Memory question

[strawberrysorbet]

I'm progressively getting worse at remembering words... mid-conversation I will forget the word I need to use, but I will almost always be able to remember the first letter of that word.

I often manage to describe the word sufficiently so that someone is able to remind me of the word, and every time the first letter was what I said it would be. This seems to be some sort of partial memory recall, as I do remember the first letter, but nothing else.

Does anyone else get this? I'm just wondering if this is fairly common with hypothyroidism or whether this might be caused by something else. It's happening several times a day at the moment and I feel like i'm going a little bit mad.

[Josiesmum]

Food intolerances can cause inflammation in the brain causing brain fog/memory problems.

[strawberrysorbet in reply to Josiesmum]

Thanks Josiesmum. You think it's unlikely to be thyroid related then?

[Josiesmum in reply to strawberrysorbet]

It may well be thyroid related, just thought it worth mentioning another avenue to explore. My daughter had terrible brain fog and memory loss which have both improved greatly after giving up gluten and dairy.

[Josiesmum in reply to Josiesmum]

if you decide to try going gluten free read this message from another member first as unfortunately some people can experience severe withdrawal symptoms.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[strawberrysorbet in reply to Josiesmum]

Thank you. I did go gluten free a few months ago - I managed it for around 3 months. I was doing this before I got my diagnosis to rule out gluten as the cause of my constipation. I didn't notice any improvements and my constipation got worse so I gave up. I didn't try cutting out dairy though. Maybe I need to look at that. Thanks for your help.

[Josiesmum in reply to strawberrysorbet]

As the memory problems are getting worse it may be worth revisiting food sensitivities:

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

Best of luck.

[strawberrysorbet]

Thanks Eljiii. Now I am on Levo I have FT3 4.9 (3.1-6.8). It has risen slightly since before I was medicated but not much. I've never had rT3 tested, maybe I should test that - or if the FT3 is high enough, is rT3 irrelevant?

Which professor?

[ColinK]

A couple of times a day, can be a bit embarrassing at work.

[ColinK]

I was at the dentist recently and was trying to tell her I'd just brought a new electric toothbrush, I could not remember the word Electric and used the word mechanical which sounded a bit stupid when it came out as a new mechanical toothbrush, she must have thought I was mad.

[Butterfly65 in reply to ColinK]

Lol ColinK

Mechanical toothbrush, that made me chuckle I forget words all the time & replace them with others, its so frustrating but quite comical too. I was trying to describe something to my husband the other day & couldn't think of the word I wanted & the conversation ended up like a sketch from the 'Two Ronnies' you have to laugh it off. I don't think you're going mad strawberrysorbet but I'm not sure what causes it, but I've noticed I forget more when I feel stressed.

[hathi999]

I am familiar with this symptom being related to low vitamin B12 see a list of symptoms here difficulty-swallowing.com/s... if you have some others on the list you might be able to make the connection. Low B12 and brain fog are common as well as not remembering words. I went gluten free (an awesome idea for lots of people with chronic issues) and still had the brain fog, it wasn't until I added the B12 that my brain went back to normal.

[MariLiz]

When my B12 was low my memory problems were awful. Might be worth getting it checked out. Plus, it needs to be high in the range for thyroid meds to work properly.

[greygoose]

Yup, get that all the time. Although I wouldn't say I suffer from brain fog, at all. My brain is pretty sharp. I am just dyslexic and forget words. I can live with that.

Oh, and I can't spell! Thank god for spellcheck!

[hw7342]

Yes i get this every day. Its very frustrating. Cotton wool brain