Bad memory

Some days I can't recall what I've done during the day, what I ate for dinner, what film I watched a couple of hours ago, or if I watched football I'll forget what the score was, or if someone asks me if I can recall an event I'll have to think long and hard about it and if I do recall it the topic will sometimes have moved on by then. I feel stupid when it happens, and I'm scared that people think I'm stupid.

Does anyone else have stuff like this happen? I'm currently on Olanzapine and Zoloft...could it be a side effect of one of those?

I do that all the time. The word I want is right there but I think of it hours later when I've no need of it. As for what I've done that day...well my life is pretty boring why would I remember?

No one disputes that Albert Einstein was brilliant, but he couldn't remember his address or routine things. He said; why remember what I can look up? So if it's important to you that you remember these kinds of things, what you ate, etc, write it down and tell people your mind is too full to remember unimportant things.

For me, I have a hard time remembering how much time has passed...if the doctor asks me when I started to notice some symptom or another, I won't be able to remember whether it was three weeks ago or 3 mths. ago! I hope you don' experience that too.

My wife says my short term memory is shot. I have a hard time remembering anything recent but my long term is excellent

My memory is way too good.....sort of like the elephant.....but I wish it was a memory for useful things rather than all the useless junk it seems to get filled with.....but I can't memorize things....& can just remember things that have happened or dates when they are supposed to happen....I always thought how stupid to waste my time memorizing things when I can look them up in the book they are writtten down in the first place....my mind needs to be available for more important things....things that I can't look up.

However with that said.....I have a huge black hole in my life from about 1994-2004.......I can remember little things that happened here & there but I don't have anything in context or in order of when things happened & everything about that period of time in my life I left behind when I left my H 7 years ago.....it's a really strange feeling to have that kind of hole in my life & no one to even talk to about what happened during that time because my stbxh, never communicated even when I was living with him....& he's in some other la la world & wouldn't believe anything he said in the second place.......so I will just leave the hole there & accept it to be what it is & remember little pieces when something triggers the memory.

I have no family that's alive other than my daughter & she was in her own place during that time also......

Hallo

I have quite the same problem with my memory. I get so stuck on events happened and the days whereabouts that i just cant think of what had happened. I used to keep a diary and write 3 times a day and when night time comes i just cant remember writing those stuff,but its my hand writing.

Sometimes are worse then others, But overall i actually have a very intellectual memory and can remember the smallest detail that others do not notice. I believe that im stuck in some dimension when my memory is so bad. It feels like im living outside of my body and watching myself from the top,like a puppet on a string. Thats usually when im starting a severe depressive state.
Sometimes i recover my memory of events and sometimes i dont. Its like my brain does not want to know certain things or that its too tired or lazy.

Exercise helps and also Ginko Biloba and Omega Vitamins. Try those thins or otherwise consult your doctor. i also like to play games that stimulate sthe brain like memory games,makes me calm and its a good way of entertainment.

Good luck

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twigg .... and I'm scared that people think I'm stupid

I have recently begun "panic attack therapy" and one of my issues is that my inability to focus/concentrate/listen will make me look stupid to others.

So yes, I can relate to what you are saying. No answers on how to fix it. But yes - I can relate.

As for the cause - I am told it is depression caused slow-down of the brain (psychomotor retardation)... personally I think part of it is from damage done back when I did a number of suicide attempts. But my doctor says no.

But I think he is wrong - cuz I KNOW how my brain used to work and how crappy it is now.....

I have been through this with every doctor I have seen even though an MRI and a CT both show that I have brain damage!

Instead of treating me for the problems I ask about they just prescribe more anti-psychotics or the like. Where do all of these idiot doctors come from? Is there a special school they all come from that teaches them how to not properly treat their patients?

I have given up on doctors except my new family doctor to get prescription refills.

So True Ripose !! They just dont care anymore and they like to withhold info thats important to us but they dont think it is. Very frustrating !

Ever since my MIs hit I have struggled with my memory. I have tried keeping notes but then I forget to do it or where I put the note. I got an app for my phone, but I forget to use it.

I had ECT, which helped me get out of a deep depressive episode, but made my memory worse. Talking this over with my pdoc, she suggested using Lumosity (Brain Games & Brain Training - Lumosity) to help improve my memory.

If you're not familiar with Lumosity, it is a set of games that help with memory, following directions, ... It takes into account your mood, age and the amount of sleep you had the night before. You start by taking some tests to determine where you're at.

My pdoc suggests this to all her ECT patients. I started about 3 weeks ago, doing it 3 times a week, and according to their tracking record I am improving.

Part of the reason I had to quit my job "for medical reasons" is my memory. I can't remember things from an hour ago. It's ridiculous! I won't remember I replied to this thread later this afternoon. Ugh!

"My memory is muddy, what's this river that I'm in?
New Orleans is sinking man, and I don't wanna swim."
-Tragically Hip

My memory has been unreliable at best for decades. Some things stick for ever perfectly, others don't stick at all. But all the holes are not the worst of it. The worst is all the false memories that have crept in. I know I remember things that never happened and in some cases could not have happened, but I have clear memories of them.

Remembering things that aren't true is far worse than forgetting things that are true.

I have constant aphasia, see I even learned the word for not being able to remember the word you are trying to say because it happens so often.

My aunt used to say that my memory is like a huge dumpster.

Yeah, my memory is shoddy. I will set aside a sale on the computer at work because the customer forgot their wallet or something and 5 seconds later wonder why that sale is sitting there.

Often times I can't even remember what someone said to be minutes before. That's embarrassing.

I think perhaps that may be due to my not paying attention though.

I am unmedicated BTW.

Have you ever forgotten where you live? I did but I still knew which bus to catch to get home, I just didn't know where to get off. Now that was confusing!

You badly need a neurologist, Ripose. A family doctor or a psychiatrist is not qualified to deal with brain damage.

I've seen 3 different neurologists the best one I saw was in Calgary and he said I could come back whenever I wanted to be hooked up to machines, video cameras and no medications for 6 days straight. I have no desire to do it yet. If I can get healthy from my other physical problems first I would consider it.

Oh yeah, he also took away my drivers license - for life.

Oh no! I am so sorry! Are you in Peru? Do you have public transit? I had a temporary medical revocation of the driver's license but was able to get it back after three years. To lose it for life... unless you live on Manhattan where people do not drive anyway, is so sad.

I apologize for having Location as Machu Pichu it is just a place I always wanted to go but I can't now because of COPD. I would not be able to breathe at that elevation. I actually live in Alberta, Canada which is why I was sent to Calgary to see a neurologist.

We have a public transit system where I live but irrational fears prevent me from using it. However my wife can drive me if she is not working and I am getting my meds figured out with a new BETTER doctor. It will take a few months to get on the meds and new dosages hopefully by then taking the bus won't scare the hell out of me anymore.

Thank you very much for your concern Hamster Bamster.