This last month has been bad for me when it comes to cognitive decline. I find that I am often misreading words...changes the meaning of things...sometimes I have to read something several times to understand. Forgetfulness?...(as us New Yorkers say)...."forget about it!". I will have trouble telling you the gist of a movie I watched yesterday. Actually that is kind of a fun thing because I often watch an enjoyable movie over and over again forgetting things from one time to the other. All the usual symptoms like going in a room and not having a clue why I did it. Stopping in the middle of doing something and thinking what am I doing? Losing my train of thought in mid sentence. Also I need to re-read my posts several times before I submit them because I use wrong words and syntax constantly. And even then I often have to edit them later.
I can't help but wonder how bad this will get because it really has gotten worse quickly lately.
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TheresaCurley
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Hello Theresa, In answer to your two postings, I too took Sinemet when I was first diagnosed with PD, but only briefly. It affected me horrendously and I could not retain a thought in my mind for more than a couple of seconds. Now, 2 1/2 years later I am taking Azilect with amazing results physically, but in the last 6 months have noticed that I too am having symptoms much like you describe - I believe for PD patients it is called mild cognitive impairment (MCI). It has been something of a shock as my memory has always been extremely sharp, remembering a wide range of poet's work and people's names and suddenly all this has gone. But I do not feel I have Alzheimers or dementia (I pray!).
Hi Theresa, you are saying that the decline has been sudden. You are on a lot of new and different medications. Please talk to a dr. so he can look at all of your medications.
I was on azilect for two and a half months and I thought I was losing my mind. And I thought it was old age changes After stopping azilect my mind went back to what it was before. Do not do it on your own you decide to do it do it under the care of a doctor
It is not just a combination of drugs but it could be the combination of drugs in your body chemistry
Do not despair it's going to be alright take heart. Mary
Focus on your strengths. You have many and they are waiting to be implemented. For example, the older you get, the more experiences you acrui and the more you can draw from. Teaching is a huge strength and your grandchildren can learn from you.
You are describing me and plenty of others on this site. You are playing with your brain chemistry so you will at times feel like you are loosing it, thous HAL-9000 my persona.I have almost given up reading anything like a book and my spelling which was bad to begin with is atrocious. I use the google search box to get the correct spelling.
HEADLINES
Pastors throw rocks at police?
oh
Protesters throw rocks at police! Now that makes more sense.
WOW we sure are alike Hal. I use google all the time to look up the spelling of words. Sometimes I can't even get close enough to find it in google so I substitute a different word. I've stopped reading books also and I use to be an avid reader finishing one or even two books a week. When I think of all that I use to do just a few years ago it makes me sad. I use to paint all the time and produce at least one painting a week and I sold them on Etsy and Ebay. Now I rarely paint, I have one that I started in October that isn't even half finished yet.
I know this sounds like symptoms of depression but honestly I have been happy lately so I don't think that is it.
Teresa do not dispare by all means talk to your doctor. I suffer from the same symptoms and do not have parkinsons myself . My husband whom I care for at home does. I use my scrabble dictionary all the time to spell words and than auto correct changes my posts to read some weird words. I believe stress is a huge factor in causing forgetfulness. We have so many battles to fight. Try to enjoy this Christmas season in spite of the stressors. Remember the reason for the season. Merry Christmas.
I know when I start forgetting things, then my anxiety increases, which causes more problems. I am having to force myself to get active, otherwise, that dreaded word dementia starts entering my mind! When you talk about movies, do you remember that movie called Groundhog Day? If you haven't seen it you should, talk about reliving the same day over and over again...and feeling like you are losing your mind!
In my experience, the episodes of severe cognitive decline occur quickly for a short time, but then it levels off and you find a new normal. It's all part of the process. Hopefully you have an understanding support system. I haven't read a book in three years, and I was an English literature major in college, I devoured books. Things change, we adapt.
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