Am I getting Alzheimer's

Don't worry about it. It's par for the course. I have learnt to let it go and not stress about it. I found my concentration was terrible for a while but it has returned and my memory has improved so it will get better. Enjoy Madrid.

Hilary - Back in the early 60’s I worked in Germany very close to the Dutch border.  The Germans more or less refused to speak English and would just let you struggle trying to communicate in German and so used to spend most of my free time in the Nederland’s.  I thought it would be a good idea to learn Dutch as I was going out with a Dutch lady at the time problem was every time I tried to ‘practice’ my Dutch on the locals they all came back in English (in most cases better than some English people!).  Outcome was I learnt German very much quicker and my Dutch is now very poor.  There nothing better about learning a language than being in the country – ask your husbands family to only speak Spanish to you?

Tienen un gran tiempo en Madrid, y la mejor de las suertes. John

Gracias John. That won't be a problem as none of them speak a word of English  We are staying with his 84 year old Aunt who doesn't understand the concept of speaking slowly to a foreigner. It all gets very confusing when the whole 15 of them get together (cousins, 2nd cousins, nieces and nephews etc etc) I just grin stupidly and pretend I am following the conversation!

It's always a 'problem' trying to listen to half a dozen people at the same time - por favor hable despacio y con claridad - might work?   I have an Italian friend who for a couple of years found the same difficulty, he now 'thinks' in English without translating it back a forth in his brain.  I 'understand' and can communicate in a number of languages but not what I would call fluently.

I'll try that. Just very tiring trying to listen intently all the time. I speak French fluently and think in French although I am losing it as I don't go to France so much now or see my French godchildren a great deal as they are now grown up. I doubt I will ever to be able to think in Spanish now. One needs to learn a language at a much younger age. I lived in France for a year when I was 18 before going to university.

 

Even the Italians do that - they don't REALLY know what's going on, they can't hear themselves!

It will improve - I did Italian a long time ago before living here and really struggled but I do understand a lot now though speaking is poor. But I don't have the full immersion option since so few speak Italian where we live and there are no suitable classes. 

Know what you mean about the tiredness though - when we first lived in Germany I had a permanent headache.

Hilary, my father was Polish but lived most of his life immersed in English.  One day he talked on the phone to a Polish cousin.  After he hung up he turned to my stepmother, perfectly unlingual English) and started speaking to her in Polish.  The languages must have been in separate compartments in his brain. When many Czechs fled to Canada (late 60s?) we were socializing with a Czech family, he was acting as the translator because they could understand enough of each other's languages to make some sense from each other.  But the languages were different enough that all of them were laughing hysterically half the evening because the "near" translations were apparently hilarious!

So that explains why I sometimes reach for a very obvious word and can't find it.  One day i needed a word that wasn't velour.  Of course several hours later I knew I had wanted velvet.  So that could be SD and temporary? 😁

Extract from a study;

The authors studied a 72-year-old man with polymyalgia rheumatica who, after taking 100 mg of prednisone for 3 months, developed a psychosis followed by dementia. It was initially considered that the dementia was a separate neurodegenerative condition, probably of Alzheimer type, but when steroids were discontinued, he rapidly returned to his previous level of functioning. Reviewing the literature regarding the effects of steroids on cerebral function, the authors found that such cases of "reversible dementia" are not uncommon, although rarely given the emphasis they deserve. The authors believe, given the extensive use of steroids in medical practice, that physicians should be more aware of this important cause of reversible dementia.

Comment in

Steroid dementia: an overlooked diagnosis? [Neurology. 2006]

Steroid dementia: a follow-up. [Neurology. 2007]

Summary for patients in

Patient page. Recovery from dementia: an interesting case. [Neurology. 2005]

 Very interesting. Thank you.

Seriously, 100mg?  For three months?

100mg/day for 3 months? No wonder he was in a state!

I had to read it twice before I twigged it was not 100 mg over 3 months!

Looked at the article.  He was purposely overdosing himself, which sounds therefore as though his cognitive ability was compromised by the initial normal dose (he was taking 5 times his prescription).