Memory struggles

[Survivor37]

Spent most my life not being able to remember the day before I don't know how others struggle with lack of memory but it's a very real thing for me. It doesnt matter what I try to remember stuff lists etc but as soon as I wake the day before and anything in it has gone completely. BI can be a gift too as not remembering ables me embrace a new day whatever it throws at me as Ive forgotten everything.

[paxo05]

Hi there,

It's a common thread short term memory. Although the degree can vary as well as the amount of recall.

Personally it's more of a recall problem. Basically it's instant at times that I forget things and it can take a few weeks to recall something even with prompts.

Important things are written down and I survive using phone notes and diary along with a calendar and three white boards at home. May seem excessive but it helps me get by.

What ever works for you use it.

Pax

[Survivor37 in reply to paxo05]

Thankyou for your comment it can be very frustrating the amount of times I forget anything. Conversation is the worst I can literally feel the words leaving my thoughts as I'm speaking them normally ends up me all jumbled up and no clue how to finish the conversation people laughing me included but inside I'm raging with embarrassment frustration. These days I tend to just stay at home as it saves me the ordeal of mixing my words up or losing myself in conversation half the time I don't seem interested in anything anyone says they just don't see the how I struggle 👍

[paxo05 in reply to Survivor37]

Yep know what usually mean. Losing track of what you ate saying or just hotting a blank as what word to use. Others progressing what you want to say only makes it worse.

I am lucky that I have a small circle of friends who know my problems. When I'm totally at a loss what I mean I usually turn it into the " what's the most obscure thing I meant to say" game. It doesn't help me say what I meant but turns into a laugh if nothing else. There is no malice and it keeps things light.

Not for everyone I know but it stops my frustration also I usually remember what I wanted to say at random time.

Before anyone starts about it being a serious condition I know it is, I saying what works for me and my small group of friends.

Pax

[Survivor37 in reply to paxo05]

Each and everyone of us BI Survivors are unique in their own way..We are all connected but the struggles are different for each of us. I don't socialise anymore. Let's just say me in a social situation like pubs/clubs don't do well at all. All the current conversation people have just blows my mind and I just take off without telling folk. These days it's easier for me to stay at home and a lot safer for me. 👍

[DTBI]

My memory is bad on recent things and many previous events since my TBI. I don’t worry about anything personally, I simply think about the present and the future. If it is something important, such as a Dentist Appt, I save it in my diary and my phone, and for safety I also forewarn the wife, as she’ll remember😊

[Teazymaid]

I to just do the humerus bit . There are times that I want to scream but doing the humour bit just helps out and about … the more I have got out the better the speech is .. ..been signed off speech therapy and have been asked if I could do volunteer work with people who have had strokes …. I’m sure they won’t mind my jumbled words 😁 … it’s steps for me to be back at work but hopefully help other along the way … for me without laughing at myself ( even helps in the bad days ) I would be trapped at home which I hate as I have done it with the other injuries got at the same time as the head injuries…. I just woke up in a body that wasn’t mind and I didn’t like it so am trying to find a new me …. 😁

And reading lots on hear as made me realise I’m not Alone … ❤️

[superstar79]

Hi. I can understand what you mean! For 12 years now I have been living with a TBI and all it’s not so great symptoms! My memory is very poor and I have to have daily reminders to do most things. My phone is forever bleeding at me to do something or other! 🙄

My family are now used to me often asking what day it is or getting my words mixed up. Many times forgetting the words of things or names of people. 🙈

I have many memory boxes in my brain that have been locked for years because they hold traumatic experiences. Since my TBI I have had these suppressed memories unlocking and giving me horrific nightmares!

Very often I get reality and fiction confused, for instance I will watch a crime drama and then recall it at a later date but as something that actually happened! 🫣😂

It’s very frustrating for me to be so dense at times but this is who I am now and I have to accept that I am not going to get back to who I was before!

Admittedly that’s been an emotional struggle for me because I am so determined to overcome anything that life throws at me!

I purchased a gift for a relative with early onset dementia, it was a book to write a thought a day in. So each time she found something interesting or personally significant she writes it down. So she has something to look back on when she has difficulty remembering.

I have my phone with everything essential put in it for me. Daily I write poetry to express my feelings.

Maybe you can keep a diary like the Thought a day book. That way you can write anything that you wish to remember. Or you could do a video log, something like that.

I hope you find a way to help with your memory problems. 💐