Memory problems

[niceupthedance]

I imagine I'm not alone in suffering memory issues in peri menopause, just feeling a bit concerned it might be something... worse.

I feel quite zen sometimes as I can't remember what I've just said, what I did yesterday or last weekend - I guess this is the brain fog part of it

But I also mix up words eg call a key a knife or potato a sausage, very regularly. My DC think this is hilarious.

Asked GP whether hrt may help with this and my other symptoms and got told to try herbal remedies. So are there any herbal remedies for memory problems ? And also is there any one else out there with similar memory issues in peri ? I find it quite debilitating tbh.

Hi welcome to your new normal lol I've been like this for about 4 years now, some days better than others. I just take each day as it comes and if I forget who or what i'm talking about or too, I just make a joke about it and try not to stress myself out as that makes it worse (for me anyway).

I'm not on any medication as my male GP doesn't believe in HRT (but that's a story for another day). Not tried anything herbal as of yet but there is a good selection in the Health Shops to try.

Good luck with the herbal remedies and if you find something that works please let me know

Please don't just assume it is hormonal. Ask your gp for a full review and further tests or neuro review if this is a new change. To forget every day things and not rember what you did yesterday is unusual ime, I don't want to scare you but I would certainly ask to be seen f2f.

Could you make time to meditate?
I think that is helping me. And cutting back on wine (boring).

(DH is selling Honey and unbeknownst to me put a sticker saying ‘Honey’ on the gate.)

Separately I came home from the shop past said sticker, got jam out the carrier bag and informed Ds here is his honey.

They both looked at me with puzzled faces as I repeated here is your honey ds, you know the honey you asked me to get etc.waving about the pot of strawberry jam.

My hot flushes have recently almost stopped and I am wondering if this is the next stage or something else (currently v stressed arranging a funeral so may be that).

Herbal solution really? I have no idea sorry.

Yes, I call the kids the dog’s name and vice versa.
I can’t bring to mind the most obvious name for things. It’s called getting old I’m afraid !!
I treat it by drinking more Prosecco !

My mind turns to spaghetti when i am anxious, i muddle my words and can't complete simple tasks. Getting worse in my 50s 😱

I'm glad I'm in good company !

I stopped drinking ages ago I live a very boring lifestyle these days . I will try and get it checked out before I resign myself to the dreaded getting old though....

It's not your GP's role to deny you HRT. It's supposed to be a joint discussion and decision, as per current NICE and NHS guidelines.

Too many GPs seem oblivious to these. It's a real problem. My own current GP (hopefully not for much longer) is dreadful.

Anyway it could be a few things, though, going on with you, as pp have said. You need blood tests, not Holland and Barrett.

I've only seen omega-3 and occaionally ginkgo biloba suggested for menopausal memory issues.

I'm already taking Omega 3 and star oil and haven't tried ginkgo biloba yet.

TBH I've always struggle occaionally for right words for items - I'm dsylexic - and I think it's exacerbating that in me and I've not had any issues with wider memory yet.

i would try GP again about getting checked over properly to rule out anything else.

I think that mixing related words is often just a sign of a frazzled and overloaded brain. So for example, mixing up your children's names, or saying washing machine instead of dishwasher, or bowl when you meant to say plate.

If the words are completely unrelated, such as Jupiter instead of dishwasher, or roundabout instead of plate, it can sometimes be more of a cause for concern.

The not remembering what you just said, or what you did yesterday - do you find you're often multitasking, doing one thing on autopilot whilst thinking about something else, not really "present" whilst watching a movie because your mind is distracted with other thoughts? If so, this can interfere with what you remember. And if, as you say, your life really is very boring, it can be difficult to remember specific days if you tend to do the same thing every day. These past 18 months have been bad like that, with far fewer of the usual interesting social or cultural occasions that we tend to peg our memories on.

Try to reduce unnecessary stress in your life if possible. Get more sleep and plenty of exercise.

@randomlyLostInWales that's a good point re dyslexia, I'm dyspraxic which also comes with poor working memory issues... hmmm

@WaltzingToWalsingham and @SpindleWhorl thank you for the advice.

I get this occasionally, it's also something I get when underactive thyroid wise so I'd ask for a full review.

I think it's also a peri thing though!

I found it especially bad the weeks after the first AZ jab, v tired and brain foggy too, mild headaches. Improved after about 5 weeks.

@niceupthedance did you find out what was going on please. I can totally forget what I did one day a week before and even with reminders I still have no recollection x