Losing the plot?

Sorry if this is a repeat, but a sign of dementia is forgetting what keys are for, not losing them. x

I bought dog food today ,we dont have a dog.The last time we did was 23 years ago when we had to rehome her because of my OH's allergies.We do have cats .Cats wont eat dog food .Maybe it was because we were chatting about the dogs we had that I picked up the dog food by mistake.
Last week I put dry oats and water in ajusg ,and in the microwave ..only I didn't.When there was no ping I went to investigate and the jug of oats was in the cupboard .My excuse is I have alot on my mind ,if I could switch off my worries I'd be fine .

Don't worry about. The more you do, the more a perceived problem it will become. I am 65 next week and I do that all the bloody time. However, I am not suffering from dementia, Its just that I have too much going on in my head and am easily distracted. Be easy on yourself, just don't ask me to remember your name

When only in our 20s DH and I took days to remember Charles Bronson’s name, so I don’t worry about names.
Constantly losing things because I’ve put them somewhere safe but can’t remember where.
I have been in a multi storey car park going round and round fearing the car had been stolen. However I was in the wrong car park.
Yes, as ops have said your anxiety is likely to make things worse. Hope you can find some helpful strategies here.

Most of us have things like that happen, completely normal,I attended a talk about dementia at our club and the Doctor explained that going to get something then forgetting what it was, is comlpetely normal she said this happened to her all the time.
If I am really stressed and unconcentrating I do forget names, then remember them hours later.One way to keep the mind active, I find is Gransnet, lists are a good help,now I must see if I can find tomorrows list.

Thanks again, everyone. I now feel positively normal!

Sounds like anxiety to me ,compounded by relative's recent diagnosis. I have a wide circle of busy active friends , generally around 70 years old. On some mornings at the gym it can take 10 of us to complete a sentence. It is very reasurring to know that we all have memory lapses and are not going mad. We all do voluntary work in our given fields and generally perform well so I don't think we are going mad, just ageing normally. It is actually great fun searching for the word that someone is trying to find and someone always finds it.

Pollyj I think there's probably enough reassurance within these anecdotes but I do sympathise. When you are used to thinking clearly and quickly, it does throw you off kilter.
My most spectacular gaffe was a just before our 24th wedding anniversary and I'd booked a last minute holiday to the island where we had our honeymoon. The travel agents said they would have the tickets next day, just to call in and collect them. Went to work as usual the following day, lingered in town to buy book and toiletries.

Completely forgot to collect tickets

I cried all the way to the airport in the certain knowledge that I was losing my mind. We had a very tough time of it at the airport but eventually, the tickets were re-issued and we had the most wonderful holiday. This year we will celebrate our 43rd anniversary but we still laugh about that one.

@V3ra, that did ring a bell, about reading.
It was my sister who first thought our mother - always an avid reader - was getting dementia, after seeing her repeatedly beginning to read the same book while on holiday.

Having recently been through it all with my FiL, though (sister had never had to deal with it) I fought against accepting it until the incident mentioned above - when she phoned her bank.

I agree 100% with what pps have said, about relatives usually noticing the early signs first. It’s often said that the sufferer is ‘in denial’ but to me that’s usually incorrect, since it implies that the person is aware but refusing to accept something.

Whereas with dementia, it seems so often the case that the person simply can’t remember (and so is unaware) that they can’t remember anything.

I once heard someone say that young people absorb information easily as there’s nothing else inside their heads. Old people’s brains are full up with all that Stuff accumulated over the years. All jumbled up, which is why it takes a while to remember things.

Also, when we try to learn something, something else has to fall out the other side. And there’s no telling what the something else will be.

I used to be like this a lot but did a course in mindfulness and it helped a lot. It taught me stay in the moment and focus on ONE thing at a time (simple but not easy) rather than trying to do two things at once, and thinking about a third thing at the same time. I think that as we get older, we simply don't have the energy to juggle more than one thing at a time. Learn to focus on what you're doing in the moment, and I can 99.9% guarantee that this problem will become a thing of the past. (Meditation can help anxiety too).

I also think that living on your own after many many years of having partner or dh who are no longer here.

So no one to converse with in the house, other than when family or visitors visit.

Our brains need stimulating. (mine included)

But also I see my brain as a bit like one of the older computers, when we overload it, it struggles and takes time to load and process things.

At least we are all in it together lol

Isn’t it lovely GreenGran to watch other people catch us up!

I gave up trying to remember names years ago and stuff usually gets done - eventually and rarely in the order intended.

I feed the cat, renew the water in her bowl, put the kettle on and then renew the water in the cat’s bowl! I lock the conservatory, put the keys on the sideboard, then lock the front door and return to see if I’ve locked the conservatory. I ask my husband if he wants coffee or tea, he says coffee and I make him tea. I can remember the words to every poem I have ever learned, but can’t remember the name of the woman across the road. And you think YOU’VE got problems.

Oops. Another 'senior moment!' I forgot to mention that I am 80!

Don't worry, Pollyj. I have just scrolled up the page twice, to check out your name. The first time I had forgotten it again before I reached the message box. I have always had a bad memory for names and faces. Apparently some peoples' brains aren't as well 'wired' for recognition as most peoples'.
I have been doing many of the absent-minded things that people have mentioned for years. I have also noticed, in the last few years, that I sometimes have to sit and think before I can remember the route to a familiar place. It doesn't really bother me, though. I have managed to get myself all the way to Australia several times in the last few years without accidentally ending up at the wrong boarding gate.
I would be lying if I said that the thought of dementia doesn't scare me a little. It's such a horrible condition. However, I know a few people who developed it, and none of them suspected that they had it. It was the onset of really noticeable odd behaviour that alerted their families and friends. I'm sure that you are just tired and stressed, but see your GP if you need reassurance.
Above all, try to get enough sleep, drink enough fluids and try to do relaxing and pleasant activities. Good luck.

The Doctor told my mum that if she forgets where she put her house keys that is normal. However, if she forgets what the house keys are for then maybe she should get tested!

PollyJ
When you mentioned builders coming upstairs at 8am that was enough reason for anyone to flit times zones! No one works inside my house until 9.30am, I must have my gather myself together "time"

I've learnt to laugh at the stupid things I do and try to remember I always did them. Now I live on my own I can't blame anyone else!

You might want to make sure you are not dehydrated or have a bladder infection ? My MIL got sudden ‘dementia’ and one clever nurse figured out she might have a bladder infection which she did! If I get dehydrated my memory goes. But I also was prescribed testosterone replacement because my brain kept ‘freezing’ mid sentence and I had fog brain but that’s slightly different.

The other day I crocheted a purse and it turned out so nicely, that I ambitiously decided to add a liner, complete with a zipper and and a pocket.. simple right? Well, big mistake!

Liner had to be a pouch where the wrong side of the fabric was actually on the outside and the 'good' side was on the inside where you could see it when purse opened. The edges of the zipper had to be attached to the inside edges of the pouch but with the pull facing up so it could be zipped and unzipped.

Long story short, I sewed the pouch where the entire thing opened to the 'bad' side. After having to re-sew the pouch, the blasted zipper had to be ripped out repeatedly. When the pull ended up inside and I couldn't get at it, I came close to tears.
I finally got it right, so absolutely traumatized by the whole experience, that I won't be trying it again....at least not for now. I've never felt so stupid in my entire life!

Oh kittylester I laughed out loud at your lift story.. these things are quite common things we do . I think sometimes it's because we've got a lot on our minds . I have to stop sometimes to think what I was just about to do next. ?

You sound tired and maybe a little stressed. Don’t worry. Having workmen in just adds to tension.

Just have a glass of wine ? you won't worry about it then ? xx

I read recently that dementia is not forgetting where your keys are, but finding them and having no idea whose keys they are. Reassuring?

I’ve always been a bit forgetful although when I used to work a couple of night shifts when I was in my 30’s it was definitely worse. Sometimes when the adverts come on I forget what program I’m watching and have to wait for it to come back on again!