Short-term memory......?‍♀️

Shinamae, I have the same problem......can’t remember what I had for lunch today, seriously. I’m a couple of years older than you, so I’ll be interested to see what others have to say. Most will be in bed by now. Another thing, do you also stay up late? Just trying to check similarities.

i cannot remember what i have done less than a minute ago.
this happens frequently, several times a day.
i decide to turn off/on the boiler.
i stand in front of it, puzzled, as it is already turned on/off.
no one else could have done it, and i know it was on/off a minute ago.
i have no memory of doing it. but i retain the intention to do it. so i go to do it and discover i have already done it.
i wonder if this explains some repeated checking behaviours.

My husband can't remember things he's said, most recently with regard to plans for Easter. He's adamant that the outing he suggested, which is not a sensible option at all, was my idea ?
It makes it very hard to finalise arrangements for anything.

CrazyH yes I do go to bed very late,usually not in bed till about 12 then I read for awhile rarely asleep before 1 am....

We have a joke that it keeps us fit. We have 3 flights of stairs in our house. We’re forever going back up/down for things we forgot!

I went to an interesting lecture on short term memory.

Apparently you can only hold five things in your immediate memory. If another thought comes in, one drops out. So you have to find ways to shift the thought into medium term.

One of the most effective ways was to verbalise. So when you turn the boiler off you say out loud, “I am turning the boiler off” and this shifts it. “Or I am going to the bedroom to get my glasses”. or “This morning I am cleaning the bathroom”.

But you do have to say it out loud. Thinking it isn’t enough.

Of course, you sound a bit odd talking to yourself all the time?

It can be related to underlying stress. And, haven't we all got a bit of that at the mo?

One of my problems is having a conversation with someone and then later on trying to remember what we talked about and more importantly who I had the conversation with. It is really worrying.

I did also watched a program that said that taking antidepressants and also sleeping tablets can affect your memory and I have taken both in the past and I’m a recovering alcoholic so I don’t suppose my brain being battered by alcohol has helped much either?‍♀️

I’ve also been concerned about my memory. welbecks example of turning off the heating happened to me this morning again. I went to do it and stood gazing at the switch wondering how it was already in the off position. I live alone so it can only have been me(I hope!)

I have an online order to collect in local M&S today. If I hadn’t put a reminder in my phone to prompt me it would never have entered my head today. It does concern me how much I rely on my phone for reminders I’ve set.

I felt a little reassured yesterday on a long walk with a friend who is my age. She seemed to be feeling the same. We were chatting about tv programmes we’d watched and we both struggled to come up with characters names. I’m not talking complicated plots as in Line of Duty but the likes of Coronation St we’ve watched for years!

Excercise it, it’s use it or lose it like any other muscle. Highly recommend a book titled ‘ How to build a better brain ‘ by Dr Sabrina Brennan. Now .... where did I put my copy? ?

Nanna58 I do exercise it, I do a lot of word games and crossword puzzles and general knowledge quizzes so I think I’m doing my bit for that hopefully...
?‍♀️

My brain seems to have perked up as I've got older I can remember it being quite sluggish when I was in my 60's for some unknown reason ?
However since then when I was put onto statins for a raised cholesterol I've been fine in that department. I also take blood-thinners for a problem which could be helping too. I'm turned 80 and the brain is the sharpest thing about me now .

Well, it’s quite reassuring to know that I’m not the only one...?‍♀️
Well done EV! ?

We always joke that if I ever got interviewed by the police they would never believe that I can't remember what I did this morning, let alone two weeks ago ?

I don't even know what day of the week it most of the time, let alone the date or month. "And what were you doing on the morning of the 13th June" "Well Officer, what day is it today? And when was the 13th June?"

I've always had a slightly poor short term memory but I do find it worse now that I'm in my late 60s.
Poor sleep and stress make it worse. I notice that fish oil or eating oily fish seems to make it better.
It is alarming noticing changes like this but I try not to panic!

welbeck, I have exactly the same problem. It's not a memory problem at all, though, in fact it's an attention thing.

We lose focus on what we're doing, intend to do (or just did) for a few minutes - then are surprised to realise that we're about to repeat it. It's really quite alarming.

Peasblossom, that makes a lot of sense, and explains why writing things down helps me get organised - even if I never look at the note, it must have the same effect as saying it.

Line of duty I cannot follow it’s too complicated. Other serials I forget the plot, so I stick to dramas that are complete.
I’m forever misplacing things - hunting for my phone, my specs, I go out without a mask etc. cooking a meal takes longer because I feel muddled but I get there in the end. A diary helps me keep track. Childhood memories are crystal clear thank heavens. I do crosswords and scrabble. I don’t read as much as I used to and prefer short stories.
I take a good walk every day for exercise and fresh air and feel quite fit. Just keep going, eh!

Apparently learning a new skill exercises your brain very well as you are opening new neural pathways.
To be honest, doing your family history works your brain like a demon as you have to keep puzzling over things, how to trace people and their lives. The answer is nearly always to be found no matter how difficult some people are to identify. You just have to have a problem solving mind. It really stretches the old grey matter!

I took my dad to the doctors when he was having memory lapses. The doctor asked him a few questions - Who is the Prime Minister? Dad replied, Its that bloke off the telly! (It was John Major.)
And during the war? Churchill of course!! He thought the doctor was stupid, not knowing that!

Ladies lm as bad as all of you. I even forgot my own grandchildren’s names so l call them numbers 1-4.
And the same, l have to write everything in my phone diary otherwise l would forget.
I do go through bed late but I don’t lack sleep because l get up when I naturally wake up. Except that I am trying to go to bed earlier these days.
It’s not so much the brain training it’s the circulation to the brain that is important so physical exercise is best.

I am nearly the oldest person here, and only this last year, have I aged! and short term memory loss!!! ARGH! speaking with some ladies in my age group,

not uncommon, I blame the lockups for most my failing memory and health!

I’m 72 and find this is happening to me too. I had a phone consultation booked with one of our GP’s who I have seen many times. I wrote the date and his name on my calendar. Over the course of the next few days although I knew when the date was I couldn’t recall his name. I woke in the night a few times and lay there trying to remember who would be phoning me. It was almost as though this one small piece of information was going round and round in my mind. Yet I know my mind is basically ok but just lets me down on silly little things. I was a little stressed by the consultation which actually was fine in the end.