Memory! I know older people generally have difficulty with their short-term memory, but does Pd make it worse?

[JohnPepper]

I could write a book on my memory problems, if only I could remember what they are!

[larry33b]

What was the question?

[honeycombe3]

When I meet folk who don't I have PD I always tell them upfront. I describe my brain as a colander with different size holes. It seems to work & generally raises a smile.

[shall1019]

I think most of my non-PD friends have memory problems right along with me. We're all in our 60's and 70's.

[srarndt]

Everyone's PD presents differently, but memory issues/dementia can indeed be exacerbated by it. Talk to your doctor (s). They can put you through some tests to help determine if your memory loss seems normal.

Good luck!

Steve

Bisbee, AZ

[Hidden]

Can you repeat the question please.

Can you repeat the question please.

[JohnPepper in reply to Hidden]

Who did you say you were? Or should that have been, are? What am I doing here?

John

[Owenbob in reply to Hidden]

Was there a question?

[MGirardi]

I'm 58 and I was dx @ 48. My short term and long term in sections are gone. Once in a

blue moon I'll shock myself with a memory from childhood...but just what happened yesterday would really help me more.

[JohnPepper in reply to MGirardi]

Hi MGirandi

That is unusual. Most PwPs seem to retain their long-term memories but what happened yesterday is gone forever.

Maybe we should all take this seriously. What we used to do was tell our parents and our friends what we have just done. In that way, we reinforced the memory in out mind. We probably went on telling other people about the more interesting things we had done, thus reenforcing them even more.

If you can still find anybody, willing to listen to what you want to tell them, and you haven't already forgotten your story, then take advantage of it! But who wants to know what you had for breakfast today? Hence, I can never remember what I had for breakfast. Who cares?

If I go to theatre or the symphony orchestra, I tell everyone about it, even if they are not that interested and you know what? I can still remember it a week or two later! In fact! It is still on the tip of my tongus! Try it!

John

[MGirardi]

Many thanks John!

[gran5-]

My son comforts me. He says "Mom you never had a good memory, how are we to find out if it is PD,senility, or medication or just you! He keeps me from taking things too seriously.

[JohnPepper in reply to gran5-]

Hi gran5-

I have also been very forgetful, throughout my life, but not in the same way as now. My forgetfulness was of things I should have done, but forgot to do. That had more tro do with my priorities. It should have been important to me to have remembered certain events and aniversraries, but it wasn't. I regret this part of my make-up. Those events were always very important to other people in my family, as it was to me, and it hurt us all very much. My problem was that I invariably did not know what day it was, or even what time it was, as I was so wrapped up in my job. I have never been a clock-watcher. I should have had a secretary to remind me of the date and the time, but I didn't.

Today, the problem is very different! I cannot access words. I know what I want to say, but cannot think of the words. That might be different to a memory problem, it might be an access problem. Not being able to access a word, which is on the tip of my tongue, is different to not being able to remember it. When someone suggests the word I am trying to access, I know immediately whether that word is correct. However! When someone says it is your wedding anniversary today and it means nothing to me, then that is a serious memory problem.

Can anybody tell me how to access words better?

John