The 40's and memory (1 Viewer)

[Mad Cow]

So for most of my life, my memory has been fantastic.  Great recall, could remember people's and patient's names easily.  The mind responded well.  And then the 40's hit and it has been a slow change.  Words take a few milliseconds more at times to come to mind.  I have to think about people's names, etc.  Started about 43 years old for me and frankly, it can be a little scary for me.  My maternal grandparents both suffered from Alzheimer's and so that is always at the top of my mind when I find myself searching for a name.  I have found myself thinking of something, going to the next room and cannot remember why I went there in the first place.

I do not think I am alone in this but wondered if any other FBG's are hitting this or have hit it?  What have you done to help with it?  I know exercise helps and I already run 25-30 miles a week and do some biking to and from work.  No alcohol at all and that will not change.  I do drink diet sodas and know that can contribute and go on spurts where I drop them and drink water, etc.

Now what was I talking about again?

 

[kutta]

Yeah, same deal here. I'm 51 and mine started going a bit in my mid 40's. It's a little weird to just not remember things real well any more, but I'm not worried about it. Seems like there's less clutter up there now, so that's the good.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Dude, a couple years ago I was getting pissed getting b/c I needed to get dressed to get my son to school and I couldn't find my belt for my pants.  Running around the house and just fuming.  After about 10mins of looking, my  8 year son looks at me and says "uh, Dad, do you mean the one that you have on?!!".  I am only 41 now, and this is only going to get worse.  

That said, I can still remember the hell out of movie trivia and other odd stuff.  There is just no room for the day to day #### anymore. 

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

49 here...and...eh...what was your question again?

Seriously, I have noticed changes; mostly in remembering words and names...like you mention above. But, I'm not really worried too much. I think it is normal...at least as far as my experienced memory issues go.

Plus, like kutta implies...the less ya know, the less ya have to worry about!

 

[OrtonToOlsen]

Mine's still as sharp as a fiddle.

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

Mine's still as sharp as a fiddle.

A healthy diet of squirrel meat is my secret.

 

[ex-ghost]

Same here. 45 and new history of ALZ in the family. My biggest issue is not being able to explain, quickly, what I mean. Like telling my kids to get something out of the basement, I mean closet, I mean drawer, #######it I mean fridge. I can visualize what I mean in my head, but get flustered when I cannot name the damn item. New for me in the past 2 years or so.

 

[RokNRole]

33 here. Can't remember #### but that's by choice. I've only had memory problems in the last 1-2 years thanks to alcohol. I spent my entire life being unable to forget anything which stinks. I long for the day my brain degenerates to the point I can't remember anything and can live in peace with no regrets.

Alzheimers sounds like a blessing.

 

[Glass Joe]

I'm seeing the same thing. My kids are even commenting on how bad my memory is. It's actually kind of scary.

On a tangent, what's the story with you and alcohol?

 

[El Floppo]

Yep. 49... word and short term memory recall have been in decline the last 5 or so years. 

This thread is actually a good PSA. I've had a bunch of concussions and had been worried about those creating the memory issues, so asked my Dr at my last check up. Nope. Getting old. Sucks.

 

[Sabertooth]

Yep. 49... word and short term memory recall have been in decline the last 5 or so years. 

This thread is actually a good PSA. I've had a bunch of concussions and had been worried about those creating the memory issues, so asked my Dr at my last check up. Nope. Getting old. Sucks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey4WSb-BVDQ

 

[AAABatteries]

I came in here to post something but forgot what I was going to say.

 

[Ned]

I'm 38 and I've noticed I've had that 'on the tip of my tongue' moment more often recently.  Frustrating...

 

[KCitons]

So for most of my life, my memory has been fantastic.  Great recall, could remember people's and patient's names easily.  The mind responded well.  And then the 40's hit and it has been a slow change.  Words take a few milliseconds more at times to come to mind.  I have to think about people's names, etc.  Started about 43 years old for me and frankly, it can be a little scary for me.  My maternal grandparents both suffered from Alzheimer's and so that is always at the top of my mind when I find myself searching for a name.  I have found myself thinking of something, going to the next room and cannot remember why I went there in the first place.

I do not think I am alone in this but wondered if any other FBG's are hitting this or have hit it?  What have you done to help with it?  I know exercise helps and I already run 25-30 miles a week and do some biking to and from work.  No alcohol at all and that will not change.  I do drink diet sodas and know that can contribute and go on spurts where I drop them and drink water, etc.

Now what was I talking about again?

This. It pisses me off. 

I've gotten to the point that I use my phone to set reminders for everything. If I don't record things, then there's a 75% change I will forget. Luckily it seems like I will remember what it was the next day.

So 90% of the time, I can remember the 25% of things I forget, 24 hours late. 

 

[PIK95]

It started for me in my early 20's.  I blame high school football.  I was puking from hits on a weekly basis it seemed.  

  I was at the field last week where we have multiple practices running at the same time and I'm in charge.  I needed to find this specific coach. I was scanning every field for him but so just couldn't find him. I was getting a bit frustrated and said to my buddy "where the **** is coach ****!"  They both started laughing as he was standing right next to me the whole time.  That seems to happen alot lately.

Edited to add I have great memories of details from when I was a kid in the 80's.  Weird. 

 

[NutterButter]

Great ideas on how to mitigate this guys.  Keep em coming.

 

[Buzzbait]

If misery enjoys company then I'm digging this thread. 

I'm 51 & started experiencing short term memory issues, searching for words etc about 5 years ago. I have family history of ALZ on both sides of my family so it scares the crap out of me. So much so that I brought it up to my doctor two years ago. After describing symptoms he told me "Yeah, that's pretty normal." I used to be razor sharp so if this is a snippet of what's to come I'm not looking forward to it. 

Sorry to hear you guys are also walking into a room with no clue why buts it's comforting to know others are also experiencing the same. 

 

[prosopis]

I write down a lot of stuff now.

 

[gianmarco]

2027 thread: "The 50's and urinating"

I'm in my 50's now and I'm getting up to go to pee constantly throughout the night and it's just a little dribble. 

Good thing FBG has a thread archive or we'd never remember what we were like.

 

[Godsbrother]

Nope I don't have this problem and frankly I don't see why this is a topic in the cooking forum.

 

[SWC]

Mine's still as sharp as a fiddle.

A healthy diet of squirrel meat is my secret.

i have no idea why but that made me laugh out loud brohan holy smokes that was great take that to the bank bromigo

 

[ChiefD]

Yep. Started right about 40 and downhill from there. 

Kind of makes me wonder about normal stuff people go through when they are younger and the relationship to brain damage. Me - played competitive soccer and played in college. Tons of head balls and collisions.

So when you hear about CTE and football players, no doubt there is correlation there. But how much of us actually have some potential CTE issues. Or is it a combo of CTE and just normal aging. 

Either way, my memory sucks.

 

[SWC]

for whatever reason this is one thing i am lucky about my brain memory is still pretty good now having metal in basically all of my major joints and having it difficult to fully straighten my fingers most days well that part of things is not really going along so well take that to the bank bromigos 

 

[boots11234]

Thanks for such starting this thread.  47 and thought it was just me.  Glad I'm. OT alone.  Started a year or so ago. Need to stop the booze and start exercising. 

 

[GroveDiesel]

38 here with a grandfather that had Alzheimers. The increasing frequency that I can't think of the right word for something definitely has me a little spooked. 

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Hmm...  I'm 57, and Alzheimer's runs on my mother's side of the family.  I seem to be doing all right here.  Maybe I take after my dad.

I sure the hell hope so.  Alzheimer's sucks, right up there with cancer.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I'm 45 and yeah, I find myself occasionally unable to remember a name that I know I know.  It's a little weird, but nothing that I'm concerned about.  No history of Alzheimers -- I think it's just my memory slowing down a little with age.  Sounds like it's not just me.

 

[belljr]

Part of me is slightly worried about the number of concussions I've had but I'm sure it's mostly age.

 

[belljr]

When I really notice it is when I forget normal words.

For example,. We'll be talking at work and I'll try to say I had to replace the head gasket in my car.

I'll go I had to replace the :blank: :blank: , you know the piece that goes under the blah blah blah

 

[Uruk-Hai]

55 and my father died a little over three years ago from dementia (diagnosed in 2010). Like many here, it scares me when I can't immediately recall things any more. Long term is mostly still ok, but short term has slipped.

 

[belljr]

My wife's maternal grandmother and wife's father died from Alzheimer and dementia.....

that is the scary part for her

 

[Statorama]

My biggest issue is not being able to explain, quickly, what I mean.

It feels good to know I'm not the only one going through this.  I hate having to fumble for words, or even worse having to use descriptive terms in place of the name of an item.  "You know, that thing that your air conditioner in the car uses that makes the air cold....do you mean freon?.....yeah, freon".

My memory has certainly gotten worse as I've aged, especially when reading books.  I lean on my wife quite a bit for "hey, are we doing anything this weekend?" type stuff.  Luckily as we're getting older the technology is getting better "Siri, remind me on Friday at 8am to call the mechanic"

 

[The Noid]

Same here. 45 and new history of ALZ in the family. My biggest issue is not being able to explain, quickly, what I mean. Like telling my kids to get something out of the basement, I mean closet, I mean drawer, #######it I mean fridge. I can visualize what I mean in my head, but get flustered when I cannot name the damn item. New for me in the past 2 years or so.

This is me. 43 and have noticed this more often in the last couple of years. This thread is making me feel better. Sounds like it's just normal getting older stuff and not brain-eating black mold spores. 

 

[TheFanatic]

All of this. 44. Mess up my kids names all the time. Have to set reminders for everything. My memory is ####. 

 

[Workhorse]

45 next month and I've had some weird memory lapses, like leaving my laptop at the TSA scanner at Newark airport earlier this summer. 

 

[GroveDiesel]

I wonder how much using electronic devices all the time affects this. I know I've read several stories about how electronic device usage degrades our memory in certain ways.

 

[gianmarco]

I find that I'll start talking to someone and then start trailing off before I even.........

 

[Doug B]

I came in here to post something but forgot what I was going to say.

Memory is the second thing to go :(  

 

[Jobber]

45 here. I've had theae little memory and 'tip of my tounge' issues since probably my late 30s. I have dimentia and Alz history on both sides of my family. 

Maybe I should pick up crosswords or learn Spanish or something.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

I came in here to post something but forgot what I was going to say.

Best post in a while!

 

[mr. furley]

So for most of my life, my memory has been fantastic.  Great recall, could remember people's and patient's names easily.  The mind responded well.  And then the 40's hit and it has been a slow change.  Words take a few milliseconds more at times to come to mind.  I have to think about people's names, etc.  Started about 43 years old for me and frankly, it can be a little scary for me.  My maternal grandparents both suffered from Alzheimer's and so that is always at the top of my mind when I find myself searching for a name.  I have found myself thinking of something, going to the next room and cannot remember why I went there in the first place.

I do not think I am alone in this but wondered if any other FBG's are hitting this or have hit it?  What have you done to help with it?  I know exercise helps and I already run 25-30 miles a week and do some biking to and from work.  No alcohol at all and that will not change.  I do drink diet sodas and know that can contribute and go on spurts where I drop them and drink water, etc.

Now what was I talking about again?

years ago, i worked with a group of guys that were all in their 40s or older. i was 21 - 26. 

one of the guys and i got to be good friends. he used to complain all the time about his memory. got really worried about it for reasons similar to yours. constantly searching for words, forgetting things that he thought should be tip of the tongue.

he wound up going to the doctor because he feared early onset Alzheimer's or a brain tumor... something.

said he went to the doctor and explained his symptoms & fears.. laid out his diet and daily routine, etc. 2 young kids, 2 hour round trip commute, work 50+ hours a week, wife working 2nd shift, zero down time.

doctor says "well, you're 40+ and you have a lot going on. age + stress makes us forget things. we'll run the tests but this is perfectly normal for a man your age with kids and a busy life".

tests came back totally clean. nothing concerning.

i've always remembered that conversation. now that i'm 41 i'm seeing the same onset of memory problems. it's weird but there are so many things competing for space in the brain that it's understandable some of the less necessary #### is harder to recall.

 

[jamny]

I'm 53 and never really reached a point where memory loss was noticeable. Maybe because I never had a great memory to begin with.

My issues have more to do with staying focused and on task. I think that comes with taking on too many projects, which wasn't a problem when I was younger. My ability to multi-task has really gone down.

 

[Brony]

Mine hasn't been too bad but I feel like such a dope if I meet someone new. I have to ask about 6 to 10 times before their name clicks. Didn't used to be like this. 

 

[Doug B]

said he went to the doctor and explained his symptoms & fears.. laid out his diet and daily routine, etc. 2 young kids, 2 hour round trip commute, work 50+ hours a week, wife working 2nd shift, zero down time.

doctor says "well, you're 40+ and you have a lot going on. age + stress makes us forget things. we'll run the tests but this is perfectly normal for a man your age with kids and a busy life".

Yep. I identify with this a lot. I miss real down time.

 

[Copeman]

45, no memory issues.  I mean, I've always had a bad memory in regards to certain things, but it hasn't gotten worse.  What is getting worse, is my bedtime. Just 5 years ago I would stay up until 2am and get up for work at 7.  No issues.  Now I start conking out at 9 and have to go to bed by 10:30. Sucks. 

 

[Mad Cow]

I'm seeing the same thing. My kids are even commenting on how bad my memory is. It's actually kind of scary.

On a tangent, what's the story with you and alcohol?

 I am Mormon.

 

[Mad Cow]

Crazy thing is as others have said,  I can remember music,  movies,  sports, whatever from decades ago no problem.   I'd happily jettison my knowledge of 80s hair band trivia to not forget whyI walked into the darn room.

 

[Mad Cow]

On a side note, it has inspired me to write a book of sorts for my kids, ages 13, 17 and 20 now.  I want to write many of my thoughts,  experiences in life and with them and tell them how much I love them.   Plan on writing it until it just isn't in the noodle anymore and give it to them. 

 

[coyote5]

44 and experiencing lots of what others are describing in here.  My memory has never been great, but over the last 4-5 years the number of tip of my tongue, why did I walk in here again, what's his name again? type moments are happening with a lot more frequency.  So if nothing else this thread just makes me feel a bit better that it's not just me!

 

[kutta]

One thing I notice too is that I really enjoy reading, but I'll read a book, and a month later I can barely remember much of it. It's really weird. Sort of the same thing with movies. Which is cool because I can see movies I know I like a second time and still enjoy them.