The dangers and surprises of fuzzy thinking

[43tripandskip]

I'm going to put all the blame on prednisolone and not on senile behaviour. Have you ever purchased something at the end of a season sale and then forgotten about it completely, not even remembering when or how you purchased it?

I'm now getting used to opening cupboards and finding unexpected items. A couple of months ago I took out a summer jacket and found another unknown jacket beside it. My husband bought me a lovely black handbag as I hadn't got one: but back at home, what a surprise! There were two black handbags waiting to be used. On Christmas day I took out my smart padded winter coat. But what was underneath? A brand new beige padded jacket with lots of sale tickets on it. The final surprise was on taking out my favourite shoes last week, only to find not one, but two brand new identical pairs wrapped in tissue paper.

Now I know it wasn't Father Christmas , so it must have been pred. These 'discovery'' events have been really amusing and I know I will find a use for all these objects eventually. But I really would like my brain back again.

Wishing you a clear-minded new year with no confusion.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Just give him a list of what you have found - he won't forget ...

[43tripandskip in reply to PMRpro]

Your reply really made me laugh. Do you think that Father Christmas is also suffering from a pred fuzzy experience?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to 43tripandskip]

Nah - that's all the glasses of whisky, brandy, sherry waiting on him ...

[braininjurythepits]

I thought I’d had all my deliveries for Christmas — but they’re still coming, two new pairs of shoes and counting... but is it the pred? I don’t know, I think Father Christmas brought me the wrong stuff ....

[43tripandskip in reply to braininjurythepits]

It happens!

[43tripandskip in reply to braininjurythepits]

Like you, I'm just hoping that there won't be any more surprises.

[Blearyeyed]

Happens to me all the time , not from Steroids but I have had it increase with the brain fog symptoms to do with GCA but already had brain fog from my other illnesses for years .

I have to keep a file with receipts ( and have had to since before I was 40 , so not an age thing for any of us 😋) I have to look in it now when I think ," I must get a new one of these" , or , "Ooh , that would be useful I'll buy one " , because I may well have already done the same before and forgotten about it.

Grandma ( as my youngest daughter is affectionately known ) proved my skill of forgotten purchases yet again at Christmas , as she pulled a Skipping rope with Counter from her stocking and said , " Ooh , this will look lovely in my collection !" Turns out she now has three which I have managed to buy and put in her stocking three years running!!!

I also forgot I had ordered myself a new bow , and bought one before Christmas , the second arrived on Saturday. So I'm now having to make sure I print off my Amazon receipts and add them in my check box as well.

Not 50 yet , so you have an excuse other than age , your just like me .

[Constance13 in reply to Blearyeyed]

Not that you'll think of checking your box!!

[Blearyeyed in reply to Constance13]

😋😂😂😂😂

Oh , no I have too , I know from experience now , especially after the cupboard full of pickled onions.

And buying not one , but four , black t-shirts and still thinking I only had my old bleachy one to put on!!

[MhairiP]

No, I must confess that I haven't purchased things that I've forgotten (or at least that I've discovered!), but...

Today I couldn't figure out why my car door wouldn't lock - I thought perhaps the battery was flat in my remote car key. Then eventually I figured out what was wrong... I had got out of the car and left the engine running. And I haven't been on pred for about 8 months now - so we can't blame everything on pred! 🤣

[43tripandskip in reply to MhairiP]

It's a great pity when we can't find something/someone to blame it on!

[SheffieldJane]

Are you rehearsing before you tell your OH? 😂😂😂

Seriously, I have woken after a very broken night, knowing that I have done some on-line shopping and hardly daring to look.

[43tripandskip in reply to SheffieldJane]

I've got into the habit of telling OH so he won't be surprised if I do something worse in the future!

[Yellowbluebell]

I love this and couldnt stop the giggles Do you think the pred has turned you into a phantom shop lifter!! Maybe thats how you got it all🤪. At least they are all things you wanted or will use. You might need to take a "carer" shopping with you in future.xx

[43tripandskip in reply to Yellowbluebell]

I never thought of that! But a carer wouldn't be of any use. They may not have the same taste in clothes as me and might interfere with my selection!!

[Yellowbluebell in reply to 43tripandskip]

That is true. So you will have to keep solo shopping!! Pred as mitigation for shop lifting is a new one on me but always worth trying🤔YBB

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Yellowbluebell]

I'd watch out - someone will ask you to represent them ...

[Yellowbluebell in reply to PMRpro]

Might dip out of that one. I am constantly worried Blearyeyed is going to do something i may need to represent her for!!

[Hidden]

I think my weirdest night time purchase was a eukele.....i can't read music and have arthritic hands.

[43tripandskip in reply to Hidden]

This is really amusing. I will think of you and your purchase when I next explore my cupboard!

[Hidden in reply to 43tripandskip]

I might be cleaning windows....

[Visby in reply to Hidden]

This did make me giggle😀

[Yellowbluebell in reply to Hidden]

For christs sake!! What on earth are you you going to do with that?

[Hidden in reply to Yellowbluebell]

Learn to play by ear..... One day....

[Kaaswinkel72]

Who else would we feel safe to tell those stories too...it is just wonderful to be able to share and give and recieve the support we all need, for us to keep on smiling....😉

[Jackoh]

Yes it’s food shopping I often double up on - thinking I must remember to order so and so when I had trouble remembering it one of the previous weeks. I now have 3 containers of turmeric I noticed when I put the final one away!!

[powerwalk]

Oh that's so funny!!!!

[pball]

This is so cute. I call myself pred head! This for me has been going on for 4 years since I started the ugly drug.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to pball]

Nothing ugly about something that gives people their life back and prevents them losing their sight...

[Yellowbluebell in reply to PMRpro]

Despite my pred brain, my best friend is pred.

[bunnymom]

I think what I miss most is having my brain work right. I find things I bought I can't remember and give away things I still need.

[43tripandskip in reply to bunnymom]

Well, at least you haven't come to the stage of putting saucepans in the fridge or milk in the oven - though to be honest, in the case of me and OH, it was momentary. I hope not an indication of the future!!

[Yellowbluebell in reply to 43tripandskip]

My favourite pred brain activity is putting milk in the oven. OH automatically looks there now!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Yellowbluebell]

A carton of milk wouldn't stand up in my oven!!!

[Yellowbluebell in reply to PMRpro]

I usually have the shelf low in mine so the milk sits there perfectly!! Ideal place almost.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Yellowbluebell]

The shelf is at the low position in mine - but it is a very small oven! Just as well I no longer need to cook a turkey ...

[Yellowbluebell in reply to PMRpro]

I must admit i sometimes worry that i have bought too big a Turkey for the oven!! As i cook for 7 of us and everyone likes cold Turkey sandwiches etc afterwards we do get the biggest turkey i can find. Usually about 10kilo!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Yellowbluebell]

That would provide turkey sannies for us for a year ...

[Yellowbluebell in reply to PMRpro]

🤪🤣

[Yellowbluebell in reply to bunnymom]

I forget the name of things in everyday use and end up trying to describe something like a saucepan or even items of clothing.

[43tripandskip in reply to Yellowbluebell]

This is the reason I don't like talking to a rheumy. Not only is my speech slower but the demand to find immediate vocabulary is well nigh impossible. "So you were a teacher" he says. "What did you teach?" Well, do you think I could summon up "teaching dyslexics"? No. So I had to use the ploy I use with my OH. So my conversation went into a meandering "You know when students have difficulty recognising writing....?" By this time my OH would have known what I was talking about. But this specialist wasn't used to this method. It all got hugely embarrassing but fortunately we both saw the funny side,

[Yellowbluebell in reply to 43tripandskip]

My OH is quite good at guessing what word i want but like you say some people are not used to the drama we go through to get the right word🤪

[sandydame in reply to Yellowbluebell]

This is what I experience but haven't the word just now to tell you about it.

Just now you know where when your clothes are dirty you get them clean but I couldn't get the job done because I forgot to buy well I forgot to buy that stuff in the plastic bottle that you put in that takes out stains. Anyway a best friend called from long distance we had a great talk and I forgot all about what I had to do. But I never forget my pred. I live near the coast but the fog is always in my head. I agree with many here that I am thankful for pred even if it does screw up my head. Have fun today it helps.

[43tripandskip in reply to sandydame]

It's sometimes a good idea to write notes to remind yourself what you want to do. But what if you can't remember where you left the note!!?

[Yellowbluebell in reply to 43tripandskip]

Oh dont please!! I never was good at remembering where i put the list but always knew what was on it . Nowadays i struggle to remember the word let alone put it on a list and as for knowing where the list went , well theres no hope!! Strange thing is i dont forget words when i am in court?!!!

[Grammy80]

Wow...you all have an uncanny way of making me feel normal. Love it~! I've just tucked my pride in my back pocket ~! That post and the replies brought smile after smile to my face.

Along with evrything you have mentioned...I make calls to reschedule appointments I have already rescheduled and have no recollection of. In the early onset of GCA I asked the Doctors if my memory would come back...I was keenly aware it had left. I wondered if there was permanent damage due to lack of oxygen or blood supply in the arteries in my 'skull'~!

I've been tapering...am down to 24mg prednisolone and Actemera.....but that thing called a memory......is just a faint memory.....and a darn good cop-out. I just laugh anymore...I am all done being embarassed.

Hanging with you folks makes me see how good life can be~!!!

[43tripandskip in reply to Grammy80]

You're right: all we can do at present is laugh about it.

[Plantmad]

This is all so reassuring. I was beginning to worry that I was losing it - actually I ‘lose’ quite a lot of things. I once drove home at night with only side lights. Thought there was something wrong with the car only to discover when I arrived home that I just hadn’t turned the switch twice. This really upset me and of course was dangerous. It never occurred to me that it could be Pred. I’m very careful when I drive in the dark now.

On a lighter note how many times have you trundled up and down supermarket aisles looking for something, then eventually asked someone and find you are stood in front of it!

[Hidden in reply to Plantmad]

Hundreds... Even had my hand on the shelf. I once forgot to buy loo roll 7 times. I kept going back twice a day. That was pre pred I think so blaming pmr.

[Yellowbluebell in reply to Hidden]

OH would have set up some kind of panic shop if i had forgotten the loo roll that many times!!

[Hidden in reply to Yellowbluebell]

Each shop was a panic shop.

[Yellowbluebell in reply to Hidden]

🤪

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Plantmad]

I was looking for gluehbags (to make mulled wine) the other week. I KNEW they were by all the other t-bags - could I see them. They were in a separate stand next to them, 2 feet from me!

[Constance13 in reply to PMRpro]

There are always loads of assistants in our local supermarkets so I just ask - then they take you to the necessary isle. It helps being old and decrepit!😂😂

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Constance13]

There was an assistant restocking the shelf and I saw them as I asked! We both laughed. My excuse is she was kneeling in front of them.