'their' 'there' my brain no longer functions

[BlessMS]

I think reading these posts on this thread has been the highlight of my night. A former paralegal, now disabled...I thought I lost my identity for a while. We had a yard sale the other day (my Husband and I) and he had to handle the money. I couldn't even count the change back. I went inside and started bawling.

I was diagnosed 7 years ago, before the MS diagnosis (which we think it's just part of the same happy family) with Adult Onset Epilepsy. I'm on Keppra, Topamax, and lamictal - some of the obvious side effects are memory loss....yippie. Sometimes I think I have alzheimers as well. I can't even think of the word i need to finish a sentence. I'm only 51 years old. Grrrrrr

[SusanD]

I share in your frustration, going through periods of difficulty finding the right word, finishing thoughts, and just plan forgetting.

I encourage you to let people help you and take away the stress of feeling you need to do it all.

Some suggestions to help eliminate some of the stress would include: Writing things down, Prioritizing what you need and want to do instead of feeling you need to do it all, and communicate your needs.

Work on puzzles, computer activities, and interact with people- all to help stimulate the mind and thought processes.

You may feel some days aren't a bad as others. You may be familiar with MS Fatigue, well, it does not only affect us physically. Mental fatigue can occur. Think about stress, what's been on your mind, are you getting enough sleep, what time are you taking medications - perhaps they make you a bit sleepy and can impact your thinking, basically all your responsibilities. Maybe they are a bit much at this time and you may need to step back.

Rest and relaxation does wonders for the mind (and body). Perhaps you could benefit from yoga, tai chi, & meditation to help clear the mind. You'd be surprised to learn how proper breathing can do wonders.

[BigA]

Hi Marie12:
Even though you might find it discouraging, proofreading and correcting your posts is a way to keep reinforcing your language skills. It's a "real world" situation that reinforces skills in a way that playing games and doing crossword puzzles and the like can't. (Thinking of words and writing letters into little boxes isn't much more than reinforcing the skill of thinking of words and writing letters into little boxes. It isn't really a life skill.)

You're far ahead of folks who don't proofread and don't make the effort to keep their real-life language skills working. The fact that you recognize the difference between "their" and "there" is a good thing! It shows that your brain is still functioning. It might be a bit slower and need more help, but your post shows that your writing skills are still just fine.

I just happened upon this. Since discovering that I spell differently these days (and with the admonishment of Redwings), I've been diligently using a spell checker and more than that, for the first time in my life, really trying to learn spellings that have confounded me my whole life. There are words I have never been able to spell, e.g. Caribbean, Mediterranean, enhanced (all spelled without a spell checker) that I'm making an effort to learn - that is, I'm putting more effort into spelling that I did before I was ill.

[SusanD]

Ditto Here!
I still stumble on the words I've always had problems with and find commonly used words now spelled wrong more often. I will have a harder time later in the day as mental fatigue kicks in - which is not unusual.
So I make a point of typing/writing when I feel most energetic and/or rested. You also want a place with less distractions,

Play games such as boggle or scrabble.
It is important to remember to exercise the brain. Lumosity.com has a good self assessment and cognitive exercises that help with areas of weakness.
There are numerous pathways in the brain and the more we put forward to working within our abilities and challenging ourselves, we will not only keep the existing pathways well, we will also have the opportunity to gain new ones.