Please help: cognitive issues

[jjs]

My most hated symptom BY FAR is cognitive issues. My short term memory is pathetic. It is very hard to make decisions and process information. It's like my brain is in slow motion. Problem solving is a real trial. Being in a crowd with lots of things going on around me is chaos to the extreme. Concentration is poor. Fighting frustration at myself for my slow brain. The list goes on and on.

I used to be a fast typist. Really fast. Now I am so slow it's frustrating. It's like going from super high speed internet to dial up ... or worse. I can use that same analogy for my slow-motion brain too. Dial up speed.

I also have issues with spelling. I used to be an "A Student" when it came to spelling. Now I mess up the simplest of words. I usually, eventually, catch the mistakes but it takes a while sometimes of staring at the word and thinking "now that's just not right" ... and sometimes it's so obviously wrong that I just have to laugh at myself.

Example: I just spelled "speed" "sepped". At least it has the same letters. Often times half or all of the letters are not even supposed to be in the word I am trying to spell.

HELP! Does anyone have suggestions on how to help with these issues? I have been making schedules to help keep me on track, but the problem is I often do not feel good enough to follow the schedule so it's all in vain anyway. I take lots of notes but forget where I put them. I rely on my cell phone calendar a lot. This is the only consistent thing that seems to help.

Any other ideas? Will this get better??? I'll be very honest here, this symptom is very scary to me. I feel like I'm literally losing my mind.

[Thinkimjob]

There are drugs, but I can't remember the names.
All you can do is slow down. The number of times I set off, get to wherever I'm going then realise I forgot to bring the thing that was the reason for the trip... (We're talking trips to the kitchen, laundry, bathroom here. Won't even mention the Post Office, or the supermarket.)
So now I sit for a moment, and make sure I've got everything I need before I move. Doesn't help that I can't carry more than one thing at once.
Go shopping when the shops are at their quietest. When school's out and the supermarket is packed with running, shouting children I kind of freeze in blind panic.
I used to have a lovely brain. It's still there, but it's really not pulling its weight.

[aspen]

All I can say is ... I totally understand.

I had an appointment recently with a neurologist. I had described some of my issues in this area; one of the things he put in his report was that the written history I submitted was good grammatically and had good spelling.

However, he DIDN't ask how long it took me to get it in that shape. What used to be a one pass deal now can take a couple of weeks, working on it daily for a couple of hours. I'm a professional -- there's no way I can print something out unless it's "ready".

My favourite (??!!??) thing is the word replacement -- both while speaking AND typing, I will put words in that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Not even noun for noun, necessarily. I'm trying to find it amusing rather than scary. 'Cause really ... the sentences are quite funny when I go back to check :-P.

[misslux]

My OT has suggested (along with lists, repetition and calendar strategies) keeping my mind working with brain games -- memory, word puzzles, shape matching, etc. I m not sure if they will help in the long run, but worth a shot.

[JanG1360]

SCARY

I KNOW THE FEELING BUT NOW I LOOK AT IT THIS WAY ITS FUNNY TO SEE WHAT I HAVE TYPED AND WHAT I WANTED TO SAY. I WAS A TRUCK DRIVER AND MEDICAL PRO BUT WITH THE MS I CANT FUNCTION. S PEACH IS FUNNY I HAVE TO STOP AND THINK OF THE WORDS I WANT TO SAY AND THEN IT SOUNDS LIKE A GREMLIN OR A 6 MOTH OLD JUST LEARNING TO TALK IT FUNNY TO ME. YOU EITHER LAUGH OR CRY AND CRYING JUST MAKES ME WORSE SO LAUGHING IS THE BEST. IF YOU FIND TYPOS GOOD I CAN'T TYPE ANY MORE LOL

[bwmorris]

I had an appointment recently with a neurologist. I had described some of my issues in this area; one of the things he put in his report was that the written history I submitted was good grammatically and had good spelling.

However, he DIDN't ask how long it took me to get it in that shape. What used to be a one pass deal now can take a couple of weeks, working on it daily for a couple of hours. I'm a professional -- there's no way I can print something out unless it's "ready".

aspen, this is one more thing that worries me about my first neurologist appointment coming up on Thursday.

I show up to most appointments with things typed up, and I spend hours and hours making sure the little documents
are in good shape. My goodness, I taught people how to write at a university! (Not to say I'm in a position to do that now! )

Mostly, I taught critical reasoning classes (and symbolic logic). I have to say I'm unimpressed with your neurologist's ability to reason!

HELP! Does anyone have suggestions on how to help with these issues? I have been making schedules to help keep me on track, but the problem is I often do not feel good enough to follow the schedule so it's all in vain anyway. I take lots of notes but forget where I put them. I rely on my cell phone calendar a lot. This is the only consistent thing that seems to help.

Any other ideas? Will this get better??? I'll be very honest here, this symptom is very scary to me. I feel like I'm literally losing my mind.

I'm kind of with thinkimjob on this:

All you can do is slow down.

This is what I've had to do. A whole bunch.

Although, jjs, I do want to add that taking lots of notes that are all over the place is only going to make it worse. You can only make as many notes as you're able to keep resolving. Past that, it becomes more hurtful than helpful, because you've diluted the importance of the collection. When everything's important, nothing's important.

As far as not finding them, I recommend only one or two centralized locations for your notes. Just your cell phone, or a little notepad you keep with you.

And as I've said before, like you, jjs, I rely very heavily on my calendar alerts. When I schedule something before 1:00 p.m., I usually set two alarms for the same event. The first goes off before I go to bed, so I know I need to set an alarm to wake up at the right time. The second is before the event, giving me plenty of time to get ready and go (if it's something outside the home).

[its2much]

I'm right there with all of you

and it's getting more and more frustrating! My neuro has prescribed cognitive training with a speech therapist. WIll be doing so as soon as I can afford it.

[4boysmom]

Loss of these things also happens to me, and does cause me a bit of depression. I just keep going though.

I have found with me that I have to let go of my pride, sometimes slow others down when they are explaining things to me, and say, "I have MS. Please 'chunk' that phone number for me!" That is the worse, when they rattle it off at breakneck speed and I get none of it!

I find myself often repeating back to the person what I thought I heard, because I can get confused!

It is tough when you were top of your class, graduated from college with a four year degree in just 2 years, and always was at the top of anything academic.

Now I find I just don't care! I laugh it off to my MS, and move on.

[lisams]

i agree with all. i am going for neuro testing in hopes i will find out what i need to work on. i especially related to the doctor saying your notes are so well done when you have spent weeks on them. i have to proof everything i type.

[aspen]

I suppose I should leave the notes at first attempt. Not sure what value he would get from "Pain in my fridge this morning." :-P

[lisams]

needed the laugh, thanks.

[SNOOPY]

NeuroPsych testing/evaluation would be a good idea for anyone concerned with cognitive function.

Some people find NeuroPsych testing helpful...I did not. I did find it interesting

MS can cause cognitive dysfunction but there can be other causes for cognitive difficulties, such as:

- stress
- anxiety
- depression
- medications

Information about Cognitive Dysfunction:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/abo...ion/index.aspx

[lisams]

they are checking emotional factors also.

[its2much]

When it comes to putting something in writing

it can take me days rather than just minutes as it used to.
This morning I made coffee but forgot to put the carafe in its place - coffee all over the counter top and down to the floor.

[jjs]

Thank you to all!

Thank you all so much for your responses. Let me see if I can address some of them here:

Thinkimjob: You are very right ... SLOW DOWN ... that is very good advice. I have been burning myself a lot lately while baking. It just does not register in my mind that the oven is hot and then when I begin to get burned it takes a few seconds at least before it registers that I am being burned and the appropriate thing to do would be to MOVE MY HAND. My son (16) said I just have to slow down He said before I approach the stove I should stop and think. "The stove is hot. It will burn me if I touch it. I need to be careful. I need to use hotpads." and so on. In a way it's a bit frustrating to even think that I need to take such small, baby steps in my mind ... but the logic and problem solving is just not there any more. I hope and pray this will pass and I will 'get back to normal' as far as this sx goes but ... we'll see.

Aspen - I can relate too. Sure, the finished product may bee 'ok' but it took WAY TOO LONG to get it to that point. Yes - save your first draft and note how long it took you to get from the first draft to the finished paper / note and turn them both in to your neuro. Maybe that would give them a fuller picture? I thought some time I will not correct my mistakes and see how it looks 'raw'.

Misslux - I like sudoku ... maybe I should buy a book and work a puzzle a day or something? I've been hearing a lot of suggestions to do 'luminosity' so I checked it out. While I did have 'fun' playing the games, I questioned whether it was actually helping or not so I did a little online research. I googled something like "do problem solving computer games really help" or something similar to that. I found a few articles that said they do NOT actually help. But the articles agreed that what DOES help are the problem solving games on paper. There's just something that is lost when it guts put on to a screen and becomes electronic. I am not sure all the ins and outs of that but I can say I appreciate the pen and paper games a lot more anyway and you can do them anywhere, any time.

JanG - Spelling and grammar errors ARE funny In fact, this is one of the funniest MS sx I have, right next to stuttering and babbling I have no problem laughing at the spelling, grammar and stuttering ... it's the other cognitive things that kind of scare or concern me. Like the slow brain to the point of being a danger to myself and others. Not good.

Bwmorris - I agree about too many notes! Thank you for bringing that up. I do not think that is an issue for me; just keeping tract of the ones I DO write is the issue. A central place to keep all my notes is very crucial; I can see that now. I'll make that my top priority.

4boysmom - Laughing it off is good And so is asking people to slow down and explain in more simple terms. Sometimes I have to tell my children (older) that my brain is no longer working so please save their questions or stories for the next day. They always understand and can see the struggles written on my face ... confusion.

Snoopy- I'll have to look up "neuro/psych testing' to see what this is. Also, thank you for the link - I'll visit that when I am done responding here.

Its2much - I am the same way. I used to be excellent at written communication, spelling, grammar, etc. 4.0 gpa in college all the way through and then had a job at a large construction firm as an accountant and also I helped the project managers with their business communications (letters, proposals, etc.) I could NEVER imagine being anywhere close to being able to do that stuf now!!!! Thankfully I stopped doing that kind of work about 10 years ago, long before I started having such major struggles.

Ok, thank you all once again for the comments. It is always a great help to come on here and read what others have to say (on my threads or any other thread). This forum is really a blessing.