What we're the early signs of dementia?

[TheOldOakTree223]

I am 55 and recently I seem to struggle remembering recent conversations. I have also forgotten to do important tasks (like pay VAT bill) that I have not done before. I am worried about early onset dementia. If I were to go to a G P, what would they do?

Menopause can also cause symptoms of dementia.

Referral to the memory clinic..... blood test....urine test....memory test.....cognitive test....take a history

For my mum, it was forgetting words.
But the GPs and memory clinic said it was all normal aging for 5 years until they decided it was dementia after all and too late for medication to be any use.

There's loads of things that can affect your cognitive ability.

A GP can do a basic test & if need be refer you to a memory clinic.

I have adhd & would probably fail the test.

There also pandemic brain, which is the current situation affecting memory, etc. Due to lack of stimulation.

I'd talk to the GP.

For my nan it was self care and eating/sleeping at the right times. But as she lived alone the day to day stuff could have been there for a while and missed

For my DM it was a change in personality - she became disinhibited, often more fun and sometimes angry. She also developed a bit of a thing about gravy !. She didn't seem to loose words. although I know of others where this happened.

Talk to your GP

This is scary.

‘Scarby9

For my mum, it was forgetting words.
But the GPs and memory clinic said it was all normal aging for 5 years until they decided it was dementia after all and too late for medication to be any use’.

I have been forgetting words or saying an incorrect word in a conversation or I pause in the middle of speaking as I get distracted. My teens go mad with me for the latter and wind me up about the former. My dad had dementia. I am 56 and also menopausal too, so I was thinking it might be that but I am busy and often stressed.

To be fair, my mum also had B12 problems (undiagnosed for 3 years) and was under some stress, so it was hard for us to attribute a cause. But we and she knew it wasn't normal.
We all forget words sometimes. When I am very tired I lose all my nouns, for example. And that is definitely a post-menopausal thing.
But my mum was always really articulate and now she was worse than her friends. It was obvious to us thst something was happening, but it is difficult to keep telling someone who has steeled themself again to go to the doctors that, despite what the professionals say, her family think she might have dementia and she needs to go back to the doctors in the hope it can be caught early enough for treatment to slow decline.

For my parent it was an inability to find the correct word and a declining interest in things they’d previously loved. Also shuffling instead of walking.

I'm sure it's more about getting really confused than forgetting the odd word

Thank you all for your insights and comments. They have been very useful. I also thought it could be due to Menopause or as a result of Covid perhaps. I feel that I probably have undiagnosed ADD , which could be a factor. I seem to struggle to multi task these days.

For sil it was complaining about something in quite an angry way at a family party. She had always been the nicest, most easy going person and I hadn't seen her for six months so noticed the stark change in her personality. She was diagnosed shortly after and then we found out she'd been more forgetful and had vision problems.
Many symptoms can also be the same as stress, menopause, post-covid brain fog, or just having a lot on, though.