More than forgetfulness

08-11-2019, 05:26 AM

I'm not sure how to Title this post. I would love to know if someone, anyone is going through the same thing I am with my husband. He has been tested by a memory specialist. I guess that's what she's called. He has had blood tests recently. He had a mini mental test a few times but that was a few years ago. All came back he's fine. Memory specialist's team tells me he's doing this on purpose but he isn't. This is just 1 example of so many I can't keep up with them. And this may seem petty but as I said, only a small example. I asked him to get lightly salted potato chips. I repeated it because I know him well. He repeated it. He was gone only 15 minutes and returned with regular chips. I politely asked if they ran out of lightly salted and he said, "you should've told me to get lightly salted". i felt bad because I did say so and he repeated it so i didn't say anything right away. He's 66 and in pretty good health otherwise except for on meds for hypertension and GAD. He's been on these meds for a long time so not sure if they'd have any impact. It's futile for me to try to talk to any other doctor because they've listened all they want to and so far tested all they've want to. We're waiting for a counselor to call so he can go talk to one. I don't believe he does this on purpose but what do I know. There are so many things he procrastinates about and he is so forgetful even when it's important to himself. Did that sound right? I am sleep deprived because of this but also because of some other personal things in our lives. I know my husband and I deal with this every single day and night. Does anyone go through this with someone they're close to? I'm at my wit's end and I need some sleep, some answers, some comfort, some relaxation, etc. Thanks for listening to me babble on. I really appreciate it.

08-11-2019, 10:53 AM

In the FWIW department, I think you are probably over invested in this. Maybe he really did forget to get lightly salted. Maybe he wanted regular so just thru the monkey on your back. Maybe he's just lazy and doesn't bother to remember. Or maybe he is just forgetful. The bottom line is pretty easy to handle though. Either don't ask him to do these kinds of things....or write it down.....or call him while he's at the store, etc and remind him. Don't hand him the responsibility and you won't be disappointed.

08-11-2019, 12:10 PM

Hi LouiseS!

Sorry about the stress and sleeplessness!

I'm 75 and do have some memory problems and, more frequently these days, can go into another room to get something, or do something, and have to search my memory to remember why. Names come harder to remember. But I feel that is just a part of normal aging problems.

Warning signals of more problematic memory problems are when an elderly person has problems with simple tasks and with tasks that they normally do without a problem.

Besides not being able to remember the right chips to buy, does your husband have problems with remembering how to do something simple that he has always done without a problem? Do you have to remind him how to do something that you have never had to before?

Regards, best of health to you and your hubby! Bob

08-11-2019, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titchou

In the FWIW department, I think you are probably over invested in this. Maybe he really did forget to get lightly salted. Maybe he wanted regular so just thru the monkey on your back. Maybe he's just lazy and doesn't bother to remember. Or maybe he is just forgetful. The bottom line is pretty easy to handle though. Either don't ask him to do these kinds of things....or write it down.....or call him while he's at the store, etc and remind him. Don't hand him the responsibility and you won't be disappointed.

Thank you for replying. It could be but the example I gave was just 1 small one of many that are almost daily. I have called him when he's at the store and vice versa but there are times when this can't be done. He's written things down for me and always forgets to look at the notes. So do I. He's forgotten dr. appts. but not often. Just seems like an accumulation of things he forgets just a little too often to be normal, for me, anyway.

08-11-2019, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Machaon

Hi LouiseS!

Sorry about the stress and sleeplessness!

I'm 75 and do have some memory problems and, more frequently these days, can go into another room to get something, or do something, and have to search my memory to remember why. Names come harder to remember. But I feel that is just a part of normal aging problems.

Warning signals of more problematic memory problems are when an elderly person has problems with simple tasks and with tasks that they normally do without a problem.

Besides not being able to remember the right chips to buy, does your husband have problems with remembering how to do something simple that he has always done without a problem? Do you have to remind him how to do something that you have never had to before?

Regards, best of health to you and your hubby! Bob

Hi Bob & thanks! Yes, he has had to search to repair a minor computer issue and that started to concern me but then he went right back to understanding how to do it again. I used to keep a list because it happened so often but then I deleted it. It's not just the chips. This was a small incident among many more important ones. He's forgotten a few dr. appts. There are things he wants to do but forgets to do them so it's not like he doesn't want to do things for me. He gets engrossed in stuff and then he just forgets. Well, I'll be keeping my eye on him as I've been doing anyway. I was hoping to come across at least 1 person in the same boat.

What has really concerned me is that he'll ask me a question, I'll answer it and it's not 5-10 minutes later he asks me the same question. This has happened quite often too. If he gets worse than this, I'll have to make a dr. appt. and I'll be back here.

More than forgetfulness

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