Does anyone out there seem to need more processing time to make a decision? If I feel rushed it is hard for me to make a choice. Just me??

[Peaches]

[RayLee]

LOL I feel as if I am an old car radio that has those buttons you push in for the stations. Remember what happened when you spilled a Coke on them? You push it and it's stuck until it's ready to come out. My head works like that now. I tell people my pause button is engaged but I'm not I charge of it. Sometimes it's seconds sometimes it's hours.

I have been going to school for a second career. I actually flunked my statistics finals. The instructor just looked at me and said "it was the same stuff on the last test you got a 100 on!" My reply was "I know" and burst I to tears. I sat down and looked at it and I literally couldn't get started. I didn't know where to start. I had a whole sheet of notes and was lost. Never felt so frustrated in my life.

I was having some moments like that before Meds but nothing like now. I wonder if it is the Azilect. Or as the neuro doc keeps teeling me that stress will use up what little dopamine I am producing and there is none left to do other things; like think, walk straight or hold my coffee cup.

IMHO I have used up my daily allotment of dopamine and it's not dementia. Just a cognitive processing glitch.

[Joyable in reply to RayLee]

Sounds like you have the cognitive disorder of Executive Functionining Deficits. That's my diagnosis. The symptoms you describe appear to be similar to mine. As far as memory goes for me, my problem seems to be mostly in retrieving information. It just takes some time to find it wherever it is stored in my brain. It could take just seconds or minutes to remember or hours or days; but I usually remember eventually. Of course with a clue or prompt, I remember immediately.

[Espo]

You are not alone Peaches. One of the common non-motor disturbances suffered by nearly all Parkinsonians, at some time during the course of their disease, is mild to moderate cognitive impairment, often in the form of Bradyphrenia (slowed mental processing – such as you described) and “executive dysfunction” such as difficulty with planning and decision making. Welcome to the club! For more on the topic, check out the web sites of pdf.org and apdaparkinson.org/ .

[Hidden]

Perhaps we need some more memory chips, trouble is where do I find the slot?

Just have to settle for potato chips I guess

[Pete-1]

Oh no its not just you, I get like that sometimes. This is sometimes called mind fog which seems an apt description to me. Goes along with feeling ones attention span is diminished and ability to concentrate too. I find sometimes that I can't find the right word especially talking to strangers and generally getting all flustered and feeling rushed, etc.

[paddyfields]

Since being on Sinemet/Azilect, I have less brain fog/indecision/am less easily flustered than for years, but I do notice that my night driving is affected owing to slowness in processing what I am looking at and I can become quite disoriented and twice round the roundabout is becoming a familiar experience

[Emily1957 in reply to paddyfields]

"The roundabout "; are you from Cape Cod? (I'm looking for PWPs on the Cape.)

[paddyfields in reply to Emily1957]

Sorry, from the UK, Midlands

[Peaches]

Thank you all so very much for sharing with me! I was feeling pretty low about it but knowing that it is par for the coarse makes it a bit easier to deal with. I guess that I go along for a while thinking that things are fine and then something like that happens and it is a reality check again. I try not to talk to my friends and family about it because they don't know what it's like. As long as we look o.k. they think that we ARE. This is such a great place to be able to get feedback from others who are going through the same thing. Thanks again to all of you.

[Peaches]

Thank you for all of your replies. It really helps to know that there are others out there who know how I feel and who care enough to help each other. This is a GREAT support group for me. Onward and upward I guess. Thanks again to all of you. Peaches

[Yossi555]

Shalom from Israel.

Reading the questions and answers, all the information and supporting each other is so comforting.

[mktbob55]

No you are not alone our Parkinson's group had a neurologist recently as a guest. She was talking about the difference between Parkinson's memory issues (not Lewy body dementia) and dementia. Dementia is where you don't remember that you knew something. Standard, if there is such a thing, Parkinson's memory issues are when you know what you want to access or say but you just can't bring it doesn't from your tongue immediately. Your mind on pause is a good description.

[jebbers]

Yeah I've experienced it also. Mostly though I can't multitask any more, need to concentrate on one thing only to do it right. I know what you mean about talking to friend,family about it, There's no way they can understand the difference. It does help to know others have experience the same issues.

[fenbadger]

Greetings. I don't have Parkinson's but joined this site because of a friend.

What is described above as a memory fog is very interesting. I have Fibromyalgia which is more or less neurological too. "Fibro fog" is a regular symptom for us, and sound similar. Not just decision making but simple memory. I've taken to having hot drinks in an insulated cup - and even then they still go cold.

And for me too GOOD decision making is a slower process. I can make bad ones as easily as ever. I try not to let it annoy me as stress only exacerbates the situation.

[Parkiewife]

Our pd support group has discussed this...it is like pulling open a file cabinet and searching for the right folder of information. You have the answer, but it might take sometime to respond.

[Hidden]

I have a terrible time making decisions, and sometimes I don't do anything because I can't make up my mind. its dreadful isn't it?

[Emily1957]

What? Would you please give me a minute to think about it. I am still intelligent, but my processing is slower. Any added stress-- illness, depression, etc. -- makes it worse. I avoid multi-tasking and give myself more time.

[quirkyme]

Husband is on new meds and executive functioning has improved: ability to plan, implement, and complete tasks. But I do know what everyone is talking about. Part of the improvement is that it's spring here and long hours of daylight. The winters and cold are hard on him.

[Joyable]

For me, it's not just decision making that I'm slower at. It's just about everything physically and mentally. It's the cognitive part of PD that a certain percentage of us have. My cognitive disorder has been diagnosed as Executive Functioning Deficits. Some of the symptoms are slowness of thought, confusion, and problems with concentration, comprehension, problem solving, spatial perception, and eye hand coordination.

Remediation therapy is a means of improving Executive Functioning. It has been helpful for me. The therapy is usually provided by a Speech Therapist who has been trained in cognitive remediation. The goal is to learn to do things you can no longer do in another way that you're capable of.

Trained therapists and insurance coverage are hard to find because about 15 - 20 years ago insurance companies stopped covering it because they claimed it wasn't working. Medicare did pay for my therapy but grouped it, inappropriately, with other therapies including psychological, counseling, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy within the amount of time given annually for therapy, thus giving much less time of each for a person needing more than one of these therapies some of which have no connection with the others.

[Peaches in reply to Joyable]

Thanks for the info. Guess we have a lot ahead of us with this disease. Tried doing some gardening yesterday and got so stiff I could barely walk. It's so hard to see that you can't do the simple things that you have done for years without even having to think about it.

[Hidden]

Yes Peaches. I think this is probably quite commom. I suffer fron both indecision and poor memory. The indecision is particularly annoying as it often involves really trivial actions, I mean which cup should I use for cup of coffee! As for memory it often concerns names, shop names or people's names, film stars, sports people. I often wonder why that should be the case. Another very common symptom is arriving at the top of the stairs and not able to remember what it is I came up for. I stopped watching the Simpsons because of the devastating accuracy of the portrayal of this behaviour in Grandpa. Hilarious but hurtful.