Brain Freezes and Memory Issues
 

I had a brain freeze this morning. Really scary. I was completing an online form that asked for my home phone number and I totally could not remember what it was. :confused: I knew what my cell phone number was.....and my address and all the other info. But for the life of me I couldn't remember what my home number was. :eek:

Granted, I don't write it, type it or even think about it very often. Plus I never call it! :rolleyes: And when I tried to look it up in my own cell phone directory it was listed as "Home" and I had to search for the number. The cell finally displayed it. :rolleyes: As soon as I saw it I recognized and remembered it.

But it was so scary not being able to remember my own phone number. Kind of made me mad. :mad: :o

Yeah, that is very scary...and makes you feel vulnerable, too, I bet. When that happens, I think of my poor MIL and all of the difficulties she has trying to function now with Alz...makes my heart melt even more.

I have to FORCE myself to remember that not all of the cognitive stuff is MS. Everybody occasionally walks into a room and can't remember why, or suddenly can't remember a name or number you've known forever.

I have the brain freeze sometimes, but especially under stress. Someone would come into the Post Office and say, "Can I send this can of Spam via insured mail to Botswana?" and suddenly I couldn't even think where or how to find the answer. The person might have well have been speaking Martian.

What really upsets me is drawing a blank on an entire scenario...back to the Post Office again: someone would walk in and say, "We got the results back!" and I'd be totally blank, no idea what she was talking about. A biopsy? Pregnancy test? Application for a mortgage? And it wouldn't be some minor thing; it would be a major life event, and the person would have been SHOCKED to think I "forgot".

I got pretty good at faking my way through the freezes and blanks, but sometimes I was trapped. Boooo. :mad:

Once at work the GM asked me a question during a meeting and I just sat there with that "deer in the headlights" look. I did not know what he was talking about. And it was something I dealt with everyday. He may as well have asked me to do a calculus problem. :rolleyes: At that point in time the only other person at work who knew I had MS was my boss. I knew at that moment I needed to make plans for the future. A year later I was on SSDI and not working anymore. :(

I like old sci fi movies from the 50`s and 60`s, but at times the names of them and the actors in them escapes me.

:D As long as I can find my way home if I decide to go some where I am good!

There are three circumstances under which my brain just locks up:

1. When I'm caught by surprise. If someone suddenly walked up to me and said, "Quick! How much is 8 times 7?" or "What is your middle name?" I'd say, "uh...uh...uh..."

2. When there is a lot of peripheral noise/motion, such as after church with everybody milling around chatting, kids playing, etc. Someone will be asking me a question, and I know I'm supposed to respond, but I just lock up.

3. When I least expect it.

Oh, names are the worst for me. I'll be watching something and know I should know the name of the actor or actress....it's on the tip of my tongue.....but I can't think of it. Thank goodness for Google! I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the computer to find a name. Once I see it I remember it! :p

i know what you mean.
i have a lot of cognitive issues, especially with names. it's embarrassing.
and last nite i was going between 2 channels with the remote. every time i was on 1 channel i couldn't remember what the other was i was just watching. duh...

in other ways my thinking is still sharp and i bet yours is too.
try not to stress about it. that just makes it worse.

Sometimes I wonder, is it age or MS? But @!#$ it, I look good for an old bat :D

[QUOTE=Blessings2You;844641]

I have the brain freeze sometimes, but especially under stress. Someone would come into the Post Office and say, "Can I send this can of Spam via insured mail to Botswana?"

I may get brain freeze but I know I don't like Spam.

I've kept repeating my phone number over and over in my mind. :o I don't want to forget it again.

I react poorly under stress, too. I hardly ever have any stress anymore since I don't work and live alone. It's very peaceful and calm here. Just like I like it. But if I were faced with a particularly stressful situation I'd stumble around with my thoughts. I remember when my sister and parents passed away. House full of company, noise, emotions running high. My older sister and I made sure we were both fully clothed before we left the house. :o She had gone to the car wearing just her slip :eek: and thought she was fully clothed.

When we have slow time at work we do outbound calling to customers to discuss their accounts and offer sales promotions. I am not the most organized speaker ordinarily and keep in mind my co-workers aren't aware of my MS. Yesterday I was in the middle of a call and two of my co-workers giggled and looked at each other. I know I stumbled over my words but that is how I roll. :o :rolleyes: It happens to me a lot and I hesitate and change the subject to get past and smile to keep the customer from noticing what a scatterbrain I am sometimes. :D If I ever have to tell about the MS, I know they'll look back and say, oh, no wonder she is such a space case sometimes! :eek:

Somebody asked me what brand of mascara I use, and I said, " "



(That wasn't a swear, it was a BLANK)

I do this a lot. It can be as simple as just using a word in a conversation......the word totally escapes me. I feel like an idiot.
I'm not sure if its MS related or not. I am almost 54 and I think hormones can play a role in this also.
I have to write a lot of things down just to remember.....which I know is age related.
But I do get really frustrated with the loss of words. I also draw "a blank" on spelling words that I really should know.

I can relate....and it makes you feel "stupid"

There's so many possible things to blame it on.....and you can drive yourself crazy trying to determine what the cause is. Hormones.....MS......age.......fatigue......all of the above. :rolleyes: Since it doesn't happen that often I'm going to blame MS for this one.

I've done this too, Kelly. It's embarrassing when you are asked what your phone number is and you can't remember. I think that one is pretty common as we don't often, if at all, call ourselves. :D I have also gone to call someone and for the life of me could not remember their number, people I call often. That is frustrating as well.

You know, I think alot of this is caused by modern technology. We don't have to remember anything.....just press a button and the number is dialed for you. If I want to call my son I just scroll through my directory till I get to his name then press "call".
Years ago we had to actually dial all the numbers. I'm blaming technology for that! It's convenient till you're somewhere without your cell phone directory. Then it's up to your memory.

The physician's assistant asked my what kind of body lotion I use and I said ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... It's in a beige bottle with green print. She told me that was okay. Five minutes later -- It's Aveeno!

I always just dial the number. I never use speed dial. I'd never remember anyone's number if I used speed dial. haha

I knew exactly what lotion you use based on your description. :D

Sometimes I think our brains are so overwhelmed by all of the stimuli coming in that it does not pay total attention, and things don't go into hard drive memory...
Other times, I think I'm just brain addled...oh well:rolleyes:

once I was at the AT&T store switching to a new phone. DD and I were standing waiting for the guy to look something up...after I had embarrassed myself by forgetting something (I now forget what that was:rolleyes:), I said to DD, "I am having a lot of blonde moments today." We looked over and saw a blonde sitting nearby, who gave me a really dirty look...I seem to miss social cues nowadays, too...:rolleyes::o

Coconut Oil
 

I just read that adding 2 tablespoons of organic extra virgin coconut oil to your daily diet helps with brain fog and enhances mental clarity. I'm going to try it. I have a jar of Coconut Oil in my pantry. Hope I can remember to take it! :o

How about an Almond Joy?

I already tried that.....didn't work. :o