Could these be early signs of dementia,or just lack of sleep!?

lonelinessisbliss

New member
Aug 6, 2022
6
0
Hello everyone, I am a 27 year old guy, presently working as a high school Mathematics and Physics teacher.
Actually,I am having some serious concerns regarding my health and I have come here to seek some advice from other members, as to whether they have experienced the symptoms as I have presented below, or not.I would be grateful to anyone, who gives me an advice on what to do now.
So, it happened 3 nights ago.For several days,it seems that I haven't had a good nap..So 3 nights ago,I went to bed,and was feeling extremely tired with an overwhelming urge to sleep.After falling asleep,I woke up almost 1 and a half hour later.But,then something EXTREMELY SCARY happened with me and I have no idea about what it actually is.I woke up with a feeling that my brain was just blank and all the memories were deleted.I couldn't recall the month of the year,the date, what things I did before going to sleep.As if my mind was just blank .I observed everything around me,as I went inside the bathroom to attend the call of nature.After coming out,I could see everything around me clearly,but as if MY BRAIN WAS JUST SHUT DOWN and I just could not bring it to the present.This scary situation prevailed for roughly 2-2.5 minutes.Slowly,I started recalling everything back ,and things got back to normal.This has made me extremely frightened as I am not sure whether this is alzheimers or dementia or nothing serious.
I must also mention,that for the past 4 years, my sleep schedules have been very irregular and unhealthy.Often going to bed at 1.30 or 2 'o clock in the night, and then having sleep for 5-6 hours on average.Rarely, I ended up having 7 or 8 hours of deep sleep.That's because,during my postgraduate course, there was a lot of pressure on my career during the final year,and I had to sacrifice my sleep to study late at night.Often ,I skipped breakfast in the morning as I would be otherwise late for my classes at the university.I completed my postgraduate and I am now a teacher.Also,it's worth mentioning that I do suffer from smartphone and social media addiction.I know, it seriously messes up the neurotransmitter balance in the brain.However,for the past 2-3 years,I have observed that my memory is NOT as good as it used to be during my school life.I could remember important events that took place 20-22 years ago with their exact dates,location,time,etc.Yes,I had a very sharp memory since childhood.
But,my concern is that, I am not sure whether this decline in memory is just part of ageing or something else! Initially,it started with forgetting spellings of ordinary english words,which were ingrained inside my head since childhood.Then i used to have this terrible brain fog, where solving hard puzzles would be difficult.Often,it would take time to distinguish voices of people or identify two different pics of the same person displaying completely different facial expressions.However, few months ago,I tried to improve my sleep cycle and symptoms did get better to some extent.But,again I failed to maintain proper sleep schedule and i have been losing sleep on 1-2 hours on daily average every night.
Till now,NOBODY in my family has had dementia or any brain degenerative disease.But, losing my shapness,intellect and memory, and what happened 3 nights ago, has panicked me a lot.
I would be extremely grateful to anyone who provides advice regarding what I should feel or do now.Thanks in advance!
 

Clairey51

Registered User
Dec 7, 2021
43
0
I know its easy for me to say but please don't worry it is extremely rare for a dementia diagnosis at such a young age. It could be many things, a deficiency and unbalance of certain minerals in the body, can cause all sorts of memory issues.
I suffer epilepsy but only in my sleep after a seizure when I wake up I cant remember a thing, what day it is, the time of day
or what I've been doing, as hard as I try to remember I just cant, it very slowly comes back and what a relief that is.
The best bit of advice is to go and see your gp who can do a full blood count and rule out something that could be very simple.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
Hi @lonelinessisbliss

I must say that this does not sound like the sort of memory loss that you get with dementia.

I must say that when I am lacking in sleep the brain fog is horrible. Sometimes I wake up and Im so tired I cannot speak because I just cant remember any words. Having had covid has made it much worse too.

There are several other things that can also give similar symptoms - particularly vit B12 and iron deficiency, so it is worth seeing your doctor for some blood tests.
 

SERENA50

Registered User
Jan 17, 2018
433
0
Best thing is to see a GP and get yourself checked out, many things can cause symptoms you describe not necessarily dementia , it would be very rare for someone of your age. Sleep deprivation , says me the menopausal insomniac lol, is terrible and can definitely lead to fogginess for sure. Teaching I would imagine is a very stressful occupation as well. You might use your phone to relax when actually the phone probably does the opposite in the end.
 

GillP

Registered User
Aug 11, 2021
3,856
0
I agree with the others I think you are very young for dementia. you should see your doctor. It sounds a bit like an absence seizure but could be one of many things. Your doctor will be able to discuss and investigate.
 

Palerider

Registered User
Aug 9, 2015
4,160
0
56
North West
Hello everyone, I am a 27 year old guy, presently working as a high school Mathematics and Physics teacher.
Actually,I am having some serious concerns regarding my health and I have come here to seek some advice from other members, as to whether they have experienced the symptoms as I have presented below, or not.I would be grateful to anyone, who gives me an advice on what to do now.
So, it happened 3 nights ago.For several days,it seems that I haven't had a good nap..So 3 nights ago,I went to bed,and was feeling extremely tired with an overwhelming urge to sleep.After falling asleep,I woke up almost 1 and a half hour later.But,then something EXTREMELY SCARY happened with me and I have no idea about what it actually is.I woke up with a feeling that my brain was just blank and all the memories were deleted.I couldn't recall the month of the year,the date, what things I did before going to sleep.As if my mind was just blank .I observed everything around me,as I went inside the bathroom to attend the call of nature.After coming out,I could see everything around me clearly,but as if MY BRAIN WAS JUST SHUT DOWN and I just could not bring it to the present.This scary situation prevailed for roughly 2-2.5 minutes.Slowly,I started recalling everything back ,and things got back to normal.This has made me extremely frightened as I am not sure whether this is alzheimers or dementia or nothing serious.
I must also mention,that for the past 4 years, my sleep schedules have been very irregular and unhealthy.Often going to bed at 1.30 or 2 'o clock in the night, and then having sleep for 5-6 hours on average.Rarely, I ended up having 7 or 8 hours of deep sleep.That's because,during my postgraduate course, there was a lot of pressure on my career during the final year,and I had to sacrifice my sleep to study late at night.Often ,I skipped breakfast in the morning as I would be otherwise late for my classes at the university.I completed my postgraduate and I am now a teacher.Also,it's worth mentioning that I do suffer from smartphone and social media addiction.I know, it seriously messes up the neurotransmitter balance in the brain.However,for the past 2-3 years,I have observed that my memory is NOT as good as it used to be during my school life.I could remember important events that took place 20-22 years ago with their exact dates,location,time,etc.Yes,I had a very sharp memory since childhood.
But,my concern is that, I am not sure whether this decline in memory is just part of ageing or something else! Initially,it started with forgetting spellings of ordinary english words,which were ingrained inside my head since childhood.Then i used to have this terrible brain fog, where solving hard puzzles would be difficult.Often,it would take time to distinguish voices of people or identify two different pics of the same person displaying completely different facial expressions.However, few months ago,I tried to improve my sleep cycle and symptoms did get better to some extent.But,again I failed to maintain proper sleep schedule and i have been losing sleep on 1-2 hours on daily average every night.
Till now,NOBODY in my family has had dementia or any brain degenerative disease.But, losing my shapness,intellect and memory, and what happened 3 nights ago, has panicked me a lot.
I would be extremely grateful to anyone who provides advice regarding what I should feel or do now.Thanks in advance!
You know stress and anxiety can become physical. It is not uncommon for stress and anxiety to create sleep problems, memory problems and a general feeling of complete disorientation to the normal. Teaching is highly stresful stuff and also I bet you are asked to lecture and tutor if I am right as well as plan new teaching sessions etc etc. There are other causes and as everyone else has advised you do need to seek medical attention in order to rule out anything organic as the cause. The problem is you are asking a population that is biased towards dementia and I would suggest to you at 27 years of age it is highly unlikely you have early onset dementia plus you have written a very full and descriptive essay that is comprhensible and with no spelling mistakes and highly insightful.

Go see your own medical practitioner and print off what you have written and show it to them in the first instance. If you feel really on tender hooks call your local mental health crisi line and I am serious, I have called them myself and they really do help and if necessary can get you seen urgently
 
Last edited:

lonelinessisbliss

New member
Aug 6, 2022
6
0
You know stress and anxiety can become physical. It is not uncommon for stress and anxiety to create sleep problems, memory problems and a general feeling of complete disorientation to the normal. Teaching is highly stresful stuff and also I bet you are asked to lecture and tutor if I am right as well as plan new teaching sessions etc etc. There are other causes and as everyone else has advised you do need to seek medical attention in order to rule out anything organic as the cause. The problem is you are asking a population that is biased towards dementia and I would suggest to you at 27 years of age it is highly unlikely you have early onset dementia plus you have written a very full and descriptive essay that is comprhensible and with no spelling mistakes and highly insightful.

Go see your own medical practitioner and print off what you have written and show it to them in the first instance. If you feel really on tender hooks call your local mental health crisi line and I am serious, I have called them myself and they really do help and if necessary can get you seen urgently
Thank you so much for replying..yes, i also think that developing dementia at the age of 27 is very unlikely to happen..i have seen a neurologist few months ago and told him about my symptoms..he just said it's nothing more than hyper stress and lack of sleep..but these days, i have read stories of young people in early 30's developing dementia.Although these are very rare happenings, but that's what makes me panic.
Plus,i have been experiencing sleep disturbances since the past 3 years...My doctor prescribed alprazolam and often i have to take 1/4th of a tablet( of 0.5mg) just before going to bed.So far, it has helped me a lot, but I do not wish to continue it any more.
 

lonelinessisbliss

New member
Aug 6, 2022
6
0
I agree with the others I think you are very young for dementia. you should see your doctor. It sounds a bit like an absence seizure but could be one of many things. Your doctor will be able to discuss and investigate.
Thank you so much for the response..I think this needs further investigation by a neurologist...i went to my gp yesterday, because I have been suffering from chronic allergy and cough for the past 2 weeks..When I told him about this post sleep temporary amnesia, he said it was nothing serious..it happened as the brain just woke up in the middle of the REM stage, and that's what caused this bizzare incident.
 

lonelinessisbliss

New member
Aug 6, 2022
6
0
Best thing is to see a GP and get yourself checked out, many things can cause symptoms you describe not necessarily dementia , it would be very rare for someone of your age. Sleep deprivation , says me the menopausal insomniac lol, is terrible and can definitely lead to fogginess for sure. Teaching I would imagine is a very stressful occupation as well. You might use your phone to relax when actually the phone probably does the opposite in the end.
Thank you for your reply...I actually visited my GP yesterday, as I have been suffering from chronic allergy and cough for the past 2 weeks..He said this post sleep phenomena that happened 3 nights ago was nothing, but the brain forced to wake up in the middle of REM phase of sleep that caused this sort of amnesia for 2 mins.He said it's nothing serious.
 

lonelinessisbliss

New member
Aug 6, 2022
6
0
Hi @lonelinessisbliss

I must say that this does not sound like the sort of memory loss that you get with dementia.

I must say that when I am lacking in sleep the brain fog is horrible. Sometimes I wake up and Im so tired I cannot speak because I just cant remember any words. Having had covid has made it much worse too.

There are several other things that can also give similar symptoms - particularly vit B12 and iron deficiency, so it is worth seeing your doctor for some blood tests.
Thank you for taking the time and coming up with some much needed advice..
Actually, I know that's extremely unlikely for me to get alzheimers at age 27.But what panicks me is that many young people in their early 30's have started developing symptons.Although,that does not mean that I too will develop it shortly.
But, I have been experiencing these sleep disturbances over the past 3 years.My neurologist doctor recommended alprazolam 0.50 mg and presently ,I take 0.125 mg just before going to bed.It helps me with sleep, but the reason why I started connecting my symptoms to dementia is that, I have read that early onset dementia often presents with persistent sleep disturbances during the first stage,which in turn increases the deposition of amyloid plaques at the neuronal synapses.During sleep, the brain clears these amyloid plaques and this is why, sleep deprivation plays a crucial role in dementia.My neurologist said that my symptoms of forgetfulness were just because of stress and depression ,and sleep deprivation.But, after what happened 3 nights ago ,I was immensely scared.Yesterday, I visited my GP ,as I have been suffering from chronic allergy abd cough over the past 2 weeks.When I told him about the post sleep forgetfulness incident,he said it was nothing serious.
 

Lawson58

Registered User
Aug 1, 2014
4,333
0
Victoria, Australia
Thank you for taking the time and coming up with some much needed advice..
Actually, I know that's extremely unlikely for me to get alzheimers at age 27.But what panicks me is that many young people in their early 30's have started developing symptons.Although,that does not mean that I too will develop it shortly.
But, I have been experiencing these sleep disturbances over the past 3 years.My neurologist doctor recommended alprazolam 0.50 mg and presently ,I take 0.125 mg just before going to bed.It helps me with sleep, but the reason why I started connecting my symptoms to dementia is that, I have read that early onset dementia often presents with persistent sleep disturbances during the first stage,which in turn increases the deposition of amyloid plaques at the neuronal synapses.During sleep, the brain clears these amyloid plaques and this is why, sleep deprivation plays a crucial role in dementia.My neurologist said that my symptoms of forgetfulness were just because of stress and depression ,and sleep deprivation.But, after what happened 3 nights ago ,I was immensely scared.Yesterday, I visited my GP ,as I have been suffering from chronic allergy abd cough over the past 2 weeks.When I told him about the post sleep forgetfulness incident,he said it was nothing serious.
I was for many years a schoolteacher so my comments are coming from that place. I am also an insomniac and have been for decades. And recently, I had a long conversation with my nephew who is also a schoolteacher working during COVID. He loves teaching but is feeling awful after the last couple of years.

I think that teaching during the COVID years has been extremely stressful, as if it is not stressful enough during ordinary years. I also note that you had years of study prior to starting your profession when you did not eat or sleep appropriately.

I studied for my degree when I had a young family and found that it was easy to complete assignments if I got up at about 3 am and could work without interruption. However, that practice really made a mess of my sleep habits and that has plagued me ever since.

So you have had a high level of stress for some years and you admit to having an addiction to online activities which has no doubt played a part in your sleep deprivation.

You can take the first steps in helping yourself by getting treatment for your addiction.

While you are dealing with that, it would be wise to take your medication as has been advised by the doctor.

Stress and sleep deprivation can really play havoc with your memory and concentration so why not try and sort the first two things out to see if that will help you. I might add getting panicky about your health will only exacerbate your issues so perhaps it’s time to reorganise your life. It sounds to me as if you have been trying to burn the candle at both ends.
 

lonelinessisbliss

New member
Aug 6, 2022
6
0
I know its easy for me to say but please don't worry it is extremely rare for a dementia diagnosis at such a young age. It could be many things, a deficiency and unbalance of certain minerals in the body, can cause all sorts of memory issues.
I suffer epilepsy but only in my sleep after a seizure when I wake up I cant remember a thing, what day it is, the time of day
or what I've been doing, as hard as I try to remember I just cant, it very slowly comes back and what a relief that is.
The best bit of advice is to go and see your gp who can do a full blood count and rule out something that could be very simple.
Thank you for showing so much care...Yes,I went to my GP yesterday and told him about this incident.He said that it was the result of my brain forced to wake up from the middle of REM phase of sleep.
I feel so sorry that you are suffering from epilepsy ...I have a friend who suffers from it and I know how troublesome it is..Please do take good care of yourself.
I was for many years a schoolteacher so my comments are coming from that place. I am also an insomniac and have been for decades. And recently, I had a long conversation with my nephew who is also a schoolteacher working during COVID. He loves teaching but is feeling awful after the last couple of years.

I think that teaching during the COVID years has been extremely stressful, as if it is not stressful enough during ordinary years. I also note that you had years of study prior to starting your profession when you did not eat or sleep appropriately.

I studied for my degree when I had a young family and found that it was easy to complete assignments if I got up at about 3 am and could work without interruption. However, that practice really made a mess of my sleep habits and that has plagued me ever since.

So you have had a high level of stress for some years and you admit to having an addiction to online activities which has no doubt played a part in your sleep deprivation.

You can take the first steps in helping yourself by getting treatment for your addiction.

While you are dealing with that, it would be wise to take your medication as has been advised by the doctor.

Stress and sleep deprivation can really play havoc with your memory and concentration so why not try and sort the first two things out to see if that will help you. I might add getting panicky about your health will only exacerbate your issues so perhaps it’s time to reorganise your life. It sounds to me as if you have been trying to burn the candle at both ends.
you are absolutely correct.I desperately want my sleep to get back to normal.It is this lack of sleep that is causing the problems and also making me a bit nervous,( as far as deposition of amyloid is concerned).What I have read on google is that several years of poor sleep (along with other factors too) causes synapses of brain cells to die.This causes dementia and alzheimer's.That's why I have been wondering how much of damage might have been done in my case, due to chronic sleep deprivation.May be I am bit too anxious , but I will surely get my sleeping habits modified from now onwards.
 

Palerider

Registered User
Aug 9, 2015
4,160
0
56
North West
Thank you so much for replying..yes, i also think that developing dementia at the age of 27 is very unlikely to happen..i have seen a neurologist few months ago and told him about my symptoms..he just said it's nothing more than hyper stress and lack of sleep..but these days, i have read stories of young people in early 30's developing dementia.Although these are very rare happenings, but that's what makes me panic.
Plus,i have been experiencing sleep disturbances since the past 3 years...My doctor prescribed alprazolam and often i have to take 1/4th of a tablet( of 0.5mg) just before going to bed.So far, it has helped me a lot, but I do not wish to continue it any more.
I think your conclusion is the same as mine unlikely early onset dementia.

Sleep depriavtion is a dreadful thing and I have been there myself on top of worsening depression and it does get concerning in a number of ways. There are some rare conditions that stop people from sleeping and I think having read your entries on here you have given a very full account of what actions and management you have had. I seriuosly think after so much of what you have done to control this with no result you ned to ask to be referred to a neurologist who specialises in sleep deprivation. I can only imagine it is a debilitating condition and I think you are going to have to push to get specialist help