Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Gill Mojo on July 11, 2015, 06:36:49 PM
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Has there been any kind of study on what menopause does to the brain?
I am so stupidly forgetful it isn't even funny. Because of my mental issues I've always been a little fuzzy-headed, not good with dates etc, but lately I'm lucky if I can remember what I was doing in the morning by the same evening! I will have arguments with my friend, adamant I have never said/done/watched something only to be proved wrong, and yet still be unable to remember said thing. I swear my brain has been coated with Teflon ::) I literally have to write everything down if I want to remember it. It's like mild dementia; short-term memory is shot to heck, but if you accidentally ate the last biscuit 25 years ago I sure remember that :D
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Becoming forgetful is unfortunately a common symptom!
I while back I bookmarked a couple of papers about oestrogen and the brain but haven't re-read them recently so can't comment, but here they are if you're interested:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/406718_1 - this one you have to register for an account to read it.
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2003/March/oestrogen.asp
There will be a whole lot more if you Google too - some might be a bit cranky though ::)
Hurdity x
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Some meds do this to us. My daughter became very worried about me a while back due to pain meds I was on. I had to write notes to remind me where stuff was. Set reminders on my phone too. Fortunately not in the meds now, just meno brain.
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Oh me too....can't remember things I did ten mins ago. Have to check and double check. Went to bed the other night....didn't turn off the kitchen light or shut the window. Hubby popped into the kitchen and then came back to ask me if I was getting up again. Hadn't got my glass of water either...it was still sitting next to the sink. Trouble is I'm getting worse.
Honeyb
X
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Can so relate - I have to write everything down in lists.
I've also found decision making very very hard - and when my menopausal issues spectacularly blew up, decision making in a fog of anxiety (as well as my inability to make appropriate decisions at a particular time in my life) led me to make a decision that blew up all my plans for this year and led to me having a breakdown when I realised what I'd done - not very nice.
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The worst one for me is forgetting to turn the oven off! I actually set fire to the grill pan a couple of months back because I'd forgotten I'd turned it on to make toast :o I will check out those links, Hurdity, and thanks :)
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Are you sure it's not that strange woman again ;D
Do you have a simple to set alarm clock, we went through a phase of forgetting that the bread was under the grill until the fire alarm went, we were under stress at the time :-\ - so when Himself went to the kitchen he set the alarm ……
I can't remember what I did this morning either and have to note when I open my bowels or I forget :-\ :-X and I'm keeping a food diary too …… we have a 'his/hers' calendar and if it ain't written down we aren't doing it ;D. Lists help.
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Sparkle, I can empathise completely. I have honestly begun to wonder how much is meno, and how much is not, too. Seriously, if this meno symptom can get as bad as it seems to for many of us, why isn't this something which is mentioned more - or even at all - in information about menopause. I've seen a few mentions of 'foggy brain' but this is way beyond that and certainly doesn't help alleviate anxiety levels. ::)
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I"m with you on that. My husband looks at me like Im losing it when I forget the simplest things and I try sooo hard. The stress Im under at work too doesn't help with the fuzziness and then that has repercussions on my effectiveness which then gets my boss riled and despairing.
It just feels like cotton wool brain. Until you have it you can't explain it to people.
Salxx
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Yes, I've had horrible anxiety issues all my life. I don't think they've become worse per se, but I think they have spread :D I find myself anxious over just about anything these days, rather than specific things I have become used to over the years. I find I am also more ocd about checking things are switched off/on, worrying about being gassed if the pilot on the boiler blows out, having to get up after going to bed to check something because I am convinced I did/did not do it - example being getting up, going downstairs, turning on the computer, loading skype, checking I did not actually send the wrong message to the wrong person, turning it all off, going back to bed and not being able to get to sleep for three hours because I completely woke myself up :bang:
So yes, anxiety is worse, but not perhaps in the way I expected. :D
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I stick to the idea of 'This too shall pass' and try to laugh as much as possible. Until now, I didn't have anyone to talk to about all this so finding this forum and the lovely people on it has been an absolute blessing :)
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Having schizophrenia and Alzheimer's in close relatives (now deceased) makes me very aware and concerned about mental issues. .
I have Hashimoto's hypothyroidism which can affect your mental function and am post menopausal so not much hope for my poor old brain really.
But it is threads like this one where so many other ladies say the same thing that gives me hope, and I keep doing the cryptic crosswords like my mum did :)
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I find one of the worrying things is actually not being able to remember the name of something very ordinary while in the middle of a conversation - like "window" or anything - I have to say "the ...er..." a few second gap and then the word comes to me! I've been on HRT since just before menopause so there must be something else at play as well as oestrogen ( well my levels won't be as high as when fertile though...). I am still working though and don't plan to give up all my work when I get my pension next year at 63 so that will keep the old brain active. I used to love the cryptic crosswords too babyjane - but don't get a paper any more! Do online learning of Spanish from time to time, and of course reading all these scientific papers about menopause too!! Glad you're enjoying the forum Gill Mojo! :)
Hurdity x
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Apparently learning a language, or a musical instrument and cryptic crosswords all use the logic centre of the brain which is what is affected with Alzheimer's. My auntie was only 58 when hers started, the age I am now :( .
I used to buy mum a book of cryptic crosswords and she would do one a day. when she finished I would buy her another. She was sharp as a tack until the day before she died but she always feared ending up like her sister.
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I can identify with the inability to remember everyday words too, Hurdity. My family have actually become acclimatised to me staring hard at them whilst I search frantically for the word I want. :D Thankfully, it hasn't affected me when I write things down, just whilst vocalising. If worst comes to the worst I'll just flash bits of paper at people with the words written on!
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I have to point to items too during conversations and don't get me started on remembering names of people! :o ……. I can read a book or the newspaper and not remember what I've read. I put papers aside then forget why …… but I've been like this for years, when I had regular pen friends I have a booklet in which I put when I received letters and dates when I replied …… I know at lot this is due to my Mum not allowing me to think for myself, so my brain wasn't stimulated properly. I only realised when I had moved away how controlling she had been over every aspect of my Life and it has taken years to get my brain in any kind of 'gear'. Strange though how my brain remembers sad events …….. :'(
Gill - when stressed my OCD tendencies kick in so I make a list as to for example, when I should hand wash - ticked off it makes me realise how often I am going to the taps but the list/s do help ease my need to check. Would a list of lists make your stress worse or relieve it a little?
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I was going to contribute to this thread but um........I erm.....mmm......can't remember why :P. Give me a few minutes and I'm sure it will come back to me... ;)
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Did it yet :D
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Yep, I remembered that I had to go to the living room to get something, except that halfway there I started to forget why I was going there. I hoped I would remember by the time I got there. Alas, I didn't so I retraced my footsteps back to the bedroom. I then remembered exactly what I wanted from the living room and managed to get there a second time without forgetting!!
Yay!! :P ::)
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Just seen this thread and had to join in as I have done similar - gone upstairs to get something then gone 'blank', thinking 'What did I come up here for?'. I inevitably take something else downstairs then remember what I SHOULD have got in the first place! Also end up trying to find the 'right' word to insert in a sentence whilst talking. The other evening, I was saying something to my husband about his workplace (we were talking about spiders!!) & I said something along the lines of '. So you tend to find really big ones in the.. the....... building!'. Why couldn't I think of the right word to start with ??? I have to have the calendar with spaces for writing down appointments, birthdays etc. as it would be pointless me having a diary for that - I would never remember to check it!! :D x