I, too hate this one the most.
It makes me feel insignificant and useless to anyone else. I used to be able to speak in front of people clear and concise. I used to be able to train people easily, I was a good teacher. I understood things, I was a quick learner and good student.
Now I am just a big dope. It takes me seconds to process things that should be instant and hours to process things that should take minutes. I look at my 5th grade son's homework and my eyes start swimming and my brain starts doing the hokey pokey.

I hate feeling stupid and I really hate trying to cover that and keep people thinking I'm still smart. I say way too often, "**incoherent string of syllables, deep breath**I'm sorry. I'm not stupid, I swear..."
I think the worst part, which just happened to me this moring, is the people watching you, waitig for you to figure out what you are saying so they can figure it out. In front of my husband and a property manager this moring I was only trying to ask how long the waiting list was. It didn't come out that way, I tripped over my words, I'm pretty sure I made up a few words and threw in a "you know, the...thingies?" at the end. My hsband and the woman just sat there patiently watching me in silence as I got more flustered. How many times do you end these conversations with "Oh, just forget it..."

Ruthie

I hate cog fog with a passion. Just the other night at supper (we were out for youngest DS birthday) I was trying to say something and it kept coming out all wrong. It wasn't even coming out as a word! I was almost stuttering! My boys are great about defusing the situation and started acting like we were all playing charades. They'd say "okay...first word, two syllables" and we were all laughing before long. But they know how much it bothers me. I think that's why they try to make me laugh about it.

It's not that we're dumb. We know what we're trying to say. But our mouth just won't cooperate. I've stopped apologizing for myself and just keep on trying till I get it right....or till somebody makes me laugh. Usually the latter............

at the end of a long day at work, i stammer and stutter and every patient becomes 'thingy with the leg' or 'missie needs her whatever'. My colleagues just find it funny and i laugh it off as dementia. Being careful to turn my head away when i laugh in case they see my wonky smile and thing i've had a stroke.
there's one nurse i bump into some days and i know that she knows there's something up. i'm Darth Vadar when it comes to deflecting questions now...

There was this time when I could not for the life of me remember how to spell the word *shoe*. For days, no matter what I did with it, it looked off.

Dh says, well that's what spell check is for.



I'm not 4! I could spell shoe when I was 4. Here I was, 40, could not spell shoe.

I was ranting "I hate cog fog! I hate it!"

And he quips..."Cog fog? You probably have those Cogwell cogs. You should have gone with Spacely Sprockets."


He's lucky I didn't kill him.

I came across this article and thought I would not only share the link to the article with you all but the web site in general. mscare.org has some great info and I do refer to it often when I and searching for something.



Neuropsychologist
Kathleen L. Fuchs, PhD, ABPP-CN
It has been estimated that at least half of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience some
degree of cognitive dysfunction, which can negatively affect employment status and quality of life.
Many MS patients are referred for neuropsychological evaluation to assess their cognitive abilities.
This article describes the evaluation process and the role of the neuropsychologist on a multidiscipli-
nary MS health-care team. A neuropsychologist is trained in relationships between brain functioning
and behavior and can administer cognitive tests and provide feedback on the individual’s cognitive
strengths and weaknesses. The findings can be used to recommend specific types of compensation
strategies or other interventions that may help the patient maintain employment and independent
functioning.Int J MS Care.2009;11:32–37.

http://www.mscare.org/cmsc/images/jo...final_team.pdf