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Cognitive Issues, etc
Hi all. Hope everyone is doing well as things are starting to warm up in the states. At least they were, in WI it is only 40 degrees right now, lol.
Anyhoo, I don't know if I have a question per se, maybe a bit of a rant or getting things off my chest. I am a newer nurse, although I have been in the medical field my entire working life. I have worked for the same company for 5 1/2 years now. I am beginning to mix things up at work and while they aren't major things, I worry. I mix up my schedule; like who I am supposed to see in a given day and when. I mess up my paper work more and more.
Thanks be to God, I have NOT done anything to cause any kind of harm to a patient and if it ever came to that I would take a leave of absence on the spot. My boss and coworkers have definately noticed and while they know about my dx and have been fairly understanding so far, I just worry that all these little things will end up getting me into trouble. Is there anything that can be done about cognitive issues? You know, you can take a pill for the pain, a pill for the muscle spasms, a pill for fatigue, etc. But is there a pill that can help with the cognitive stuff?
Also work related, I have been suffering big time from heat related issues. It is hotter than h e l l in some of the nursing homes and assisted livings I go into for work and out of nowhere I will break out into a pouring sweat and become really shaky. I also get something like tunnel vision, but the shakiness is the worst! It takes me quite awhile to cool off again, and by the time I do cool off I have to go into the next place and face the heat again. Any suggestions to deal with the heat?
Sorry this is soo long! Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!
Anyhoo, I don't know if I have a question per se, maybe a bit of a rant or getting things off my chest. I am a newer nurse, although I have been in the medical field my entire working life. I have worked for the same company for 5 1/2 years now. I am beginning to mix things up at work and while they aren't major things, I worry. I mix up my schedule; like who I am supposed to see in a given day and when. I mess up my paper work more and more.
Thanks be to God, I have NOT done anything to cause any kind of harm to a patient and if it ever came to that I would take a leave of absence on the spot. My boss and coworkers have definately noticed and while they know about my dx and have been fairly understanding so far, I just worry that all these little things will end up getting me into trouble. Is there anything that can be done about cognitive issues? You know, you can take a pill for the pain, a pill for the muscle spasms, a pill for fatigue, etc. But is there a pill that can help with the cognitive stuff?
Also work related, I have been suffering big time from heat related issues. It is hotter than h e l l in some of the nursing homes and assisted livings I go into for work and out of nowhere I will break out into a pouring sweat and become really shaky. I also get something like tunnel vision, but the shakiness is the worst! It takes me quite awhile to cool off again, and by the time I do cool off I have to go into the next place and face the heat again. Any suggestions to deal with the heat?
Sorry this is soo long! Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!
Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions and support! This is why I love medhelp!
I did take a few leaves of absence already, my boss has been super understanding so far and so have most of my coworkers. It's just really hard at times to struggle through this. I try to brush it off and I swear people think I'm kinda ditzy, lol, but that's not it at all. The cognitive issues are the biggest reason why I dropped out of school. I am too afraid to screw something up.
This sux too, I am only 31 years old and I can already see that I will not be able to have this career forever. It's something that I worked so hard for. I absolutely LOVE hospice work! I think it is my calling. But I must admit, when I first heard the words MS I did freak! I think I kinda still do at times.
I had a patient a few years ago who was only in her late 50's when she passed away. She had progressive MS. If I let myself, I see her in me. She was younger when she was dx'd and she had soooo much on her plate. Everything that disease could dish out she experienced. The end was not pleasant for her and I try to block that from my mind, but sometimes when I am feeling particularly crappy, I remember her. Not sure why I typing this here....maybe I need to get it out?
Anyhoo, I will ask my doctor at my next visit in June about something like Adderal or something similar. He did tell me at my last visit that we may try Provigil or Nuvigil, maybe that would help lift the fog at least?
Again, thanks a lot for all your support and suggestions!!!
Love and hugs!!!
I did take a few leaves of absence already, my boss has been super understanding so far and so have most of my coworkers. It's just really hard at times to struggle through this. I try to brush it off and I swear people think I'm kinda ditzy, lol, but that's not it at all. The cognitive issues are the biggest reason why I dropped out of school. I am too afraid to screw something up.
This sux too, I am only 31 years old and I can already see that I will not be able to have this career forever. It's something that I worked so hard for. I absolutely LOVE hospice work! I think it is my calling. But I must admit, when I first heard the words MS I did freak! I think I kinda still do at times.
I had a patient a few years ago who was only in her late 50's when she passed away. She had progressive MS. If I let myself, I see her in me. She was younger when she was dx'd and she had soooo much on her plate. Everything that disease could dish out she experienced. The end was not pleasant for her and I try to block that from my mind, but sometimes when I am feeling particularly crappy, I remember her. Not sure why I typing this here....maybe I need to get it out?
Anyhoo, I will ask my doctor at my next visit in June about something like Adderal or something similar. He did tell me at my last visit that we may try Provigil or Nuvigil, maybe that would help lift the fog at least?
Again, thanks a lot for all your support and suggestions!!!
Love and hugs!!!
Good morning Sarah,
I'm so sorry you're going thru this. I will be lifting you in prayer and praying the Lord will let you know what to do and when the time is right to decrease hours , or change or even take time off until you get a sure answer.
I know it is hard. I'm in Limbo- possible MS and being a teacher asst at a private school w/2nd-3rd graders I had alot of respons.and giving spelling test and grading papers and taking the students outside to play etc.Soooo,
cognitve thiings started to happen more often, slow word recall and heat intolerance things etc and I could not do my job sufficiently on certain days and the Teacher I asst. notice but due to our friendship and love for the Lord and me she understood and they stood by me and still do today as my family and I prayed and the Lord worked it out that I've taken this year off or longer:(. As you know with some of my post's I've had sinus surg. and just 3 weeks ago hysterectomy so the Lord really knew what he was doing.)
So, just trust the Lord, you will know when/if the time comes.:)
As Lulu and others suggested, there may be other positions but just take it one day at a time.
Hang in there because being a Hospice nurse is an amazing gift.WOW!
You're amazing!
Lighter note;puppy story made me giggle too!
Hugs and prayers,
Tammy:)
I'm so sorry you're going thru this. I will be lifting you in prayer and praying the Lord will let you know what to do and when the time is right to decrease hours , or change or even take time off until you get a sure answer.
I know it is hard. I'm in Limbo- possible MS and being a teacher asst at a private school w/2nd-3rd graders I had alot of respons.and giving spelling test and grading papers and taking the students outside to play etc.Soooo,
cognitve thiings started to happen more often, slow word recall and heat intolerance things etc and I could not do my job sufficiently on certain days and the Teacher I asst. notice but due to our friendship and love for the Lord and me she understood and they stood by me and still do today as my family and I prayed and the Lord worked it out that I've taken this year off or longer:(. As you know with some of my post's I've had sinus surg. and just 3 weeks ago hysterectomy so the Lord really knew what he was doing.)
So, just trust the Lord, you will know when/if the time comes.:)
As Lulu and others suggested, there may be other positions but just take it one day at a time.
Hang in there because being a Hospice nurse is an amazing gift.WOW!
You're amazing!
Lighter note;puppy story made me giggle too!
Hugs and prayers,
Tammy:)
I am sorry this is happening to you! As a nurse, I can only imagine how concerned you must be. Thank goodness for post-its! I hope your co-workers are supportive and will help you along. On your visits, are there things you do over and over? Just wondered if you couldn't design your own check off list for your own prompting and whether you have an app that can be downloaded to e-reader for a "tickler" type system? If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. As for the heat thing! Oh, the heat thing! Jordan has such a problem with this. I went to the dollar tree or dollar store and got some cheap cold packs and I tape them right below the neck line (so they aren't noticeable) or under the underarm and he says it helps. Now he may just be being nice about my contraption and too nice to say anything but...LOL! I wish you the best!
Sarah, in your case I would consider Ritalin or Adderall. I think it would be a two for one and it couldn't hurt. My son takes Focalin XR. It's a time release and cleaner version of Ritalin. He does very well on it. It's worth a try and if it doesn't work, you will see results right away. I'd ask someone you trust at work to watch you and get an independent assessment as well.
Hugs to you... the cognitive issues are a big concern of mine as well. My husband and I are learning toward my quiting for a bit. I am needed to focus on myself and find a better balance.
Hugs to you... the cognitive issues are a big concern of mine as well. My husband and I are learning toward my quiting for a bit. I am needed to focus on myself and find a better balance.
Personally have no faith in pills, tend to cause more trouble. Time helped me but it comes and goes. If you have anything like my memory issues you may not know about every episode. Be careful with yourself and much luck, (I also had problem with temp - norm temp raised by over a point for more than a year... no fun! Feel for you.)
Yes the Aricept worked for several years, but eventually my cognitive functions got to the point it wasn't doing the job any more.
Have you considered one of those Phase Change cooling vests? They say they last for 2-3 hours and only require 58 degrees to recharge them.
PS I had to chuckle at the puppy story. Sound like something I would do hence no pets in my house. :)
Dennis
Have you considered one of those Phase Change cooling vests? They say they last for 2-3 hours and only require 58 degrees to recharge them.
PS I had to chuckle at the puppy story. Sound like something I would do hence no pets in my house. :)
Dennis
COMMUNITY LEADER
Personally I dont think there are any known cognitive drugs specifically designed for the complex nature of cognitive issues seen in MS, even the Alzhimer ones dont have good stats. The types of drugs commonly RX for cognitive issues are those designed for attentional issues eg Retalin. They might be worth considering / trialing because it sounds like attention is one of the main problems affecting you at work.
I go into over the top tremors and see an increase of everything else when i get over heated but i dont sweat differently, though i have sometimes noticed i'll leave wet foot prints on the tiles when i'm hot. I wonder if the sweating might need some investigation, sweating isn't one of the recognised sx of MS but if you google there are a heck of a lot of pwMS asking about excessive sweating. Drugs, thryroid, menapause etc are being mentioned on just about every MS forum in relation to sweating and if memory serves we even discussed this here last year.
I found this on one dedicated MS site, though i'm tooo tired to verify if its correct or not.... "Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) is not a common symptom in MS but, depending on lesion location and severity, the thermoregulatory system can be affected, and manifest many heat related sx. In rare cases there are lesions on the hypothalamus which can cause severe thermoregulatory dysfunction."
This makes sense to me, i have issues with hot and cold and regulating my internal thermostat seems to be on the fritz, i've been thinking lesion causation for awhile now though i've forgetten the where part.
Cheers.....JJ
I go into over the top tremors and see an increase of everything else when i get over heated but i dont sweat differently, though i have sometimes noticed i'll leave wet foot prints on the tiles when i'm hot. I wonder if the sweating might need some investigation, sweating isn't one of the recognised sx of MS but if you google there are a heck of a lot of pwMS asking about excessive sweating. Drugs, thryroid, menapause etc are being mentioned on just about every MS forum in relation to sweating and if memory serves we even discussed this here last year.
I found this on one dedicated MS site, though i'm tooo tired to verify if its correct or not.... "Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) is not a common symptom in MS but, depending on lesion location and severity, the thermoregulatory system can be affected, and manifest many heat related sx. In rare cases there are lesions on the hypothalamus which can cause severe thermoregulatory dysfunction."
This makes sense to me, i have issues with hot and cold and regulating my internal thermostat seems to be on the fritz, i've been thinking lesion causation for awhile now though i've forgetten the where part.
Cheers.....JJ
Aricept? That's one drug for Alzheimer's. There's also Namenda and another one that escapes me right now. Lol! Apparently none of us can remember.
@Dennis, did the Aricept help you?
@Lulu, thanks for the empathy. I have not found ways to help much with the heat. Fortunately for me, I am a hospice nurse, which means I am only stuck in one place for an hour at a time unless there is more than one patient in the facility. It's still really hard to get through the hour I'm there. I can't imagine going back to working in a nursing home for 8 hours/day!
I was thinking of asking my doctor for something like Adderal or something similar. That way I get a two-for-one kinda deal. Maybe that would help with the fatigue and the cognitive issues? At least I could concentrate better. Right now the only thing I do is use sticky notes. LOTS of sticky notes!
On a side note, some of these cognitive issues are rather funny. This morning when I was getting ready to head out the door, I forgot to put my puppy in her kennel. She is only 5 months old and still needs to be in the kennel, as she can't be trusted to be left alone for long periods of time without going potty.
I got home and my husband asked me if I forgot to do anything this morning. Nope, nothing that I could think of. I put her blanket in the kennel, her bone, her food dish, etc. but never put her in there. I even went so far as latching and locking the door to the kennel. It was still locked an hour ago, lol! I tell ya.....
@Dennis, did the Aricept help you?
@Lulu, thanks for the empathy. I have not found ways to help much with the heat. Fortunately for me, I am a hospice nurse, which means I am only stuck in one place for an hour at a time unless there is more than one patient in the facility. It's still really hard to get through the hour I'm there. I can't imagine going back to working in a nursing home for 8 hours/day!
I was thinking of asking my doctor for something like Adderal or something similar. That way I get a two-for-one kinda deal. Maybe that would help with the fatigue and the cognitive issues? At least I could concentrate better. Right now the only thing I do is use sticky notes. LOTS of sticky notes!
On a side note, some of these cognitive issues are rather funny. This morning when I was getting ready to head out the door, I forgot to put my puppy in her kennel. She is only 5 months old and still needs to be in the kennel, as she can't be trusted to be left alone for long periods of time without going potty.
I got home and my husband asked me if I forgot to do anything this morning. Nope, nothing that I could think of. I put her blanket in the kennel, her bone, her food dish, etc. but never put her in there. I even went so far as latching and locking the door to the kennel. It was still locked an hour ago, lol! I tell ya.....
Like lulu I can't think of the name of the drug for cognitive issues. One of my doctors put me on it for a while but all I can remember is that is was a medication for Alzheimer patients and I think it started with an "A". I was pout on it to try and help me with my memory problems.
Dennis
Dennis
Oh my, SArah, That is a lot to deal with. I don't know if you have been around long enough to read the wisdom of Quix, who is not around here anymore,because she is off taking care of herself as best she can. Anyway, She is a doctor - a pediatrician. And found that she had to retire from practice when she could not make the immediate decisions necessary to treat a very young patient. If I am remembering correctly, she literally handed the infant and the medical care to someone else in the room who could deal with the emergent needs.
It is sad to read of someone like Quix having to give up a profession because of the cognitive problems with MS.
The point I am getting to here is you will know when it is time to stop the direct patient care. Is it possible to take another position within your organization that would allow you to contribute but in a less hands-on way?
I'm thinking there might be drugs to help with the cognitive edge, but ironically I'm not thinking of their names right now. LOL
Heat in a nursing home? I hear you on that one - when I would visit my MIL, the stifling heat was enough to melt me within 10 minutes an d that was just sitting still in a chair and talking. I can't imaging moving around in the heat. I would assume you have figured out how to dress in as light weight clothes as possible. and found ways to stay hydrated?
All of these are issues that you should discuss with your doctor who should be able to help you develop some coping strategies. I'm sorry to hear you are having problems with these symptoms.
hugs,
Lulu
It is sad to read of someone like Quix having to give up a profession because of the cognitive problems with MS.
The point I am getting to here is you will know when it is time to stop the direct patient care. Is it possible to take another position within your organization that would allow you to contribute but in a less hands-on way?
I'm thinking there might be drugs to help with the cognitive edge, but ironically I'm not thinking of their names right now. LOL
Heat in a nursing home? I hear you on that one - when I would visit my MIL, the stifling heat was enough to melt me within 10 minutes an d that was just sitting still in a chair and talking. I can't imaging moving around in the heat. I would assume you have figured out how to dress in as light weight clothes as possible. and found ways to stay hydrated?
All of these are issues that you should discuss with your doctor who should be able to help you develop some coping strategies. I'm sorry to hear you are having problems with these symptoms.
hugs,
Lulu
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