Early signs of dementia?

[The Man of Kent]

As per thread title: applies to me, a 68-year old male; location Somerset, U.K.

I read your leaflet and recognised a lot of the symptoms of dementia that are written within it. On that basis, I sought advice from my doctor and referred to that leaflet whilst I was with him. He gave me the usual 'mini test' (which I underwent many years before, with a different doctor) and he said "You don't have signs of early dementia: 'bye!" To be quite frank, I don't agree - but, of course, I could be wrong . . . and, hopefully, I am!

I could go into a great deal of detail about myself, my life and my day-to-day activities and the things, relating to memory, which are causing me many problems - and some of those have potentially dangerous consequences - and not just for me. But I shall desist from all that detail unless its disclosure becomes relevant in any discussion that may arise as a consequence of this thread.

So now I'll stop & summarise: I am seeking advice as to what should I do now? Who do I now turn to? Am I stressing myself unnecessarily? Are my memory problems - which seem to be changing and gradually becoming worse each day - simply a sign of age? Are the various long-term medications (and other things) that I'm taking relevant here? Diet? etc., etc.

And yes: I'm quite worried: need help; need advice.
My thanks in advance to all responders.

Al / Man of Kent.

 

[Kevinl]

Hi Al, welcome to TP
Whilst none of us can say one way or the other anyone who can write a post as well written and punctuated as you have. Just the first line "As per thread title: applies to me, a 68-year old male; location Somerset, U.K." One colon, one semi-colon, 2 commas and 2 full stops all in the right places, my congratulations to your English teacher, I so hate the modern thing of introducing a list with a semi-colon and using a comma to separate items
Opinion varies, but I think that like any other organ of the human body the brain does age and lose some function.
My children's yardstick is how I compare with people of my own age, they seem to think that compared to: my peers; siblings and friends of my own age that I'm doing OK so I don't worry about it too much, for now.
You do seem to hint that there are things that are concerning you when you say "some of those have potentially dangerous consequences - and not just for me." on that basis I would pursue the matter with the doctors. It may that it's not AZ but something different. Some conditions like Thyroid problems can be the cause but then can vitamin and mineral issues, often a lack of vitamin B12 is found to be an issue.
Good luck in your quest, others on here will no doubt add more.
K

 

[Lawson58]

Not a lot to add but that mini memory test is only a guide and cannot ever be said to be an adequate diagnostic tool. OH passes those tests every time but indepth psychological testing reveals a whole different set of issues. His MRI showed some irregularities and he was diagnosed with dementia three years ago.

I would seek a second opinion and explore the other possibilities that Kevin mentioned. It might not be as bad as you think.

 

[The Man of Kent]

KevinI: thank you: you're too kind!

I'm far from being the brightest star in the galaxy, but I learnt to read & write long before I began my schooling (thanks mum) and have been a bookworm ever since! My academic strengths are English (and a few European languages, parts of) and the Sciences, in particular physics and mathematics (my great love). I am a retired electronics engineer: have been in that role all my life, but when I was at school I wanted to be a teacher or an architect. But my hobby was electronics: that won! I still 'do' electronics' as a hobby.

Recently I have seriously injured myself doing D-I-Y by not doing that automatic "Is what I am about to do safe?" " Have I got my brain engaged?" routine. There have been several such incidents over the last 12 months. Last year, I surrendered my driving licence: I didn't feel safe whilst driving a car. (Better to be safe that sorry! ) I'm talking here about the sort of mental processes that we do sub-consciously. Then there have been incidents whereby I have put something somewhere, walked across the room, gone back in less than one minute and asked my wife "Did you put that there? I didn't!" That - to me - is quite worrying. Then I sometimes get days when I can't seem to focus on anything - err, not literally - although I do need to replace my spectacles! I just seem to be detached from reality.

The comment about lack of B12 vitamin could be quite relevant. I am required to attend for blood tests once per month. (I am on medication for temporal arteritus: cortico steroids and methotrexate). Recent results indicated lack of B12 . . .

'Nuff said for now; let's see what others have to say.

Al.

 

[The Man of Kent]

OH passes those tests every time . . .

Err . . OH?

Al.

 

[hellseer]

hi

Hi, when you notice this yourself I think it's quite worrying. My mother said to after going into town that she'd sat in a cafe and had a coffee that she had left her handbag there. Someone chased after her and gave it back. She can be happy in herself but forget to pay attention to the wider circumstances. Alzheimers is rarely to far from life generally.

My father's dementia is unfortunately really bad, we look after him so he does ok I guess. In relation to doing things that aren't safe, he does things on auto pilot and it's horrible. He doesn't do much that isn't safe because he's simply too lazy to do anything constructive.

My opinion in dealing with this, say oneself that is, would be consider the nature of fixation. The auto - pilot mode is fixation in action. In brief, to cut the fixation by some method or other. Awareness is the opposite of fixation, there is no mind to be thinking and processing constantly in the background.

 

[Cat27]

Err . . OH?

Al.

Other half ie husband or wife.

 

[Philbo]

Hi Al

Welcome to the forum from a Man of Kent who still lives here

It sounds as though you have been quite thorough in dealing with your health concerns.

My wife's problems started a number of years before eventually being diagnosed in 2014 (she was 63 at the time). When I eventually got her to go to the GP, she did pretty bad with the short memory test but he still reckoned "we all forget things as we get older"!

So I persevered and he eventually sent her to the memory clinic. A couple of MRIs and a SPECT scan later, confirmed my worst fears - fronto temporal dementia.

I do hope that your fears prove to be unfounded and as others have said, other conditions can often lead to some impairment of brain function?

Best wishes.
Phil

 

[The Man of Kent]

One further thought: I know that self-diagnosis of any condition can be unwise, but the following train of thought has occurred to me.

I have no idea of the limitations that a typical 68-year old male should expect, physically nor mentally (especially since I've never been here before! ) OTOH, I think I know my body and mind quite well and also my personality. I do have a leaning towards bi-polarity and will switch between extroversion or introversion with no control over either: varies on a daily basis. Not surprisingly, many people seem to find me to be slightly strange and a bit difficult to handle. I should add that my childhood was not a happy one: it swung between extremes.

Physically, I am of a slim build and describe myself as a high-energy person: none of that has changed since my early teens. What has also not changed are the large demands that I place of my cognitive abilities: I have zero interest in classical sport and similar, but do pursue mentally-demanding hobbies. That summary has triggered the following idea. Could it be that those demands which I place on the appropriate parts of my brain are 'incompatible' with the capacity of my brain to perform the associated processing? ( I have spent many years in electronics and computers, so you can see the source of that line of thinking).
In other words, a 'mis-match' exists between available 'supply and demand' - thus giving rise to a conflict, which I perceive as a problem - which, to me, it actually is - but that problem is not an indication of the start of dementia - least, not yet, anyway.

So it's just an idea: I'm not a psychologist and the above may be a load of rubbish, but I'm just trying to make some sense as to what is going on in my brain: enhanced comprehension often leads to elevated tolerance.

Al.

 

[The Man of Kent]

Having considered the comments from my doctor, those above (for which "thank you") and constructive comments received from other sources, I have reached the conclusion that I am not showing the early signs of dementia. (Phew!) Therefore I do not feel that I have any more remarks to make - but obviously I cannot speak for other members!

So for that reason, I feel that this thread has run its course. I leave it to the moderators to decide if this thread should, therefore, be closed. My thanks go to to all who have contributed to it.

Al.

 

[oilovlam]

There are lots of abbreviations used on this forum and it can be very difficult to follow for those not in the know. It is a shorthand used to make things easier for regular posters and not designed to confuse new people (I don't think)

There is a page that lists some of the abbreviations:

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?26388-Abbreviations-List-and-Talking-Point-Jargon

 

[Purpletop]

Hi

(I am on medication for temporal arteritus: cortico steroids and methotrexate). Recent results indicated lack of B12 . . .

Steroids and MTX, coupled with GCA (giant cell arthritis or, as you call it, temporal arthritis) can cause the kind of forgetfulness you mention. I am on similar medication but for SLE/lupus and when the levels of inflammation are high these episodes become very frequent. Recently I've started taking statins and they affect the memory in that it makes me feel like the memory is nebulous, I.e. It's there but I can't immediately reach it. Different to how my memory is when lupus is flaring. Driving somewhere and all of a sudden realising that I don't know where I'm driving. Finding keys in the microwave. Forgetting what someone told me just an hour before. Once the flare gets controlled (upping the steroids, usually), all these episodes disappear.

I'd check the inflammatory markers first, although they don't always show when GCA is flaring in some people. I would try and keep a diary of symptoms so that they can be correlated to other symptoms that you don't necessarily associate with the memory ones but which may nevertheless be connected. And speak to your rheumy about it.

Good luck!