Hi everyone,

It's been quite awhile since I last posted here. I have some good news and bad news to report. The good news is, I got the results back from my second neuropsych test. They showed an overall improvement from the last test a year ago. Apparently, just about everything I've complained about becoming worse over time has improved. I should be excited about this, right? Well, I'm not. I will tell you why in a minute.

The bad news is, I know for a fact, without a shadow of a doubt, my communication skills and memory, especially long term memory has gotten much worse. I know this because my friend and I always talk about stuff we did when we were younger. Just a year ago or even 6 months ago, we sat around and laughed about the stupid stuff we used to do. Well, now when we sit around and talk he will bring up some of the stories we've already reminisced(sp?) about and it doesn't sound familiar to me. A lot of my past, even recent events, have disappeared from my memory. That, or they are taking much longer to retrieve. This makes it impossible to have conversation with people because I can't quickly relate to their story or topic of conversation.

My son is only 22 months old. My memories of him being little have vanished. My girlfriend will tell people stories about stuff he used to do when he was little, and it doean't ring a bell. This really shouldn't be happening to me. This is stuff that can't be detected on a neuropsych test, so I say the test is inaccurate when it comes to my symptoms increasing.

While looking through the neuropsych report, I noticed she said that my reports of stimulation overload were "perceived" as well as my decline of symptoms. So, I said screw it and went to the Las Vegas strip every other day for a week. If this is all in my head, I shouldn't have any problems in casinos or around crowds of people, right? Well that was a big mistake, especially having one beer every other night to ease my mind. I'm a total space cadet today.

Well, that's my update. I don't really know what to make of all this. I'm really depressed that my long term memories are vanishing. I always dreamed of telling my son stories about what he was like as a baby. Looks like it will have to be told by his mother while I sit there and pretend like I know/remember what she's talking about lol.

I hope everyone else is headed down the right track to recovery. You have all been in my prayers.

Nick

Memory loss is tough. I draw lots of blanks too...but maybe when the brain has to work less to cope woth the other things (noise, etc.), we will be able to retrieve those precious memories.
Your son is lucky to have you there in the here and now....making new memories for both of you! Hang in there.

Long term memories are not usually lost long after an injury. As Mokey said, you are likely under too much stress when you try to remember. You need to learn some memory recall techniques. The stop to think is the first. You friend may be speaking too much. You may have too much background noise. These can all be temporary conditions. You may be struggling with a medication. Benzos are know to cause memory problems. Sleep can also effect memory.

So, relax, stay away from the Strip and beer. But, I don't think I need to tell you that. I am not surprised the NP did not respond to your claim about over-stimulation. That is not something they can measure, just like long term memory so they don't have evidence to convince them. Both of my NP's did not understand over-stimulation issues. One was even in disbelief when I complained about the leaf blower outside the window and the wall of plaques behind his desk.

NP's just interpret the test results with their personal biases included.

You will be fine without their accurate reports.

My best to you.