Talking problems?

[biowham]

Lately, I've been doing a few things having to do with speech that are kind of weird.

1. When I try to say a word that has an "s" in it, or especially to "s" sounds, I go ssssss and kind of stutter and stumble. It's really strange. Reading that sentence out loud would probably make me have a stroke. Anyway, I teach, and this is becoming really noticeable to me during lecture.

2. I am having THE WORST TIME accessing words. I'll have the first letter right, but it will literally take me half a minute or more sometimes to finally find the word. Sometimes, I just give up.

3. Today, I was having a job interview on the phone that went really well. Just as we were signing off, I just blurted out "so much..." when I was trying to say, "Thank you so much for your time." All I could say was "so much." I recovered and, I hope, covered it. But it was truly bizarre.

What do y'all think about this? Am I just getting old? I know people ask that hoping that the answer is "no, you're getting young." But really...is this just normal aging stuff? I've stated my age before, but...I'm 40. Used to have a "mind like a steel trap."

Thanks,
Bio

[saveone]

I just got back from my appts.  To my LCSW I always take my journal.  I was reading over what I was taking, my diary is typed, and I read an entry.  At the end of that entry was 2 words...weakness milk...typed just like that.  Neither had anything to do with the entry.  I have know idea why I typed it...go figure. And as to the typing thing, before I joined the forum, I thought I had really lost it.  I had never heard of that before.  Before I became who I am now, I was the Director of a Community Care Center's MR/DD program.  At the same time I worked as the Director of Operations at a Personal Care for the mentally ill.  There were over 360 employees and a 180 clients.  Now I stay home and I am grateful when I can carry on a conversation or remember how to do the dishes.  Lately I have added that I am grateful I have not broken any bones when I have fallen.  It is good to know there are others like me eve though I would not wish it on anyone.  

[jensequitur]

Yup, same here.  I get a brain stutter - words will come out wrong, or half the sentence will come out.  Sometimes it's better if I just don't try to communicate, b ecause I'll sound like an idiot.  

This has gotten better since I've been on Aricept - I'm able to find words better, I can track where I am in a conversation, I can even read a book and remember where I am.  But Aricept is like stepping on a footstool to get to the top shelf - when I'm feeling really bad, the footstool is still too short for me to reach.

[Lulu54]

This brain problem is so common among us - I used to be reading a book constantly and haven't been able to find one to get past the first chapter or two that grabs my attention or keeps my interest... I miss it and I have a stack of good reads building.  I belong to a book group but haven't been able to participate this year because I haven't read them......

As for the speech, I notice my voice changes - it becomes quieter and I am constantly trying to clear my throat.  The tone and pitch changes as well.

I do have what I consider a brain stutter - the speech pattern on bad days does not flow smoothly.  There is a halt or hesitation to my words and even sometimes to the individual syllables in the words.  
I also use entirely wrong words - I looked a someone's shirt the other day and said "that's a nice shoes."  go figure.  I've been doing this since January.

There's probably more I could share as a commonality, but that's what I remember immediately.  

Lulu

[OperaMBA]

S's I mostly slur, the wrong words are all awhir, and communication is a blur.

My blurting out the wrong words is replaced by typing words where I leave out all of the letters except the first and last couple.

For instance, acceptable may come out "ale" or "able", I just drop the middles.   My original self could type at a blinding pace, but when I try that results get quite strange.

Sometimes too, I will start typing a relatively long word and get stuck because the spelling escapes me.

[doni54]

I could have written what all of you have.  I guess it is the most heart breaking of all my symptoms.  Like Rita I was a muti tasker and could do many things at once.  

I sometimes would be reading 4 books at once and retaining what I was reading.  Now I do good to read one book and remember what I have read 5 mins ago.

No short term memory, can have a thought, and by the time I take another breath, it's gone.  There are many days I just don't talk at all, as the effort is just too much and too depressing, cause I can't think of the words I need to say.

I have always been a perfect typist, 0 errors.  Now it takes me forever to post here cause I have to go back and reread everything a dozen times to make sure it makes sense and that I have typed the correct word.  Sometimes I use the wrong word completely, other times I just leave half the letters off the word I'm trying to type, transpose letters, etc, etc, etc. This is extremely depressing for me, and sometimes I end up just deleting what I've typed.

Was a home builder and before that a graphic artist.  Was very creative, many compliments on ads done and homes built.  Now I just can't do it!!!!  I've tried to work some of my old magic on photos and just can't think what I want or how to do what I want to do.

Would like to start some kind of home business or online business, but just can't concentrate enough to teach myself how to do this.  Always been a self starter and now I have to force myself to start anything and even when I start I usually don't finish.

The person I was, is no more, and dealing with the person I am now is very hard.  But, one thing I've never done is give up, and I ain't gonna start now.

I guess we just have to learn how to deal with all this.  My office looks like a sticky note factory!!!!!  I write down everything. I keep a small notebook with me all the time so when I have something I don't want to forget I write it down, quickly...ha...ha....ha......

I have even thought about getting a recorder to keep with me, just haven't done it yet.

I wish all of you luck with dealing with the cog issues and hope you all have better days.  Thank goodness we have each other to talk about these things with, at least we know we aren't alone.

Hugs
doni
undx

[Cosmobirdy]

I can relate, too.... :)  Like you, I was always mentally sharp - able to comprehend and retain alot of information.  Now, I often have difficulty concentrating....I have ALOT of trouble with short term memory.....I often find myself searching for words, or sometimes saying the completely wrong word.....sometimes slur my words a bit......lose my place in the middle of a conversation and have trouble remembering where I was.  

These cognitive issues are so frustrating for me.  I used to be the kind of person who could juggle 5 things at once and do them all well.  Now I sometimes have trouble doing just one thing... :)

Hang in there.....I find some days are worse than others - is it that way for you, too?  And if the fatigue gets even worse than usual, it's REALLY hard on the cognitive issues for me.....

Rita

[biowham]

Thanks for your insight. I appreciate it.

Bio

[saveone]

I can definitely relate.  I have had all those things happen to me and what seems like a few thousand more.  It can be frustrating and frightening but my understanding for those of us it is relatively normal.  I too had a mind like a steal trap.  I graduated with my BSW with a 3.92 GPA.  It was not anything I did it was just a gift from God that I could absorb and retain information.  Now days I feel lucky if I can carry on a conversation with someone.   If you are like me you find it sad to see yourself becoming someone other than who were.  But look on the bright side.  It is just another challenge.  Many on this board have or do experience the same thing.  So know you are not alone.  And remember it doesn't diminish your intelligence, it just takes us longer to get our message across.  The MS Society and other sites dedicated to MS have lots of information on cognitive functioning and MS. I always feel better when I have information to help me process the problem and the solutions.  

Love an joy