<p>I’m just on the wrong side of 60 and obviously I’m experiencing numerous changes. eg when I go to the gym, I have a little log book that lists what weights I need to set on the various machines, and there’s been a decline when I check at what the values were 5-10 years ago. </p>
<p>The event that’s alarming me the most is a tangible memory loss that I’ve begun to notice in the last year. There are people who I used to see at least once a week, and now 4-5 years after they retired, their names would suddenly escape me. There are songs that I really liked and were popular in, say, the 90s that I just can’t name the artist any more. There are words in my mother tongue (that I don’t use much here), eg. “watermelon” that suddenly escape me. Same with names of good friends of my kids when they were in HS several years ago, even the name of of the wife of a good friend. I feel this is much more now than a year ago, and am not sure if it’s because it’s real or if it’s because I never focused on this issue in the past. I tried to see if it’s the near-term memory that’s more affected or if it is the distant memories, and I can’t find a pattern.</p>
<p>I’ll bring it up with my PCP on my next annual and I’m not sure where that will go. Am I over-reacting? If I google early signs of Alz or dementia, they usually describe significantly more severe symptoms than what I have, but does it mean I’m in a “really-early” stage or am I just being paranoid? </p>
<p>It never hurts to ask your doctor. I’m on the “right side” of 50 still and have a few of those “symptoms”. I think our “hard drives” got so full that it takes longer to retrieve the needed info by reshuffling the “files”.</p>
<p>Skipping lightly over the subject of hard drives and returning to the question of memory, I’ve noticed it too at the age of 63. When watching Jeopardy I know the answer, I can see everything about it in my mind but I just can’t spit it out. A lot of the time I can get to it peripherally and I’ll say to whoever is watching with me, “the guy who wrote the song that was a big hit for the Monkees,” or some such, and three questions later it will come to me–Neil Diamond! It’s kind of scary but not yet alarming if that makes sense. My mother spiraled through some kind of dementia for a decade before she died so I really don’t want to think about the memory thing too much (because after all what is to be done about it?) I haven’t even thought to mention to my doctor.</p>
<p>The doctors have specific tests they can do to determine if it’s a problem or just normal aging. Good luck.</p>
<p>Wellspring, I’m totally in agreement with you about watching Jeopardy. The exact same thing happens to me. It makes me realize that Jeopardy is a young person’s game, given the time constraints. I can recall things – just not at lightening fast speed.</p>
<p>Me too, especially with names (people and plants) and Jeopardy questions. I think the only thing to do is to continually try new things, exercise, and stay active.</p>
<p>Wellspring, how old was your mother when she died? Mine was 81, and just starting to forget things, but only minor stuff. </p>
<p>My mother, who was always the smartest person in the room, died at 85. In retrospect, the dementia probably started about twelve years earlier but she was really good at covering it up (“I’m just not interested in that anymore,” she say about cooking or reading or jigsaw puzzles) and we, the rest of the family were in denial. “If she’d just take her diabetes medicine the way she should, if she’d just get more excercise, if she’d just cooperate,” we’d say. By the end her only emotion was annoyance and her only communication was to wave something away for no and shrug her shoulders for yes.</p>
<p>I’m 62 with the same issues, but i also know and use things I didn’t know 20 years ago; I think my “working memory” is only slightly diminished. </p>
<p>My mother told her PCP that she had started not remembering where she left her car keys. Doctor told her that unless she found them in the freezer consistently, not to worry. </p>
<p>A close relative was experiencing similar symptoms (as do I sometimes) and her doctor said that they were normal signs of aging…not remembering where you left the keys is normal; seeing a key and not remembering what it’s for is a sign that it may be something more serious.</p>
<p>It’s possible it’s the normal we aren’t paying enough attention sort of memory loss, but it may be that you’ll get an unhelpful answer like IxnayBob’s doctor gave his mother. My mil’s dementia began with her not being able to retrieve words. I remember she could come up with the word for pizza once. All the early incidents were easy to brush off. It was the accumulation and eventually the scary ones that finally made us realize there was a serious issue.</p>
<p>I have always had weird memory issues – misplacing things, drawing blanks, and bad with names. I don’t know how I’ll tell if I am getting Alzheimer’s! I suppose frequency would be a clue. If it is happening much more than it used to. So far, it doesn’t seem to be. One thing that I have noticed is that other people my age (who used to seem sharper) seem to be at my level now, forgetting things. That is kind of disturbing to me, because I can’t rely on others my age to remember things for me the way I used to! </p>
<p>I am listening to Pimsleur in the car all the time currently. I heard that learning a second language was a way to help with memory issues. It is kind of amazing how many times I have to repeat a lesson to <em>get it</em>, but it is happening, I am learning, so as long as I can learn, there is hope. I hope. Exercise is another helpful thing. Just a question – Have you changed anything in your life? Taking a new prescription, maybe? That’s another thing that can affect memory. Good luck to you. </p>
<p>Both my wife and I tend to screw up things more frequently in recent years.</p>
<p>Recently, we needed to transfer money from account A to B, and then from B to C. What we ended up doing was to transfer X amount of money from A to B and then the same X amount of money from B back to A which undid our first transaction. We caught this mistake after a couple of days. Fortunately, no “damage” had been done because we always pay bills slightly ahead of their due days.</p>
<p>We keep several accounts because we once learned that it may be better to establish a “firewall account” from which we pay our bills online automatically. But we now find that it is too tedious to manage this “system.”</p>
<p>Consider what you are not remembering. People you haven’t seen for years, words you haven’t used in years, songs likewise not in the forefront of your brain for a long time. Check with your doctor on your next visit but what you seem to be describing is material you don’t use everyday and therefore your brain has put in storage and the links to it are not what they used to be. By now we have accumulated so many decades of information and memories it is no wonder all of it isn’t immediately accessible. Consider how your memory for currently needed/used information is. People you see now, songs you’ve heard recently, words you use…</p>
<p>I would be more worried if I could remember remote events clearly but have trouble accessing recently acquired information.</p>
<p>You can check with the doctor, but I think you’re experience is rather common.</p>
<p>I have great trouble recalling peoples names I know if I see them approaching as I walk down the sidewalk. Its as though my memory disengages if I am close enough to speak to someone. They say “hi dadx” and I say how ya doing chief, or some other lame reply. About ten steps after they pass, I think…“that was Tom”. It happens more than I’d like to have it happen.</p>
<p>I also find I think about someone who I know or knew fairly well, and I draw a blank on their last name. It usually comes to me, but randomly, often a day later. </p>
<p>Many neurologists offer free memory screenings. They take under 15 minutes. The not-for-profit senior facility I work for offers them once a month. You wouldn’t believe how many calls we get where the caller says “I think I made an appointment for a memory screening but I’m not sure, and if I did, I don’t remember what time it was for.”</p>
<p>As an adult with ADHD, I tend to be memory challenged to begin with, but it gets worse when I’m stressed or tired, especially as I get older. My husband laughed out loud the other day when I announced “I forgot to take my medication because I forgot to take my medication.” </p>
<p>There are a whole host of things that can affect memory, including worry about memory loss. I’m sure you’ll feel much better once you’ve had the chance to have the issue assessed and consult with your doctor about what, if anything, you should do to address it. </p>