:) Hi i have another post on hear about my forgetting but please could anybody tell me how to start a journal, The nueropsycologist said to help with my memory to start one but i am not sure how ? I am unsure of what they meant. Does anybody else do one that could give me some tips thankyou. :confused:

I did one for my dad when I was trying to convince his doctors that something was wrong with him. This was before his AD diagnosis.

In his journal, I logged whether he took his meds or not, any changes to his meds, what his mood was and his feelings that he expressed, things he did that day and who he saw. I also noted if he ate meals or not or just snacked on unhealthy stuff all day.

You could make a journal that's fun by including pictures, postcards, birthday cards, letters, etc. Basically this is to help you remember so I think including pictures of special occasions, people and places is a good idea.

Include all the important stuff. Anything that's important to you is important to include.

Love, Barb

Just take a blank book and start writing. Write whatever is on your mind, no regard to spelling or grammar - it will never be 'corrected'. Write what you are seeing, doing and feeling. When you look back on it later, you will get a much clearer picture of what is happening.

Good luck with it.

Love,
Martha

:) Thankyou again i recognised your names straight away from my other posting,You must think im thick not knowing how to do this but i just didn't know what to put all the doc said was things like were i got out of the car and what was near it,Thats because i get lost and can never remember where the car is.Also things people say to me to stop me asking over and over again.Like i do with my kids, I must ask my lad what time he is at work a few times as his reply is it asn't changed from the first time you asked.I feel people will be looking at me if i start wrighting everthing down and feel silly.God this is getting passed a joke at 39.

Suzie,
I don't know if anyone else shares your computer, so you might not be able to do this. But my journal is a Word Document on my computer.

I don't care for longhand writing, and find that the computer journal is just as therapeutic. When going through all the AD stuff with my mom, it was a godsend. I could get my feelings out, express how I felt without guilt or shame, and note my fears of what lay ahead.

Sometimes I wander off topic if I'm upset about something else, and that's good too. It helps to gain insight.

Just a thought.......

Hi i am not sure how to use the computor word etc,just know how to get on these pages.My daughter does help.The computor is mine alone as we all have our own laptops.But i need something when i am out so i dont get lost,I almost certain this isnt AD as i am only 39 and the docs said it is related to my illness Autoimmune disease.I have demylination on my brain,but thought AD started in 50-60.

Suzie,
Oh, I see. Maybe one of those steno notepads. It would fit right into your purse or bag. I did keep journals even before computers, and had boxes of those steno notepads filled with my thoughts and feelings.

Yes, what you're experiencing doesn't sound like AD. I hope you're able to get a diagnosis and some help very soon. It has to be very frustrating.

I'm glad you found us! We care about you!

A steno pad is a great idea. Not as noticable as a note book!

There's a mall near me that has huge numbers and letters on the light poles. I like going to that mall because I ALWAYS forget where I parked my car. There, I write down the number and letter of the nearest light pole to my car. I usuall find it rather easily, unless I forget what door I came in at (which happens often too!).

I'm so sorry you're going through this, suzi. And at such a young age. But I'm glad you found us to talk to! We care.

Love, Barb

Hi thanks to all that listen,Yes i wish i could just get my memory back anyway the end of the month will soon be here and the doctors have said they will do me a full letter explaining what is up with my memory.Also the lad that done my tests said he will put it in words we can read. So if we wish to look the medical jargon up on the net we can.Yes the journal will be good as far as helping me find the car,We only have small supermarkets here where i live so cann't go out the wrong door its just finding the car when i get out.the only thing i am worried about is do people not find it odd you writting everthing down i am abit self conciouse.(PLEASE FORGIVE MY SPELLINGS)

The way I figure it is who cares what people think as long as I don't get lost. I feel like a fool when I can't find my car. And I panic which doesn't make it any better.

And you know something that really scared me a couple of weeks ago? When I was really sick with bronchitis, I was looking across the room at a box of kleenex. I didn't want to get up but I had to. The reason is I couldn't ask my son to get the kleenex for me because I couldn't remember what they were called! I'll bet it took me five minutes to figure that out. And when telling this story to a child, the child said to me "You could have just read the box!".

Gee, why didn't I think of that! :)

Love, Barb

Suzie, forget about the spelling! We love you just the same. Cheer up! God bless you.

Martha

:) Hi yes i know what you mean as i wanted my son this morning to get the washing basket from the garage,As i couldn't remember what it was called i stood there by the washing machine getting hold of the wet clothes,I was saying please can you get me the hemhem for a couple of seconds untill my husband replyed wash basket i said yes thats it,My son said i have to guess what you want now.I also know what you mean about losing the car and getting frustrated i use laugh at myself but then its starts of me getting all upset and crying before i know whats happening so your right looking at it that way yes sod them all if they want to look at me let them.I have always been the same though as i have a problem with my eyes i cann't tolerate light and need sun glasses all year round if i don't i cann't see and have realy bad headaches but get self conciouse when people look at me wearing them in winter.I also have a wheel chair i refuse to use in my local area as people treat you so differant when you are in one,So only use it on day trips i sooner be in pain and keep stopping to rest then get treat any differant.I shouldn't be like this but people are so pregadice against disabled people.Thanks to you all on this forum going through the same thing i can be myself,Thankyou so so much. :wave:

I have a friend who is 33 years old. She has multiple sclerosis that's really bad when it flares up. She feels the same as you. She has a walker and was told that she should get a wheelchair. She didn't. She rarely ever uses the walker because she looks perfectly normal and she doesn't want anyone to look at her as a handicaped person. She's thin and absolutely gorgeous even when she feels her worst. It's just that sometimes when the MS is bad, she walks like she's drunk and sometimes falls. She will use her cane once in a while when it's really bad. But people look at her sometimes as though she's just using the cane or walker for sympathy or something. The MS has caused lesions on her brain that are now sometimes affecting her memory too.

I see what my friend goes through and know how she feels about it. So I can understand how you feel. But I'll tell you the same thing I tell my dear friend. You should do whatever you need to do and don't worry about what others think of it. They don't have to live with your pain.

And if they're ignorant enough to give you strange looks or make rude comments, they're really not worth worrying about in the first place.

Love, Barb

Yes it does get annoying,I don't know if you are from the uk but me and my husband have plainly seen people using a cane that don't realy need to you can tell who needs it as we laugh at the ones thst are not actualy using it.(they end up carrying it and getting pulled along with the dog they have taken for a walk)Makes people who do actualy need it like your friend feel is people looking at me as if i don't need it also.Britain as become a walking stick place all on sick bennefit conplaining of backache i wish mine was my back i would have a op in a second if i thought it would stop the pain.Your mate sounds like i am i have been getting treatment for M.S for 10 years almost IV steroids also prednislone tabs but now doctors saying systemic lupus as i also have sjogrens.I to have patches on my brain shown on MRI, Along with empty sella syndrome.Please give my love to your friend i know what getting told it was M.S did to me this all started after having my last baby in 1992.I was 26 at the time. :wave:

Wow. This is weird. Your story seems so much like my friend's. Her doctor suspects she also has lupus and her MS started after her first child was born. She's gone through all of the treatments I think. She's even had chemotherapy for it and those awfully painful daily shots are a norm for her when her MS flares up. She says the treatments are almost worse than the MS.

We live in the US, near Chicago, Illinois. What part of the UK are you from? Is the healthcare system there good? Here in the US, there are many (including me and my family) who have no medical insurance. I wish there were some sort of universal insurance here.

Love, Barb

:) Hi yes my doctors are great if i need to see someone i am normaly seen within weeks, Some people can wait months.I live in cumbria nothwest england.Just a little village 6 miles from nearest shop.No buses after 6o'clock pm.Just farm land and a beach.Yes the steroids put on loads of weight.the drip normaly lasts 1 hour but as my vaines are not very good takes three times that doctors have to move the line around.God thought i was the only guinipig for doctors.The hospitals are meant to be great in the USA far better than UK.There more advanced aren't they. I do hope your friend gets sorted as i know what a pain this can be thinking or being told it is one thing then the doctors changing there mind. Let me know how she goes please, :wave:

bye for now sue x