I've symptoms neurological symptoms for months
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The last few months I've noticed some additional symptoms I've been having more then usual. I'm a 64-year old make. I've had multiple Ischemic Thrombosis & Lacunar Strokes, I've been diagnosed with Complex and Simple Partial Seizure Disorder, White Brain Matter disease, CSVD, Cerebrovascular Disease, I've had a couple of heart attacks, 12-stent placements, Coranary Artery disease, type 2 diabetes, Peripheral Neuropathy in both feet and hands, sciatica in my lower back. Yes I have it all. Last March 2017 my Neurologist told me the reason for my short term memory loss is due to my strokes but he never explained to me anything about short term memory loss. I also deal with dizziness, headaches, balance issues and falling down on a daily basis. Over the past few months I noticed my memory loss was getting worse from last March. I would forget things that took place that happened to me in a few minutes or a few hours, I'd be having a conversation and forget half the conversation or forget things like why I'm in the bathroom or looking in the refrigerator. Months ago I don't remember how long ago, I'd tell my family that the words I want to say in my head by the time they came out of my mouth they weren't the words I had in my head and at times they would get offended so I wouldn't talk. Then over 4th of July my wife and I spent a few days at our sons house and before we left her said dad I need to tell you something., wherever you and I would have a conversation you continually repeated yourself, I never noticed it but the same thing happened with a friend I would send messages to, He would tell me that I just sent him the same message a few minutes ago. So I asked my daughter in law cause we live with her and our older son and she said that after we moved in 3 years ago she noticed I would repeat myself but just words and then I would kind of wander. She would wake up in the middle of the night and find me sitting outside on my walker, she knew I was outside for a while cause my hands were ice cold. I told her it still happens. Not all the time, I'd wake up and I'd be sitting outside or sitting on the couch or sitting on the bathroom floor. Then I finally told her and my wife about my memory getting worse like I'd be doing something and I'd end up going go doing something else and completely forgot what I was doing before. I been having major mood swings, one minute I'm fine and the next I'm crying. But the memory and now i can't even put together words in my head to talk to anyone so it's got to the point I just quit talking at all. I stay in bed all day, I feel safe in my bed I quit visiting my family or anyone and I told my wife if there was a way I could go to the bathroom in my bed I would never leave my bed. I'm down to 150 pounds because I don't eat, I quit reading because I have to read the story so many times to get it it's not worth it. These symptoms don't happen all the time but my memory my thinking my safety bed and things like that do now are all the time. Had anyone had these symptoms?
0 likes, 3 replies
shelia22921 Jon8181
Posted
lily65668 Jon8181
Posted
Dear Jon,
I'm so sorry to hear of all your problems. You ask whether others have similar symptoms.
I think the answer to that will be yes for many of us who are ageing, as we all start to suffer cognitive decline with the passage of time. I'm 74 and noticed the first signs of decline as long as 15 years ago, when I was still working full-time and trying to care for my mother, who had vascular dementia. I retired at age 66 and since then have held down a busy voluntary job, involving both administration and people contact.
But I have to say it's not always easy. It's particularly embarrassing when I have to give a presentation at work, and find myself forgetting my words, or substituting wrong words. However, I think this is generally accepted in the context of this kind of work, where the majority of volunteers are elderly - some even older than me.
I also find I regularly forget how to operate household appliances, though it always comes back to me if I go away and do something else, then return. And I'm well acquainted with that thing of starting one task, then forgetting what I was doing and starting another. Finding things in the kitchen can be a problem too. I invariably go to the wrong cupboard, or open the fridge looking for plates etc., but I just make an effort to keep calm, and then it all comes back to me. I live alone and have no children or siblings - just one cousin my own age who lives in a neighbouring country - so I suppose in one sense I'm forced to get on with things, but I do worry about the future sometimes.
I've also been very fortunate up till now in that my general health is good. I try to keep my lifestyle as healthy as possible - going out for a walk most days and especially eating a healthy diet.
Your post has served as a warning to me, as I too often find it difficult to get up, especially on days when I don't have to go to work, and I also find I'm gradually getting more reclusive, not seeing friends as often as I used to.
While sympathising with all your many problems, I have to say that you're still highly articulate, especially in writing. I know only too well that it's easier to write down one's thoughts rather than speak them, as there's more time for consideration - but you're still doing a remarkably good job of expressing yourself.
We can't reverse the ageing process, but I do believe we can slow it down, even in the more advanced stages, to give ourselves a better quality of life. Is there some activity you could find that would wake up your brain a little? It could even be something like puzzles. (I like super-sudoku, which I only started teaching myself about a year ago, and I find my performance has improved considerably in that time.)
Another option might be to make the effort to get out to something like a day centre. As another poster has suggested, the Alzheimer's society is represented all over the western world, and might be able to help with this kind of thing. You don't need to be suffering from Alzheimer's itself, as they deal with all kinds of dementias and cognitive problems.
I just think it's a shame for someone as articulate as you, and still relatively young, to give up on life too early. I hope you can find something to bring a little interest back into your life.
Very best wishes,
Lily
Jon8181 lily65668
Posted
Hi Lily, thank you for responding to my post. I haven't been diagnosed yet I haven't even told my doctor about the symptoms I've been experiencing. I saw him this past Monday and told him I would write him a letter and give it to the PA at my next appointment, I see my doctor every 30 days but he has no openings the beginning of September, then my appointment after that he will have time to have read the letter and we can then discuss it. I just wanted the best I could to post all the symptoms, in detail, I have been experiencing and see if anyone else had the same symptoms or knew someone who did and if they had been diagnosed. I've been married for 37 years and my wife has had a difficult time already just with the things I've already gone through and in the event I'm diagnosed with dementia how she's going to react. She hasn't been the most compassionate person to deal with. It took a long time for me even to muster the courage to tell her about these new symptoms. My short term memory loss is the worse and after that it's trying to explain myself, to think of the words to even say. I was told by her yesterday. She picked up one of my medications yesterday and I asked very politely where they were at and she said she gave them to me and I told her she didn't and I was told that I can't use my memory loss all the time. She later found the meds and they were not in my possession. But it's that kind of remarks that hits someone like us right between the eyes. I've been working on the letter to my doctor, I've written it now I think 4 different times.