memory

[sandy629]

  i need to vent !!!  i am scared !!!  one cause there is no doctor to answer me and that my memory is failing me BAD !!!!   i forgot to add eggs in my cup cake mix, i forget i have things on the stove,  i read a recipe 5 x's  and still screw it up,  if i have something to say i need to blurt it out or i will forget, i have always been the type to be on top of everything and now  forget it.  i am so afraid that i will be that woman in a wheel chair with no memory.i am only 50 and ive been crying myself to sleep every night.

[jiggle93]

Well Sandy, I dont know if this will encourage you or discourage you, but you have described me to a T!
  I even have certain friends that I avoid talking to now because I have been hinted at about how rude I am with interupting...but I do it for the same reason, if I dont I will forget!...most of the time now i justs sit quietly, and if the thought happens to come around the mountain again, then I say it...if not, I've decided it most not have been as important as I thought.
  I too turn on the stove and forget, burn things all the time, turn on the wrong burner and wonder why my food isnt cooking, and processing a recipe is a PROCESS-I actually get a pencil and check items off. And if thats not enough, I forget what number I'm on while counting out measurements...and have to start all over. Maybe this wouldnt be so bad, but when you have a catering company...makes you look really stupid really fast.
I too get frustrated and cry from time to time. But one day I thought, ya know I dont need another person(myself) pointing out my flaws-so I decided to be in control of the issues by making jokes about it and being the first to comment.  Takes the big elephant out of the room.  Life is too short and too serious....learn to laugh at yourself. I always have something to say like....ya know, back when I had a brain, this wasnt a problem-but now that its lost in my neck its anyones guess how this will turn out. Any of you want to place any bets???  Get mood lighter, and relaxes me a little.
So I guess if we both end up in a wheelchair without any clue what is going on, lets park our wheelchairs together and be clueless together! Promise I'll make you laugh!
Try to relax, and enjoy the small things. We are at a different place than others, try to see the silver lining. :)
Jiggle

[Sexybare]

I hear you. I am only 32 and my memory keeps getting worse. It is extremly scary. I tell everyone whats gonna happen to me by the time im 45? Dr says the damage to my memory is irreversable but its continues to get worse. Im terrified. The other day i was helpin my son do homework, and he had to non stop read the ? Because i kept forgettin what answer i was lookin for. :(

[Sexybare]

As for burning food, yup. I cant remember what im sayin at the time. I interupt all the time also and still stop mid sentence because i have no idea whats goin on. I make jokes about it but its very frusteratin

[selmaS]

  Hi...I am close in age to u, and know just how u feel and this has been an issue for a while, I find the more things that r going on around me  I have a harder time with memory...

I too had an issue making a cake yesterday, but my DH played a role, had it just been me, I would have known to leave the cake in bcuz how it looked, but he told me he tested it and the tooth pic was clean, so I doubted myself and so ok take it out then,,,,it was not done at all and had to be thrown out...ugh

But memory and the doubting is hard...but if I would have been alone I would have been fine....I get into a rhythm and I use a list...not just the recipe, but a check  off list and I do it in the order it needs to go in as recipes r never that kind....lol...

SO,it helps me, I had to do that everyday at work, follow a check list to do the daily things to be sure they were done and done right.....

  It is more short term memory I am having an issue with...but there are things we can do to help it...

  One of the exercises on the Wednesday thread has something with a ball toss this is to help brain function....so even tho it may so simple..try it.

   Try and relax...and try some brain teasers to help memory

        "selma"

[Rahe28]

You all just described me to a T. By the way, I'm 28, and I am the queen of the um, ah, what was I saying? There is an ongoing joke between me and a friend that when the ums start, she just immediatly says chiari brain and reminds me of what topic I was on. Sometimes I get the thought back, and other times it is lost forever. I always burn things. I put something to boil, walk off to put kids in the tub, and 20 minutes later come back to an overboiled pot and VERY burnt whatever was boiling or cooking. I tend to turn down streets and forget where and why I was going that way only to get all the way home inside and say darn, I forgot to pick up toilet paper.
I have notebooks and pens stashed ALL over the house and car even. If I think of something I write it down. Most of my pages are titled...tell hubby...
tell kids...tell Dr....pickup ______. I would never make it through a day without my little notebooks and pens, and its ok if I forget a notebook at home, because there is one in the car and in my purse. Try doing those memory card games for children, I know it sounds crazy..but it does tend to help, and if you ave kids or grandkids they will love to join in:)

[linnielou232]

As you can see don't feel bad.  This must be a Chairi issue.  I am reahing your age this July the big 50.  It is scary not to remember and I have my duaghter ecspecially look at me some times when we are having conversation and I interrupt.  I try to appologize to people but I tell them I have to say it now or I'll go on to another subject.  I also have dx'd myself and will admitt I'm type A and OCD, so it is improtant to me to have things organized.  I do the same as someone above and I have list, or I'll sit notes on the counter by my key's so I won't forget appt's and such.  It doesn't help that I'm no longer working so the day's just seem to run into each other.  Just know your not alone, I wish we could do something about it, but my NS also told me when I told him my concern of this he say's age has a lot to do with it to.  I said.  "Yeah I'm not even 50 yet"..  I'll use that as my excuse though.  As Jiggle said we do have to laugh at ourselves otherwise we would beat ourselves up over this.  Life of the little thing's are more important anyway.    :)    Linda

[sandy629]

  Thank you to all of you. i said it before it it wasn't for this web site i would be in the nut house.  like we have all said before we can't get answers from doctors  and sometimes feel we are all in our own world of chiari. oh jiggle i will be right beside you !!!  lol  thank all of you !!!!   i almost burned down the house last night, i left a pan of greese on the stove on high and went and watched t.v.  OMG !!!

[jiggle93]

I left the oven on all night and all day :/   I made chicken marsala for a special valentine dinner for the family. I had put the food in the oven to stay warm while we waited for my husband to get home from work. Wednesday night I noticed it was still on---ooooops!!!!!  And they all laughed at me agian when I noticed it, I pretended to be thoughtful and caring by opening the door to allow the heat to warm up the kitchen!  
My girls are always poking fun at how I just want to have the firedepartment come visit. I remind them that if that was the case I'd actually doll myself up a bit!