This question was posted some years ago together with the responses which I thought were well worth passing on. Again, part is from a clinical healthcare professional.
Alice said:
"I seem to have difficulty remembering things. I was curious if anyone else with PMR have this trouble too. I fear I may not be able to retain my job due to this issue. I have fatigue that I fight daily which I know goes along with PMR. I need to work to keep my health insurance active! So frustrating!!"
Cloudgazer responded:
"Yours is the second memory question today - maybe it's the day we have all forgotten things!
I posted this reply to the other post but will put it here too, slightly edited, in case it's useful. You haven't mentioned whether you are taking steroid medication at the moment or at what dosage but it might be relevant here too.
A number of factors can contribute to difficulties with memory and cognitive function. These can include the effects of the underlying medical condition, fatigue, insomnia from various things including pain and steroids, pain as an entity on its own, and any low mood effects, which have their own impact on concentration and memory.
In terms of medication, there are several high-level studies that have looked at the effects of both short-term and long-term steroid medication on cognitive function. These have found that people demonstrate difficulties in particular with working memory, executive function (part of which helps us plan tasks and carry them out), sustained concentration and being able to focus on things for an amount of time. Information acquired in the past does not seem to be affected in the way that short-term memory does.
I'm reducing down from 60mg prednisolone and am now at 20mg. I had ridiculous difficulties retaining very simple information whilst on higher doses of prednisolone. I couldn't remember something I'd thought of picking up only a minute before, so kept finding myself in a room not knowing why I'd gone in there. I was forgetting things I'd thought of only seconds before. Making lots of notes and keeping lists definitely helped, as did deciding on only two or three things to do in a day - which I put on a list on the fridge. That helped me keep track of the most important tasks for the day and stopped me from trying to do too much, which just made the situation worse.
I also found that the working memory problems meant I couldn't multi-task even at a fairly basic level. My brain couldn't work out how to do two things at once. I'd have a phone conversation holding on to a bottle, for example, as my hand couldn't work out how to put it down. This was very strange at first but when I put it into a neuro-cognitive context it was less worrying and became more of an interesting observation.
These working memory and planning problems have definitely improved as I've reduced the steroids. If you're concerned, or would like to have your memory monitored, ask your GP or specialist if you can be referred to a memory clinic or neuro-psychologist for a baseline set of tests. These are non-intrusive working and other memory quiz-like tests that can establish a comparison point for later on. It's always useful to have a baseline report in case you remain concerned at a later stage. In addition, the neuro-psychologist may be able to suggest some strategies to help with the memory difficulties you've noticed at the moment."
And Purplecrow responded with a few suggestions to make things easier:
"Thanks for the simple explanation of this complex problem. I am currently using 2-3 mg pred daily, and find I have regained most of my misplaced cognitive skills.
In my early months of higher dose pred, I was frightfully aware of loss of executive function. Even simple tasks like organizing my underwear drawer were Impossible. I found multi-tasking beyond my ability, and I had half-finished (make that half-started) projects laying where I dropped them, to answer the phone.
The experience was an exercise in developing new ways to track my daily tasks. I made notes for most everything I needed to do as I thought of them. I have a dry erase marker in the bathroom, and write notes on my mirror as I'm brushing my teeth!
My fancy phone has a note pad, and it was my lifeline when going out to shop. I had my shopping list there, and also noted where I was leaving my car. I organized my trips so I made the required stops in order of location, thereby allowing me to stop when I tired, and resume the tasks at a later point. Did I mention I also snapped photo of the location where I parked my car?😜
I am well into my PMR journey, and feel like I have returned to my life. Interesting to note, I have a good deal more patience than was my previous temperament. I like that about myself."
Hope this helps someone.
Can anyone remember where I left my hippopotamus?
Well I got down to 9mg of pred and went insane
Update: Pred 3 and a half weeks completed
Has anyone had a massage while on pred?
Why GCA went haywire?... Today I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease~
