lexcyn Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 I was diagnosed with pots in September last year. I have all the normal symptoms of pots, intestinal problems, brain fog, dizzness, presynscope, extreme fatigue, etc...I have noticed that that my memory seems to get worse and worse as the time goes by. I don't know if this is because of pots or not or if there is something else going on. My doctor said not to worry, but I was at my daughters doctors appointment the other day and I couldn't even remember some of the basic questions. I really need some I site on this. Not being able to remember things make me feel is incompetinte. Should I expect the memory to get worse? I know since that appointment my depression has hit an all time high. It makes me feel useless and trapped. Can anyone help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jangle Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 I haven't really noticed a decrease in my memory. I do have a decrease in working memory (I memory for tasks that occurred seconds ago) because im half unconscious so its hard to focus on creating new memories. However depression can cause memory loss a.d quite significant amount as well. Aerobic exercise can treat both depression and pots. It treats depression by stimulating your body to regrow neurons in the hippocampus which is the region of the brain responsible for emotions and memory and is implicated in depression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akavella Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 what you are saying is totally me. i thought i was going crazy with my memory, forgetting things mid sentence!!!! i even got lost driving to a familiar location. it is scary, but it did get somewhat better for me, i would write my self notes, and set alarms and reminders on my phone. my specialist would get frustrated because at my appointments i would forget how i have felt over the last month, and what symptoms i had and so on, so i would write them down for him, then i would forget to bring the darn notebook to my appointments. lol, my short term memory is horrible. my long term memory is okay, as far as recalling things from the past to a certain extent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 I definitely had major issues with memory and cognition/etc when I got sick. I still notice some days are worse than others for memory issues, word finding, etc. I'm like you lexcyn and make myself lots of notes and then forget to look at the notes. I never, ever missed appts before I got sick. Now I've totally spaced several of them even though i knew the night before that I had them. It's really frustrating and makes me feel like an idiot. I was always "smart" in school and a great student so I HATE feeling so dumb so much of the time.On those days when the brain fog "lifts", it's so wonderful to be able to think clearly and easily. On the days when the brain fog is more dense, it's almost like it (literally) hurts to think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalamazoo Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 I forget things quite often and have begun mixing up words. I say things like 'door the open' instead of open the door. It happens quite often. There's roughly a 30% blood flow to the brain upon standing depending on the severity of POTS. I'm sure this affects memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopeSprings Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 I have memory problems too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybits Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 what were we talking about??? ha ha ya my memory is horrible. i dont even remember what i ate...its even gotten so bad my 7 &9 yearold finish my sentances for me! ugh...they laugh at me a lot but i have gotten to where I have to laugh at myself too otherwise i get really frustraited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peregrine Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 I have word-finding trouble too (and never used to! I swear! nobody believes me besides you guys), and my short-term memory has gotten worse as well. Long-term I have lost a little, for example it's gotten harder for me to remember which meds I take on a daily basis (this is one of the reasons I keep records), and I had to think and write them down before I went for ANS testing yesterday. Depression can really trigger some long-term and short-term memory loss (speaking from mild experience; it's embarrassing to introduce two people you've introduced before, or say the same greeting twice within 5 minutes), so it may not be the dysautonomia, but the latter can certainly contribute to things like forgetting questions, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue1234 Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Yep, memory is a big issue for me. Long term is not too bad, but short term is rough. If I want to remember something from last week, I literally have to make my brain think about last week: For instance with my daughter: "Mom, do you remember what I said about Mary when I was home?" And then I have to go through a process: what day last week did my daughter visit? oh yea, my daughter dropped by for a visit last Monday. she sat on the couch and talked about college classes and, that's right, she did mention something about Mary. now, what did she say about Mary?That literally is how I have to think about something that happened a week or so ago!! It really is pitiful. But, if I reach back into my brain, then I remember by the day of the week, then the events surrounding that. I can't just pull the darn memory out on its own anymore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jangle Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Sue, I don't know about you, but before I had POTS I had difficulty remembering what I did the previous week. Unless it's something important to you (maybe it was for your daughter) your brain isn't going to store it in your memory bank. Because you were able to remember other things about the previous week suggests ok memory.Like my parents can't remember where we ate out a few days previous unless it was somewhere big.I'm not saying there isn't cognitive deficits though it's just I don't think it's unreasonable not to remember something a week ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Count me in...my short term memory and cognition ***** these days, plus I now have terrible name recall for both new people and ones I've known for years, word search, etc. I also will say a word in the middle of a sentence (that makes no sense) even though I am thinking the correct word...it just comes out wrong...like a stroke victim. I have been tested extensively and the best anyone can tell me is that it is from the POTS...probably the cerebral perfusion. I can buy that because it is definitely worse when I am having a particularly orthostatic intolerant day and when I feel very fatigued..both times I know I am struggling for blood in my brain. My issues with this fluctuate with my symptoms so I have periods of time when I feel like I am back to normal and other times when the level of dysfunction is scary for me. The up side to me is, if I can have periods of better memory and cognition, then I feel like it is not permanent. As I am currently feeling a bit better and starting to get my symptoms under control, I feel this set of symptoms getting better, too. There is hope on this topic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexcyn Posted February 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Jangle, could there be anything else that could be affecting my memory? I know when I start getting tired I also start to slur all my words. I just have a feeling something else might be going but not sure where to start looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jangle Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Lexcyn, I'm not sure I would definitely talk to your doctors about that issue.I wish I could give you good advice but there could be a variety of things going on, I think that's best left with your doctors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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