I’ve got bad memory loss which I’ve brushed off as depression/anxiety the last couple of months. Now I have been tested and it shows I have low b12 I can assume that’s why.
My question is does the memory loss affect the knowledge side of things as well as I’m a student and I’m trying to learn but struggling to do so.
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Scoobiedash
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I had really, really bad episodes of memory failure.
I went to London once, to go to a lecture at a venue I'd been to five or six times before. I arrived at Victoria Station and went down into the Tube Station. And realised I had no idea where I was going. I'd forgotten my phone, so I couldn't look in up in my calendar, nor could I phone home.
I got on a circle line train, assuming I would remember before we went all the way round. After a couple of stops it all came rushing back - Holborn Tube station, the name of the venue, and how to walk to their.
The scariest thing, looking back, is that I wasn't worried about this in the slightest.
Now, 5 years later, my memory is much better. I still forget names of people on the telly, but no more than others my age.
My memory problem never seemed to effect knowledge. I could still draw a retro Diels-Alder reaction schematic.
In my case the memory loss affected all types of cognition, not only memory loss. For me, the healing in that area was pretty quick. Only a matter of weeks before I could read and write again, although concentration and clarity of thinking took a little longer. As you’ve identified this early, your prognosis looks very good 🙂
I had many issues cognitively, so much so that I brought it up directly to my doctor - memory loss, word-finding issues, slurring/pronunciation problems, leaving words out of sentences, comprehension at times.The inability to properly edit a sentence, no matter how many times I read things over was devastating for me. Really jarring and serious issues.
As I brought it up, at the same time, the b12 issue was found. So by the time I had the standard memory test I was finished loading shots. I scored perfect/highest score on the cognitive test. My doctor was frustrated that I had made such a big deal about it. But it was that fast. The change with b12 supplementation.
Memory has stayed completely recovered. But I find a few of the other issues come back at times, especially during times of stress.
All the best to you. I believe you will see positive changes fairly quickly.
I had severe short term and long term memory loss that is largely recovered after 13 months of self injecting every other day. I suspect that there is a bit more to come. It is such a relief. The only down side is that I remember the bad stuff as much as I do the good.
Concentration and focus can be affected, too. I can still become easily distracted by competing sounds, my ability to block and prioritise one sound over another affected. You might find you need a quieter study environment.
Short-term memory problems can mean staying in the kitchen when cooking or staying in the bathroom when running a bath - to avoid burning the house down or flooding it !
It can also mean you need to work harder, as a student, to commit written notes to memory.
The Pernicious Anaemia Society website has a good information sheet for teachers and lecturers, and this could be useful for you as a student. I put one up in my classroom when I was teaching, so that students could have a better understanding of my problems, and perhaps to recognise symptoms that they themselves might be experiencing.
I think you might need to adapt your learning methods a little, but hopefully this will be a temporary condition that is soon rectified. I realised that my visual memory was my best bet - so I sketched and drew more: the act of creating diagrams, maps, pictures were all easier to recall later. Also a useful means of explanation to students- long live the flipchart !
"Short-term memory problems can mean staying in the kitchen when cooking or staying in the bathroom when running a bath - to avoid burning the house down or flooding it !"
Alexa and my Apple Watch are invaluable for things like these. Being able to talk to my watch and tell it to set a timer for 5 minutes, or to remind me to go shopping tomorrow at 8 am, is the only way I can function properly. And having multiple Amazon Echo devices around the house, connected to various bits, is almost as useful.
So, I can let the Jodie out into the garden and not have to worry about forgetting she is out in the cold, as we have a security camera that alerts Alexa (and my watch) when something approaches the back door.
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