Do the cog issues come and go, too?

[hbananas]

Over the last couple of weeks, I've pulled some real bonehead moves.  Left the bathroom sink running while I also had the bathtub going.  When I went to get in the tub, I was greeted with a bathroom full of water from the stoppered sink because I had been online listening to the bathtub fill.  Water dripping through the downstairs ceiling, and even into the basement.

A couple of days later, I opened the door to our screened deck so the kitty and I could enjoy a warm evening.  Ended up going to bed and leaving it open and awoke to a toasty living room because the furnace was actually keeping up.

On a cooler evening, I put the kitty out on the deck and forgot about her for at least an hour.  I just walked by and saw her meowing at the door to be let in out of the cold.

Yesterday, I came within half an inch of a bathroom sink replay.

Please tell me this isn't a permanent state.  On the upside, after a week of the trileptal, my eye is hurting less.

[jensequitur]

The hard to talk thing is really getting me down.  I'd like to converse more and be more into conversations, but it's difficult - it exhausts me.

[meg321]

I just wrote a dumb message on here about the same thing, I can never remember mine going away but they are getting worse for sure.

meg

[scharm]

This last year, I have had several boughts of the cog issue.  Hard to talk and remember stuff.  It really stinks cause I am working.  It makes me sound like an idiot.  I hide it as best I can, but don't know just how long.  

I too use routine and post it notes, writing everything down.  It really helps.

I see a new neurologist toward the end of the month .. hopefully he will be able to help.  I really want to keep working, I am not ready to give up.

scharm

[cydpink]

Hi

I can definately relate to this.
Some days I can't speak properly and find it difficult to find the write words,
other days I find it difficult to write down what I should for example taking down
a phone number that someone is saying takes a long time and leaves me
feeling really stupid!

But I live by routine and try to do things in exactly the same sequence
for example if I'm having toast then I switch the toaster off from the wall
before I take out the toast, ditto for ovens, hobs or bath tubs.
By doing things in the same way each time I (fingers crossed) ensure that
things aren't going to go bang.

I hope you find some help, the meds sound like they could help too x

[rendean]

I agree with the others that the cog fog comes and goes in intervals. I am like JJ and when fatigued after  several days in a row in or in the middle of a whopping flare then the cog fog  rears it's ugly head.

Ditto to JJ's mention of the drugs you are on. I am on several and my neuro is working furiously  with pain management to get these reduced to improve the cog fog.

In the meantime, stick to routines whenever possible, like always take kitty in at a specified time period ,i.e. after dinner; use post-it notes in several places to remind you of the same thing, etc. These things have worked for me. Let us know what strategies work best for you.

Ren

[supermum_ms]

No its not perminant! Keep an eye on your levels of fatigue, if your not having a bought of fatigue and your pretty good during the day but these things are more likely to happen at the end of the day then you've run out of spoons, so you might need to pace your self a little better during the day.

If you are in a bought of fatigue, so its from the moment you get up till the time you go to bed, then you need to do less, rest more and create a reminder system to help catch you when your loopy la la. Things like a timer, sticky notes, hubby, child all help.

Drugs often causes loopy la la, so checking if that's a side affect of any of the drugs your on can be helpful, especially if this is new to you, or worse since taking a new drug.


Cheers.........JJ

[jensequitur]

Yes, fortunately my cog fog isn't permanent.  I had a bad year when everything seemed very difficult, and I was always forgetting things.  I had a hard time forming sentences, couldn't remember the things I watched, couldn't keep track of change...  Finally I got sick of it and went to the neuro and asked for a neuro-psych exam.  It found mild cognitive impairment, and I'd lost 30 IQ points - eek!

The psychiatrist recommended Aricept, so I got a sample and tried it for a month.  I have to say, it definitely made a difference.  When I ran out, I waited for the cog fog to come back so I could tell whether it was the Aricept - and it did.  So I got a prescription, and took it for five months.  Each time I ran out, I waited until the fog returned, then got my script refilled.  When the fog stayed away, I stopped taking it.  I don't know how long it would have taken without the Aricept - but it really seemed to help clear the fog.