anything. That is cool to find someone else they don't work for. I thought something was wrong with me!

you are right about most dr's not understanding the amount of anxiety we have. Thankfully, it doesn't create a lot of riba rage, but I am starting to have more of it. That anxiety has to go somewhere!

I have thought about a meditation class or tape, but have not gotten to it (like everything else)! LOL

[goldyn]

Ativan I can not stress it enough on this board, it has helped me all through this tx to relax and help fall asleep, it takes about an hour to hit but you will feel it ,and its more intense than xanax and last a lot longer...

[sfbaygirl]

I agree with you. I plan on turning in my xanax for ativan the first chance I get. Funny my shrink said xanax was stronger though!

[sfbaygirl]

I am glad you got the Ambien and hope it works for you. It works to get me to sleep, I can't shut my mind off either, but I wake up after 4 hrs (I have the reg. dose too) My doc said I could take another if I woke up after 4 hrs. I rarely do, but have sometimes and it works and I wake up w/o being groggy. My Dr. didn't change my AD although I wanted him to. I am not sad, but have no motivation and can't think straight. He gave me Provigil which works really well with being able to stay alert and help brain fog. I couldn't even hook up my printer, now I am tearing computers apart and fixing them...big difference. I don't take it when I am sick, cuz' who wants to be alert and sick? LOL

Before I got the Provigil, you probably remember me saying, I thought I was losing my mind. I couldn't think 2 sentences in a row. I was really scared! Even with all my awful sx, losing my thinking ability scares me the most. Take anything, my hair, my leg, but please don't take my brain!!

I still have brain fog and my moments, for sure, but so far things seem better. Now if I could just get rid of this anxiety! xanax doesn't work.

We were discussing this yesterday...the speedy effects of Ribavarin. It really does speed you up. Best thing is to take the lower amt. of Riba in the late afternoon 4-5PM and the lg.amt (I take 3) in the early evening. This may help some of that speediness you feel when trying to go to sleep.

[tonybuck]

Thanks for the info. Inreguards to your riba dosing. Do you take 600mg at 5am. and 600mg. at 5pm? You mentioned a larger dose  and lesser dose. I am confused. I was told to take three pills twice daily and it was best to space 12 hours apart.Thanks agian

P.s. I have been taking the riba at 8am and 8 pm due to the convience of eating. I will be changing mt dosing to see if I can get some better rest.

[sfbaygirl]

Sorry to confuse you. I take 1000 Riba a day. I started with 2 in the morn. 3 at night. I switched them so I was taking less riba at night. I don't always follow the 12 hour timeline (My bad!) mainly b/c I try and make sure I have something fatty to eat with it. Also with the brain fog, I forget earlier in the eve sometimes. So sometimes I only have 8 hours between Riba doses. I try to stay on schedule, it probably wouldn't even be as good as it is, if I didn't have a pill box!

[tonybuck]

Gotcha you have one less pill than I. Makes since to me now. I picked up the ambiem tonight and read that it should be takin on a empty stomach. I guess I might have to give up some nightime comfort food. Taking the riba earlier in the evening will help. Thanks agian for the info.

[sfbaygirl]

You are welcome! Hope that ambien puts you into a nice long sleep tonight. That will definately help the brain fog!

[painterlady13]

LOL ME ME ME Did that today went into kitchen trying to get ready for work and forgot what I was after 3 times.  I was getting so mad at myself and then when I figured it out it was like I'd have really been crazy without it (it was my frozen water bottle)  This is all new to me so I'm sure bet5ween now and next July it will happen many times.

[returntosender]

Ditto for Ativan (lorazepam) - you dont need a lot, maybe 1 or even 1/2 mg to start and if you are having more trouble, ramp it a half at a time. I take mine with Tofranil (imipramine) 10mg - beta blocker.  In combination with low dose Ativan - anxiety gone, sleep great, no after effects at all.  Take at 8:30 and you dont even notice it, fall asleep when you hit the bed.  Sleep all night.  While on tx, it helped with sleep and anxiety but had to increase it and add some benedryl from time to time.  Miracle combo.  Ativan is different IMHO than Xanax and certainly different from most other tranquilizers. The trick is to get it with the imipramine.  It is a tx for anxiety attacks so perhaps playing up that aspect to your doc will help.  

Always tough to go to docs with a list of drugs you want though.  I did it with vicoprofen during tx - asked the doc - she actually had to LOOK IT UP!  How can you manage combo patients without knowing about vicoprofen!  Another life saver -pleasant soujourn from tx and relieves pain occasioanly or makes you care less about the pain.  Had to be careful with that one though, if I took too much or too long made me feel much worse.  I had her write the script for a minimal amount to keep me honest.

[anise]

Gads, I am so forgetful, and lose what I am discussing.  This is very embarrassing, as I am not considered stupid.

Went to Dunn's the other day with the hubs and the guy behind the counter was getting frustrated with me.  My hubby said he has never seen me like this in 20 years.  He said before treatment my mind was quick and I knew exactly what I wanted and needed (we are rebuilding a deck).  The guy behind the counter was talking about 2x4's, I looked with this dumb face wondering what and why the 2x4's, I know what the 2x4's were for but at the moment (amongst other moments there) I drew a blank.

Sure wonder if this is early Alzheimer's! I am 6 weeks post treatment.  And let's not talk about the insomnia, whew!  Ativan did not work for me at all.  

SFbaygirl, I think the natural component you are talking about that was pulled from the U.S. market in the 80's was Tryptophan.  It is out in a different form now.  How in the world did I remember that?

[sfbaygirl]

Yes, you are right Trytophane! Great job remembering! Isn't it funny how we can remember little stuff from 30 years ago and can't remember how to hook up a printer or why we went somewhere now? I remembered the song "Little Boxes" on the show Weeds was written by Malvina Reynolds over 30 years ago. I don't remember band names or members...(you know what they say about the 60's, if you remember, you weren't there!) but I remembered her name. I was SO proud! Doesn't take much these days, does it?

[anise]

What it tells me is that the short term memory is affected.  The long term stays in tact.  Seems as folks get older that the short memory goes and the long term stays.  

There has been many times that I have listened to older folks talk about the old days, what they did, complain about yesteryear.  Me I am more interested in knowing their experiences and how it relates to the now.  Maybe the treatment causes early short term memory loss.  Hope this is not permanent.

[sfbaygirl]

I hope it's not permanent too! I watched a show on memory a while back (of course I don't remember the name) and they were saying that memory loss isn't due to age. Doing mental exercises, continuing to use your brain helps. I think it was on 20/20.

[anise]

I actually bought some puzzle wood pieces that you have to put together. I figured that might help my mental agility.  

Thanks for the info about memory loss not due to old age but lack of mental exercises.  I think I will get more puzzle games.