Just shooting in the dark here, when I was as yet undiagnosed with Diabetes, I had confusion and had trouble stringing together thoughts and sentences. NEXT-- I've read that if you are low in Potassium? Are you on Lyrica? If you are not hydrated, there are so many things to investigate. Is your blood sugar too high? In the meantime keep your notes with you at all times and if you falter, stare at your notes until you have your mental ducks in a row. Nobody will begrudge you the time as long as they think you are working on their behalf. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

Hi Phil,

Sorry I missed your introduction, pain issues kept me away for a week.

I agree with Ken over this immediate problem, use notes and take your time referring to them - no-one will mind. That will get you through to the tests, results and treatment over the coming months.

I believe that, while there is obviously an issue, your stress and worry will be aggravating your condition - especially with the concern that the thing you are passionate about may be part of the cause. You have a supportive family, now you have us, too. Make full use of both to relieve your anxiety and any other Mood issues you feel yourself slipping towards.

Please do not fixate on possibly having Alzheimer's, there is no need to worry unduly before the conclusive tests. Only time will tell and you can deal with whatever comes at the time.

Dave.

Hi Phil. I understand your concern. When my symptoms started and were especially bad I felt like my body was under attack, including my mind. I could not think of words, I had brain fog, i forgot what I was doing or saying and it was scary. In my heart of hearts I do still feel that when I have a bad attack my brain is effected. Perhaps it's because it's hard to concentrate on anything else besides what's going on inside myself, perhaps because of the poor sleep I get when symptoms are bad, the medication I am on as some have side effects that mess with memory (i think you wrote you're not on any meds of any kind for anything?) My suggestion for right now is if you don't meditate start and try to be more present when you are doing any tasks. In other words stop multi-tasking, which I know as a teacher is difficult at best. I also found that when I wasn't feeling well I would tell my students. Not details or information about the illness, just general. I found that they were wonderful with me in these situations and it helped.

Thank you I really appreciate your help. I will take your advice and try to focus on one task at a time.

Thanks Dave, good advice I will try

Good Morning Phil

Just a thought, but would your Principal be open to allowing a Teacher's Aide in your classes?

Hi Lara, yes I'm very lucky that we have a teacher aide 4 days a week in our workshops. I spoke to him last week after diagnoses and filled him in on what problems I am having. Thanks for the reply.

Hi Phil, I am sorry you are having the cognitive issues. I know how scary it is to feel like you are losing your mind. During my worst time, it was pretty bad for me. I still have some word retrieval issues at times and names are very hard, but as far as the rest, it isn't so bad anymore. I hope that what you have settles down and you get past the brain fog.
Please keep us updated and reach out if you need help.
Also, would you mind telling us what tests your dr. runs for toxins? It's always good to see how creative each others doctors are when trying to figure this out and compare notes.

Thanks heaps for the support. All he has said is that he needs to run blood tests to rule out toxic and metabolic causes. After I have the blood tests I'll find out more specifics.
Thanks again

Thank you so much for your support. I had a txt last night from my doctor saying they need to run blood tests to rule out toxic and metabolic causes.
It will be good to get things rolling to hopefully get some answers.