Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
8398640 tn?1398042546

MS and memory

Hi everyone, lately I've been having a hard time remembering things. Is it possible that it's my MS even though none of my lesions are on my brain? They are all on my thoracic spine. Thanks :)

-Lauren
2 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
Have your brain MRIs been completely normal? Or are there areas described that don't appear to be MS lesions specifically, but still were noted?

It's quite true that some other issues or symptoms may be an indirect cause of memory problems, especially poor sleep quality, and I agree it would be good to track these down to see if rectifying them to the extent you can provides any relief.

In any case, memory failures and other cog issues are a huge reason people leave the work force, the other being plain fatigue. So they shouldn't be overlooked. I think you do need a conference with your neuro.

Best of luck.
ess
Helpful - 0
987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hey Lauren,

Generally it's the brain which is recognised as the 'Primary' cause of cognitive issues, but there are 'Secondary' causes to MS related cognitive issues too eg medication side effects, fatigue, pain, sleep deprivation, psychological issue-depression, stress, self confidence etc

One way to basically work out if it's 'possibly' a secondary issue, is to make notes looking for any discernible patterns eg.....What do you experience eg memory loss of prior knowledge, deadlines, call backs, keys, phone. When you experience it eg every Monday afternoon to end of day. What do you do prior to it happening eg Mondays take son to early morning swim practice before school run and going to work. = possibly fatigue as a secondary cause.

Sometimes there's an obvious pattern and the penny drops but other times it's much harder to pin down anything specific, that you can at least be tweeking or work on to get some improvement and that's definitely a neuro one to work out. Keep in mind that you have MS, and whilst you may not have had brain lesions before (were any brain lesions found but not specified?) it's still possible that some brain lesions have developed, and it's probably worth discussing your cognitive issues with your neuro anyway.

Cheers..........JJ    

  
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community

Top Neurology Answerers
987762 tn?1671273328
Australia
5265383 tn?1669040108
ON
1756321 tn?1547095325
Queensland, Australia
1780921 tn?1499301793
Queen Creek, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease