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Original poster

Scattered brain

21 replies

letsgetbackto2019 · 09/02/2023 04:46

Since the beginning of the new year I am basically unable to remember anything. Have to write reminders for the most mundane things, planner in the kitchen, alarm notes on the phone, I’m trying to cope with all possible strategies but:

  • if I think about having to do something while driving and can’t note it down, it’s lost when I get to the destination. Or worse, I know I have thought about something but don’t remember what 10 minutes later
  • if I’m thinking of 2 tasks, by the end of the first I can’t remember the second. Or if DH asks me something half way through, I then forget about both.
  • Often I can’t remember names or words which I know that I know.
  • At work I struggle to concentrate and yesterday even did the same task twice and only at the end I realised I had done it the day before
  • Every time I put down something, a few minutes later I can’t remember where

And similar.

I am 41, with a SEN 5 yo pre-diagnosed with ADHD (I don’t think I have it as all this is very recent and I have been the queen of planning and focusing all my life). Never lost the baby weight and been taking sertraline for 5 years after PND. Eating ok as trying to lose weight. Not drinking or smoking.

Worried about my 91 yo grandma who is dying and having to find a flight at short notice (I’m from continental Europe and massively attached to her so not an option to miss funeral), reorganise work and appointments, ask DS’s school for absence etc.

Had COVID first time before Christmas and the words thing started immediately after but the rest is very recent, DH noticed by himself and bought me omega 3 supplements but the situation is degenerating quickly.

Should I worry?

OP posts:
Original poster
letsgetbackto2019 · 09/02/2023 04:46

Oh well, and let’s not forget the 4 am wake ups 😅

OP posts:
adhdpunchbag · 09/02/2023 05:45

Don't dismiss ADHD.

The fact you mention planning and focusing may mean that you may have recognised that you have a real need to do this or things go to pot.

Given your age it may be that you are entering peri-menopause and as oestrogen levels are dropping it's making the ADHD symptoms worse.

Or it's maybe just peri-menopause that's the reason for your current struggles?

adhdpunchbag · 09/02/2023 05:48

Plus you've an awful lot on your plate at the moment. Be kind to yourself. Either way ADHD/menopause it's not you and there are things that can help. Speak to your GP.

Original poster
letsgetbackto2019 · 09/02/2023 05:56

Thanks - so do you really think it’s worth for me to get checked? Fighting to get through to the GP for something non urgent is something I’d rather avoid unless necessary 😅

My periods are still normal.

OP posts:
ToDoListAddict · 09/02/2023 08:34

I got bad brain fog after having covid but it did get better after a few weeks.
But definitely worth talking to your GP as could also be ADHD or peri-menopause

Original poster
letsgetbackto2019 · 09/02/2023 09:12

thanks @ToDoListAddict it looks like we might have something in common 😅will wait end of Feb in case it’s still post-Covid and then see…

OP posts:
Friarclose · 09/02/2023 22:04

Perimenopause? I'm 40 and have quite similar symptoms, nothing showed on tests so Dr's put it down to peri.

ethermint · 09/02/2023 22:08

stress can cause memory issues, also something called "functional neurological disorder" which means a generalised condition they can't put their finger on a physical cause that comes and goes - I have it sometimes when stressed that I am more forgetful. Could be this? How are your B vitamin levels - get them checked and take a multi B supplement in case.

ethermint · 09/02/2023 22:09

Also low B12 I think can cause issues like this potentially? It could be pernicious anaemia which is low b12 can cause memory loss

ethermint · 09/02/2023 22:10
  • if it is pernicious anaemia you may require injections of B12
notsosoftanymore · 09/02/2023 22:12

My daughter in her 30s had your symptoms. She was terrified it was early dementia and it turned out to be pernicious anaemia, she has monthly injections of B12 now and forever more.

Cakeandcoffee93 · 09/02/2023 22:12

Oh my god I’ve found my calling! I have a 3 year old and I’ve been on setraline before and after having her. Oh my god my brain some days I am literally you. I cry with the word recall, the sentence muddling, the memory problems, asking twice etc. if I don’t do something there and then it’s gone.
but it got worse when I had my daughter. I don’t think it’s adhd- I think it’s setraline!! If you overdose on it you literally have memory problems
would I rather forget things then have bad anxiety/ depression- yes!
i would trade a forgetful day any day.
honestly I’m 30 and was worrying it was early onset dementia at one point.

VerveClique · 09/02/2023 22:19

Go and see your granny while she’s alive. Take unpaid parental leave from work to do it if you need to. I imagine your DS is primary school age. Don’t worry about taking him out of school.

Or even better, get your DP to take a week off to sort the kids and you go alone to see your family. You’ll never regret it. Have some reset time when you’re there too.

SoCunningYouCanStickATailOnItAndCallItAFox · 09/02/2023 22:25

My friend had similar after a dose of COVID, she was really worried and struggled to shake it off, always been really healthy (super fit too) in the end it lifted with vit supplements D, B(12 I think) and magnesium and zinc. The illness had depleted her, Eddie she'd never suffered low nutrition issues before.
She got back to her old self once she'd topped herself up again.

SoCunningYouCanStickATailOnItAndCallItAFox · 09/02/2023 22:25

Eddie = despite

Original poster
letsgetbackto2019 · 10/02/2023 05:04

Thanks everyone for reassuring me that there might be other causes than early dementia!

Re: sertraline, I have been on 50 mg until last March then upped to 100, but it’s all quite recent and it’s not the highest dose anyway so I really hope it’s not that as whenever I have tried to wean myself off I have failed…

Off to look at multi-B supplements. If I remember well (ha! But this is from last year, so…) I should have an unopened box from Holland and Barrett when I bought it for DS struggling to eat post-tonisillitis and they persuaded me to buy two with an offer 🙄

OP posts:
TibetanTerrah · 10/02/2023 05:45

Just some tips while you work out what it is and put some things in place.

You can get voice recorder apps that are voice activated*. Basically they're always on but don't record unless noise/speaking is heard. So when you're in the car or can't write stuff down and think of something, you can say it out loud and your phone should pick it up for later.

A friend of mine picked up this tip after a concussion and her memory was shot for a while. Connect the thing you want to remember to a fixed routine close to when you want to do it. So you're driving to the supermarket and think, shit, I must remember to hang the washing out when I get home. You know when you get back, you'll go to the fridge. Picture vividly trying to open the fridge but you can't because the washing line is wrapped tightly around it, or you open the fridge and all the wet washing tumbles out all over you.

It literally takes half a second to see this ridiculous image in your minds eye, but it a)forces you to concentrate on the thing you want to remember, prioritising its importance to your brain, and b) makes the fridge act as a trigger reminder for the other unrelated job you want to do.

*I suggested a voice activated recorder so you don't have to remember to set it to record every time you get in the car 🙃

WinterFoxes · 10/02/2023 05:58

OP It could be linked to a number of things you mention.
Post viral fatigue from Covid, coupled with stress about family could do this. Slow build side effects from anti-depressants can definitely have this effect (as is weight gain). And it's a classic symptom of peri-meno (as are night waking and weight gain). I'd get that checked first.

Can you start to very slowly titrate off the sertraline?

Also, I strongly recommend taking vitamin d spray, b vitamin complex, magnesium and herbal iron supplements. These combined help with brain fog, as does l-tyrosine supplement.

WinterFoxes · 10/02/2023 06:00

@TibetanTerrah i love your visual connection aid, will definitely try that.

WorriedMillie · 10/02/2023 06:15

Hi OP. I had similar recently, amongst other symptoms. I’d put it down to stress, after a difficult year, but I did worry that I was starting with early onset dementia, or similar
It turns out, like other posters have suggested, that I had severe B12 deficiency. I’ve had a loading dose (6 jabs) and the fog is beginning to lift!

dizzydizzydizzy · 10/02/2023 09:27

Hi OP....... definitely call your GP. You're not right and that is what they are there for. Hope you get to the bottom of it soon.

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