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menopausal memory and concentration loss

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kaggy
kaggy

I am 54 and am going through peri-menopause. I have recently changed my career and trained as a nurse. I have been qualified 8 months and work on a busy ward.

I have always been a high achiever and gained a first class honours degree and I sailed through my training.

But now I seem like a different person. I have trouble retaining information, make the most basic mistakes and feel 'fuzzy' most of the time as if I am in a dream.

This is having a terrible impact on my work. The rest of the staff didn't know me before and they all talk about me behind my back anf think I'm stupid. I have panic attacks and feel sick at the thought of going into work and my confidence has been so affected I have thought of suicide.

I am desperate, have gone onto HRT and anti depressants but don't know what else to try.

People always smirk when you try to explain that it's menopausal but it's hell!!

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • debzy
    debzy

    Posted

    Hi kaggy

    I am also 54 and know exactly what you mean by 'feeling fuzzy' most of the time. I work full-time in an educational establishment, in an admin role and deal with Deputy Principal's, Managers, tutors and colleagues.

    Recently I completed a six week course and the pressure I felt undertaking a presentation and then an exam was unreal. Trying to retain information (like yourself) was extremely difficult. I took longer than everyone else to complete tasks and felt incompetent.

    I find keeping a daily task sheet on my desk is very helpful and as soon as someone asks me something or I remember something I take a note of it immediately, then I don't forget. I also keep updating notes on my outlook calendar, which is invaluable at times.

    I cannot drink very much alcohol anymore. I've cut out wine completely as it gave me a 'violent' headache, which lasted for days.

    I would not entertain HRT or anti-depressants. I am taking vitamin supplements; magnesium, fish oil and Soy Isoflavones from Healthspan.

    Keeping fit and eating healthily is a must. Try and find time to exercise at least 3 times a week. I either go to a keep fit class or have a walk and also swim once a week.

    Don't let it get you down. it won't last forever!

  • m67
    m67

    Posted

    My wife is 44 and has been in peri-menopause for around 2yrs.

    She is a professional and is presently doing a further degree work in a new field - she has all the forgetting words, forgetting what she is doing, feeling fuzzy and rough, symptoms.

    She has tried HRT and that didn't help. She has also tried a privately obtained hormone cream, no difference. She now takes an anti depressant tablet, and Agnus Castus and KLB-6 which seems about the best for her presently.

    She does exercise 2 hrs a day, 6 days a week and is very fit.

    From what I have seen with my wife you can fight through it, but it's a real fight - good luck

  • allison21
    allison21

    Posted

    Do you drink diet soda? The aspertame can do that. I am the same as you ... have always sailed through learning anything, honors student, the whole 9 yards. Quite a few years ago I was drinking diet soda and my memory was gone. Luckily I read something very quickly and quit the diet soda and it helped. Now I generally drink water. My memory isn't as good as it was 10 years ago but it's not nearly as bad as it was for those couple of months I was drinking diet soda. I do something forget what I'm doing, forget words and names and simple things ... then the next minute I'm remembering everyting and thinking so crystal clear. I hadn't thought about it being attributed to hormones. I'll have to pay attention and see if there are herbs that might help. Thank you for your post and good luck.
  • mindy34051
    mindy34051 kaggy

    Posted

    My life was completely destroyed by this very same thing.  I was a career professional, always focused, on top of my game, alert, efficient, and thrived, until menupause happened to me and it destroyed my life.  Mainly the memory problems and foggy brain.  HOWEVER, my doctor prescribed HRT and the estrogel completely solved the problem for 3 years.  I was myself again, functioning normally, and had no memory problems or foggy brain at all the whole time I was on the estrogel.  BUT, then I developed severe anxiety and I did a lot of research and found out that high levels of estrogel can cause anxiety so I came off it, and within 1 week the memory problems and foggy brain was back again.  I just don't know what to do anymore, I know the estrogel can completely reverse the memory problems for me but I can't live with this thumping in my chest all day long, and feeling like I'm in a constant state of fear for no reason, like my heart is pounding so hard it's going to jump out of my chest.  Everything I have tried for the anxiety causes daytime drowsiness so I have not been able to find a solution.  I think it's horrible that so many women are suffering like this and nothing is being done about it, no one seems to care, the medical profession just shrugs it off and says "it's just memopause", there's no money being spent on research to find a solution to this for women because the general concensus is that "memopause is not a disease, it's a stage of life".  Well they could say the same about dementia also.  Who cares what you call it, a disease, a stage of life, etc it's destroying women's lives and we should not have to live like this.  More women need to speak up and speak out and demand answers and demand to be taken seriously and demand to be heard.

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