Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
I have just got off the phone with a nice woman from a singing group I am in. She was talking about an evening some months ago of which I have minimal memory. In fact when she started talking I thought I hadnt been there at all As she continued there was a dim glimmer of memory.
Over the time I have been on meds I have noticed a memory deterioration but have put it down to ageing. But pondering on all this I am wondering what part meds play. I am on mtx and prednisone.
What do you people out there think and experience in terms of memory and meds? Has anyone thought their memory has got worse? Is this the same as the sort of fuzziness that seems to hang around some days that was never there before RA?
Over the time I have been on meds I have noticed a memory deterioration but have put it down to ageing. But pondering on all this I am wondering what part meds play. I am on mtx and prednisone.
What do you people out there think and experience in terms of memory and meds? Has anyone thought their memory has got worse? Is this the same as the sort of fuzziness that seems to hang around some days that was never there before RA?
remember what I wanted to talk about. I also write things that have happened on my pocket calendar so I can recall them, like when I took the dry cleaning , bought sommething or called someone. Thank God for sticky notes!
I only sometimes feel like the world is going to fast, generally I can keep up to speed, as long as no one wants to know specific details, like names and dates.
I look at the books that my sister has for college for nursing, and cannot believe that it is possible for a person to remember all that stuff long enough to even get to class. I do like reading the anatomy and phisiology book though. I feel calmer and more at peace with it when I know how things are supposed to work, and what has happened that causes my symptoms. It does not make my IBS anybetter, but I feel more able to make good descions when I know what's going on. A cure, or a treatment that helped would be nice too!
I find names of things and people to be the worst. 2nd runner up is numbers. I was at my Mom's the other day, looking at all her beautiful flowers, and could only remember a few of them, and those names just popped into my head. a weird feeling, when my mind was totally blank on the name, and suddenly out comes a name that I don't know, when I think about it, where that came from or if it's anywhere near correct. I have to listen to phone messages 3-4 times to get the phone number down, because I can't write it fast enough before my memory of the numbers is gone.
It has gotten so bad that my husband no longer expects me to remember things, people, places....pretty much everything. And he knows that I don't know if he...can't finish that sentance, don't remember what I was going to say.
That selfish reassuring feeling of "at least it's not only me"..
Lots of phrases various people have used rang bell - wanting people to slow down, feeling not quite there and losing sentence thread half way through conversation.
I do feel really stupid sometimes.
Hmm up to four different reminder methods for some of you?? I too often forget my phone so that one's out but am off to buy sticky notes.
Some days are better than others and I am tending to think, especially after reading this, it might be the RA as much as the drugs.
But who knows? Thanks again for so many responses.
Hugs all round.
Suzi