Failing Memory

L

LoriD

New Member
Location
Durham, NC
Hi everyone! This is my first post here.

I am 56 years old and lately, I am forgetting things and making silly and stupid mistakes. I have always been a very organized person and now I cant seem to get myself together. Is there anything wonderful I can do, or take, to help with this? Thanks in advance!
 

Hi Lori, about the only suggestion I can make is to learn to live with it. Happens to all of us. You will learn to laugh at yourself.
 
One of the things that has really helped me to improve my memory is very simple and easy to do. I take 1-2 spoonful of virgin coconut oil every day. This is one of the remedies that they are now using for Alzheimer’s patients with very good results, especially if they catch it at an early stage.
I don’t know if it would help you or not, but I know of other people that have tried this and it helped their memory as well.
Without knowing what is causing the memory loss, it is hard to guess what might help you; but it might be at least worth a try if you are interested in nutritional healing methods.
 

Hugh Downs said he thought most memory problems in seniors are about data retrieval. The older we get, the more data we have stored and the harder it is to access. I've always liked his take on it.

Depending on what you're forgetting, you might need to learn to do some work-arounds. If you've always been organized, you might find you need to organize yourself in slightly different ways. You might want to set up a reminder system or an online calendar to remind you of tasks you need to perform on certain dates.

A woman I know made a list of the things she had stored in each of her closets because she had trouble remembering where to find things.

Most of my memory lapses are about things like discovering the last can of tuna is gone even though I don't remember eating it. Drives me crazy but it's not a big deal in the overall scope of things.
 
I have read that if you tend to lose words occasionally, it's just an annoyance but no reason to assume the worst. For instance, if you are having a conversation and forget the word "fork" (and haven't we all had a similar experience). No big deal that the word eluded you temporarily... but if you look at a fork and have no idea what it is or what to do with it, then worry!!
 
i think forgetting things can happen at any age my daughter is 56 and she has a problem now and then --i believe when you have a lot on your mind it happens
 
Learn new things like learn a new language, learn to play chess--play brain games where you have think and/or remember things, etc. You can find suggestions on the internet.
 
LoriD said:
Hi everyone! This is my first post here.

I am 56 years old and lately, I am forgetting things and making silly and stupid mistakes. I have always been a very organized person and now I cant seem to get myself together. Is there anything wonderful I can do, or take, to help with this? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Hi Lori, welcome! :) I agree with Happyflowerlady about the virgin coconut oil, I try to get in a spoonful daily, but many days I get sidetracked and fail to get it in. I have a jar of Nature's Way Organic on my kitchen counter and handy.

For memory things like Lutein, Carnosine and Omega 3 fish oil are beneficial. I use the tryclyceride, more natural form NOW brand liquid lemon flavor Pmega 3 fish oil. Twinkles had a good point too, when you mind is preoccupied with worries, stress, things to do and take care of, it's easy to lose your train of though in everyday tasks.

Honestly, even when I was young and working full time and overtime, and had a lot on my plate, I'd forget the simplest things, simply because they didn't take priority. So it can happen despite age, just try never to beat yourself up over it....you're not alone.
 
I used to take Ginko Biloba and it worked well for me. I had to stop taking it for awhile because of interactions with a prescribed medicine. I am no longer taking that prescribed med. and may go back to it. I really liked it.
 
We all seem to have memory loss as we age but when you're around someone with a real loss of memory such as with dementia you realize that normal memory loss is nothing.

Yesterday we had bacon, eggs, potatoes, and toast for breakfast. I cooked the bacon (in the microwave) and made the toast while my wife cooked the eggs and potatoes. We sat at the counter together and ate. We then went to the living room and sat down and my wife asked if I had breakfast yet. She honestly didn't remember eating or cooking. This kind of thing is daily. sometimes many times a day.
 
I have very bad short-term memory lately. I can remember things that happened 60 years ago, but can't remember what I had for dinner. This is bad when having a garage sale, I see people pick up things, then I get distracted and the person and the item have disappeared.
 
NPR's All Things Considered gave a quick way to tell the difference between simple memory retrieval issues and an actual memory problem.

They said when a person can't remember something – a name for instance – and they hear the answer, people with normal memory have an 'aha' moment.

People suffering from loss of memory don't experience that 'aha' moment.
 

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