all the time and im onky 24 and never really had issues with it before... i am on methotrexate and ghave heard it referred to as chemo-brain. you are def not alone in that, it sucks i fdeel lik i almost stutter sometimes,.

YES!!! My friends say its like playing "Catch-Phrase" with me all the time. I say the wrong words, write the wrong words and also sometimes mix up the sequencing. I can be very frustrating sometimes, esp since my job includes giving important presentations to our CEO, CFO, CIO, etc. (A very sucessful, global company). I try to schedule my meetings in the morning b/c I have a better handle on my language then. After lunch its always a gamble whether I'll be stuck searching for the correct word during a q/a session with executives.

Oh God you don't know how good it is to hear that someone else suffers from this - though of course I'm not happy to hear it's just another part of this disease somehow! I don't know why that would be. I always figured it was from the coma. But has anyone ever mentioned it to their doctor? I am going to on my next visit and see what she says.

I've noticed on different medications, (Methitrexate especially) my mind gets a bit foggy at times. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I get up a day, walk to the next room and just look around not having any idea why I got up in the first place. It's good exercise I guess;-)
Blessings,
Kim

well now guys i am not on metho yet just pred and i get these symptoms....i have to write things down to remember.....when i talk i have a hard time getting my words out sometimes.....very frustrating!!!!! I have been calling it brain fog!!!!!!!!

gess what else to we have to expect from pm/dm?????

While my brain function has improved with lowering doses of prednisone, it has never gone back to normal. I always had a keen mind and was very aware of my surroundings. Now, I can only "see" one thing at a time--usually watching my step as I walk. In addition to this "tunnel vision," I find that my response time to questions, etc., has lengthened. When people speak to me, it's like my mental processing is delayed, so I don't answer in a timely manner. Very frustrating. Glad I'm not alone, but sorry we all have to experience this.

Yes! This happens to me too, glad I'm not the only one. I'm down to 25mg of prednisone from 60mg and still feel like I'm in a fog at times. I agree that the afternoon is worse for my speech than the morning is. It is very frustrating trying to get the words out sometimes, and I too get up to get something and forget what I was doing....all part f the side effects of prednisone I think. I do take methotrexate too so it could play into the brain drain as well.

This is so frustrating. I have been blaming it on the prednisone, but then i blame everything on the pred. I'm also on methotrexate, so who knows what's causing it. Regardless, know that you definitely are not alone.

For what it's worth, this started for me when I started CellCept. I have been off prednisone for almost a year. Now off CellCept and on methotrexate and had my second Rituxan infusion Monday.

I was crazy as a bat during those few months on 40-60mg of prednisone. Fortunately most of the symptoms subsided, but my short-term memory still causes problems. Supposedly the steroid-induced cognitive problems are reversible, so I hope I'm not disappointed when/if I finally get off prednisone.

This is from a Mayo Clinic article on the Psychiatric Adverse Effects of Corticosteroids:

Cognitive deficits, particularly declarative or verbal memory deficits, have been well documented during both long- and short-term corticosteroid therapy. Deficits during short-term therapy are consistent with hippocampal dysfunction and occur with reversible atrophy of hippocampal neurons.13-15 New declarative memory deficiencies may emerge after only 4 to 5 days of dexamethasone or prednisone therapy.16 These disturbances appear to be dose dependent and reversible with corticosteroid discontinuation.

www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/81/10/1361.full

Thanks for the info from the Mayo Clinic site. I usually read everything there but didn't think to look this up. Well, I guess it's another lovely side effects of the prednisone - good to know I'm not really dumb. :o) And that it's not permanent - well, don't know if I'll ever get totally off the prednisone so maybe I will stay dumb.

I have this problem all the time and was told it's because of my fibromylagia. I guess it's called the fibro-fog. I forget things and say the wrong things all the time. You aren't alone.

Weird how it affects people, and isn't always dependent on the type of medication. I take Cellcept and prednisone - but the Cellcept is recent - the word problems and memory problems significantly pre-date that. Good to know it's not coma brain. :o)

did your memory come back or is it a struggle???

My mind is very clear, until i am on very high dose steroids, then it races so fast i miss some things. I need to keep notes to remind me. I am very able to do things, just not to keep the train of thought clear from beginning to end. Kind of like being hyper alert. Once i get down to 15 mg, i am much more myself.