Worried

[kstevenson]

I am very worried recently

I am only 24 years old and i feel over the last few weeks that my memory has become bad especially my short term memory.

Also i have been doing some weird things, for example 2-3 years ago i was with a girl who wore a arm support as she had reptitive wrist strain, now i am with someone else and today i saw something similair and i though it was that arm wrist support thing even though my wife does not have one and i split up from my ex around 18 months ago, that to me is very weird.

Also sometimes some people have to say things to me about 2-3 times before i fully understand, my hearing is not that good but i think it's something to do with my brain.

I know dementia usually occurs in over 65's and sometimes in the 50's and 60's but i also know it is not unheard of for someone in their 20's or 30's to develop dementia but i hardly drink alcohol, stopped smoking 4 years ago and don't touch drugs, maybe i could have an inherited brain disease or something?

I am very worried and really need some reassurance as i have been doing a few weird things lately and my memory is not as good etc.

 

[connie]

Hello, and welcome to TP.

I feel you should go to your GP and discuss with him/her your fears.
I am not dimissing your concerns, but you need to have a through medical examination before thinking along the lines of dementia.

You could just print out your post and show this if you feel it would set the scene for you.

I do hope you receive some help soon, but whilst all on TP are supportive, non of us is able to diagnose. Yes you have similar symptons, but so do many other conditions, so please get yourself checked out.

Do let us know how you get on, Connie

 

[kstevenson]

What are the chances of me having/developing dementia?

I am on anti-depressants as i have suffered from panic attacks.

 

[Norman]

Hi KStevenson
Connie has just given you some very good advice.
We are not qaulified to give medical opinions,you must go to your GP.
HE/She will be able to assist you and sort out your concerns.
Please come back and let us know how you get on
Best Wishes
Norman

 

[Trebor]

If I can offer some reassurance. Your messages point to someone who is worrying excessively and has poor concentration. You mention that you are on anti-depressants - I wonder if you're a bit low in mood and anxious at the moment. See your GP and tell him everything that's on your mind.
In secondary Mental Health when an Elderly person with memory loss is referred depression and anxiety is always a consideration as the symptoms can be similar to early dementia.

 

[kstevenson]

I have never heard of someone my age having dementia.

My mood seems ok, my wife says i am acting normal and she has seen no differences in me but i do doubt that, i defiantely think that my memory has declined recently and i have abit of trouble taking things in sometimes.

Hopefully it is not something serious like dementia, i have heard people in their 40's or 50's having dementia but have never heard of a case where someone suffering dementia was in their early-mid 20's.

Thank you for all of your replies so far.

 

[Brucie]

My view is that, while it is not impossible for someone your age to start developing dementia, statistically it is so unusual that it is best to consider other things first.

You might check out the anti-depressant medication itself, perhaps try something different.

Being distracted or worried by something - work, family life, health, etc - can cause us to appear to lose short term memory. Memory doesn't just happen, it is a result of opening the cupboard of your brain and looking through the drawers on a regular basis. We stack the treasured things at the back and we always know where they are, but from day to day we stick this and that in there, waiting to sort it out, throw out the useless things, keep the useful ones.

If we are distracted, we put off sorting through the things and they all become a jumble, and we forget individual items that we may have thought important.

This was illustrated in Peter Pan, where Mrs Darling would go into her children'a room each night after they were asleep, and tidy up their thoughts of the day so their minds would be clear the next day. Oh for a Mrs Darling in my place!

I agree with the others, GP is your first stop. Don't worry overmuch if you can help it until you have checked out all the options.

Best wishes

 

[kstevenson]

The thing i am worried about is if i did go to the doctor's they would probably dismiss it instantly because of my age, they would think it's almost impossible for someone my age to have dementia so i may not get anywhere.

I only had a full blood count done around 4-6 weeks ago and they were all normal and ok.

 

[Brucie]

While it is unusual, it is not impossible. There is anecdotal evidence of teenagers who have developed dementia.

Doctors work on the basis that they can allot every patient, on average, a set [small] number of minutes per visit. Where situations are more serious, they will give more time and consideration to what patients say. It is up to us to move ourselves into that category.

It helps us do that if we have some material evidence, rather than saying "might I have...?" Try keeping a diary of things that worry you with your memory, things you forget, anything else that happens.

Then present the doctor with your records. It might make some difference.

 

[Lynne]

another thought

I agree with the opinions & advice already given to you above. In particular getting your hearing checked out (& remedied if necessary) should be followed up. You can't expect to understand things if you can't hear them properly!

Another thing for the doctor to check out (it only takes a blood test) is if you might have an under-active thyroid gland. Mine went pop about 10 years ago, and gave rise to symptoms of poor short-term memory, lack of ability to concentrate, unexplained tiredness, hair loss eek: ) and weight gainmad: ).

Writing down all your concerns & symptoms before you see the doctor is a good idea. It's so annoying to remember "Oh, I meant to ask ...." after you come out!!

Best wishes

 

[kstevenson]

I am going to make an appointment to see my GP, although i will probably have to wait around 1-2 weeks to get an appointment with my surgery as they do not seem to be able to get people in very quickly.

I don't really know what to see to the GP, i'm not going to go in and say i think i have dementia, besides the doctor would probably laugh.

I will probably just mention that i think my memory is not as good recently and that sometimes people have to say things to me 2 or 3 times before i understand them although this could be possibly to do with my hearing.

I would be horrified if i did have dementia, i would feel very hard done by, if i was in my 60's or 70's then it would not be as bad but as i am only 24 i feel i have my whole life to live and if i had dementia it would ruin my life and i would probably die by the age of 30-35.

I know it is rare for people to get dementia before they are 60 so it must be very very rare to get it in your 20'3 or 30's?

I don't know what chance i have of having dementia, maybe a 1 in 100,000 chance or something like that.

I have no idea whether the doctor will take me seriously because of my age and i do not know what to expect i dont know if the doctor will refer me to someone or make me have brain scans or something.

Thanks for reading and i hope to get some more helpful advice soon.

 

[Colin Cosgrove]

Realistically, your chances of having dementia at age 24 are very slim. This is not to say that it doesn't happen - I've come across a number of people of that age and younger. But we're talking about a handful of people in the whole country, many of them with inherited conditions or a pre-existing learning disability.

As the people here have said, the cause of your memory trouble is more likely to be something other than dementia.

Memory problems should be taken seriously - they can be caused by a range of conditions, some of them quite serious, and many of them treatable. They can also be caused sometimes by medications, so it's wise to check whether your current meds aren't causing this for you. Finally, as I think Brucie said, anxiety and stress can cause memory problems, so worrying about your memory is likely to make your memory a while lot worse!

It's probably sensible not to go to the GP to talk about dementia, but do discuss your concerns about your memory generally. As someone suggested, a diary of events might be helpful to you, to explain how, when, and how frequently your memory lapses are occurring. It might also help you to see this - there may be things that are triggering reactions in you, and getting a sense of how and when they occur might put things into perspecitive.

I hope that helps, although there's nothing here that people haven't said already!

All the best,
Colin

 

[jakky]

Hiya Kstevenson

reading along the lines of 24 yrs old, you have probably more energy than you realise and maybe could look at an exercise programme, (if possible),
this may help you relax more, and keep the anxious bit to a minimum....
again there is, some already good advice given on TP so let us know how you go....

and try not to worry, I`m sure your fine

jakky

 

[kstevenson]

Realistically, your chances of having dementia at age 24 are very slim. This is not to say that it doesn't happen - I've come across a number of people of that age and younger. But we're talking about a handful of people in the whole country, many of them with inherited conditions or a pre-existing learning disability.

As the people here have said, the cause of your memory trouble is more likely to be something other than dementia.

Memory problems should be taken seriously - they can be caused by a range of conditions, some of them quite serious, and many of them treatable. They can also be caused sometimes by medications, so it's wise to check whether your current meds aren't causing this for you. Finally, as I think Brucie said, anxiety and stress can cause memory problems, so worrying about your memory is likely to make your memory a while lot worse!

It's probably sensible not to go to the GP to talk about dementia, but do discuss your concerns about your memory generally. As someone suggested, a diary of events might be helpful to you, to explain how, when, and how frequently your memory lapses are occurring. It might also help you to see this - there may be things that are triggering reactions in you, and getting a sense of how and when they occur might put things into perspecitive.

I hope that helps, although there's nothing here that people haven't said already!

All the best,
Colin

Hi Colin,

Thanks for your message, i agree that my chances of having dementia at my age is very very slim.

No-one in my family currently has or has had dementia, my mum's mum and dad are 63 and 67 and healthy and my dad's mum is 68 years old and healthy and my dad's dad died aged 70 from cancer.

So there is no history of any kind of dementia or alzheimer's or any other neurological illness.

So maybe that makes my chances of having dementia even slimmer? because i don't think i would have inherited anything and the family medical history is clear.

Thanks again.

 

[kstevenson]

Also another few things that worry me are that i seem to make alot of mistakes typing on the keyboard which i did not use to do, also sometimes i have to really think about how to spell something (this might be a normal thing)

Also earlier my wife was on about money and she was on about me keeping some and her giving me more later on but i could not work out the mathematics even though it was quite simple, my mind sort of went blank and it really worried me because i thought why i am making easy simple mistakes?

It is not just the memory that i am worried about, it is other things, i think my thinking ability is not as good as it normally is, i seem like i am in a world of my own sometimes and now and again my mind goes blank, sometimes my spelling is not as good, sometimes things seem alot harder to me.

But i know that someone my age should not have dementia unless i had an inherited condition like huntington's disease but like i said above there is no family history of any kind of dementia or any neurological illness and definately no family history of early onset dementia.

 

[kstevenson]

I really hope that i do not have dementia or any other serious problem or illness, i have 3 stepchildren aged 4,7 and 9 and my wife is in the very late stages of pregnancy (2 weeks left) so i don't want to be crippled by something like dementia otherwise i will be no good for them either and won't be able to help them grow up properly.

 

[Amy]

Hiya KStevenson,
You sound like a young man with an awful lot on your plate at the moment. You mention being on anti depressants; you have three young stepchildren, and another one on the way. This is a very stressful time for you, and stress can do funny things to your mind - in fact all the things you say: difficulties with memory, difficulties calculating, difficulty understanding things the first time someone says something, feeling your mind is blank and maybe a little detached.
I agree with what has been said previously, you need to go and talk to your GP. Make an appointment, don't keep thinking about whether you ought to or not. Write down a list of your concerns.
Take care
Amy

 

[kstevenson]

Thanks for your reply amy.

Another thing that i do sometimes is i go to call my wife donna which is my girlfriends name from 2 years back, but i have never called her that, it nearly comes out sometimes but i manage to stop myself, is this a good sign? if i had dementia would i just say it without even thinking or without being able to stop myself?

I have noticed that i have started looking into and focusing on every little mistake or memory lapse that i have which to be honest probably makes the situation worse but i cannot seem to help it recently.

I am just really hoping that i do not have dementia or anything similair.

 

[Amy]

Hiya KStevenson,
Again, quite normal with someone who is feeling anxious. Get onto the phone and make an appointment to see the doctor; you are doing yourself and your family no good sitting and worrying. Do as others have suggested, make a list of the things that are frightening you at present, talk to your GP.
You have a new life to look forward to soon, and 3 stepchildren. (Are they boys or girls?) It must be difficult being "dad" to a ready made family, how do you do it? Take care. Try and have a good day.
Amy

 

[Lynne]

Hi KS

Many of the symptoms you describe could be those of depression, stress and your general state of anxiety. That's not to say you shouldn't get them checked out - I suffer from depression myself, and know it's not just something you can shrug off, or 'pull yourself together'.
I would suggest you tell your doctor all your symptoms, just as you have told us, (and how long you have felt this way) and let him/her suggest possibilities and helpful measures.

Best wishes