I've become obsessed with puzzles

CStrope

Has anyone else found themselves doing any number of things to make sure they exercise their brain constantly?  I am so afraid of having memory issues that I am constantly making sure I'm doing a variety of things to keep myself "on my toes".  I have the closed-captioning on the TV so that I have to read while watching a show.  I do jigsaw puzzles every weekend.  I do the daily Wordle, Quordle, BigOpolis Fill-it-in Puzzle, Sudoku, Kakuro, and any other type of puzzle I can get my hands on.  These are all things I've always enjoyed, but since DH was diagnosed with Alzheimer's I find a need to do these things all the time.

Ed1937

I don't do anything like that, but it's hard to find a downside to keeping your brain busy.

caberr

Yes, I've been doing online puzzles and I've gotten a couple of jig saw puzzles, crossword puzzle books and do word puzzles on my phone.  It gives me something else to think about instead of DH and AD.  I know it helps my brain as well.

toolbeltexpert

I play Mahjongg although it's not a real brain game. I try to stay active which I think does me the best. If I get the change I work on equipment of any type. Mostly mowers and our vehicles. Thanks CStrope I was wondering about you today.

Buggsroo

I love playing mahjong and do loads of word puzzles. I also am knitting a super difficult cable sweater in blue, it has been really beneficial to my brain. I also learned French as a child and did my BA in comparative lit before going to art school, so all my novels are in French, reading Zola right now, the vocabulary is pretty amazing, learning all kinds of new words. I have the same fear as you, I do not want any memory issues down the road.

Quilting brings calm

I’ve got a candy crush app, word with friends app, and a puzzle app on my phone.  I read a lot  and I sew quilt tops(lots of math there).

CStrope

So glad to see so many of us are finding ways to keep our brains engaged in a variety of ways

Vitruvius

I exercise my brain every day trying to figure out what DW is talking about!

But seriously I have an ipad and in the evening after she has gone to bed I try one of several challenging games or reading an in-depth magazine article. Books are beyond me at this point. They take too much commitment and focus. I want to exercise my brain but I also need to decompress. 

Lynne D

Super scared of losing ability too. I am doing Duolingo (French, Buggs, it was my minor) and word searches.

jmlarue

Quilting, avid reader, and trying to improve my Spanish. My dream is to return to snowbirding in Arizona or Mexico once my DH no longer needs me - God willing and the brain cells keep firing. A beach house on the Sea of Cortez would be ideal.

toolbeltexpert

CStrope I find I am hyper aware of anything that falls into one of the stage,symptoms.  I have a hard time saying words at times,it's like I gag on them, I also find the inability to name something and instead describing it. But that may be me just paying attention to stuff.

harshedbuzz

I don't put much stock in the brain as a muscle after cleaning out Auntie's house after she went into memory care. There was a 12' closet stacked floor to ceiling with grocery bags filled with cut out NYT crossword puzzles. In the older bags, most of the puzzles were completed correctly, but the ones on top were less likely to be correct or fully filled out and the ones on top contained only cut out grids with no clues. Before he died, my uncle used to encourage her and reassure her she was fine because she could still do crosswords and I suppose this was something she continued with after he died.

That said, I do try to learn new things around my hobbies to increase my skills. 

Since I have 2 aunts with vascular dementia in my mom's family, I make sure I keep my cholesterol and BP in check and get some exercise daily. Since my dad and sister had/likely had Wernicke-Korsakoff's which is caused by a deficiency in Thiamine (alcohol-related for him, AIDS related for her), I watch my alcohol consumption. 

HB

Rescue mom

I have to say, I generally agree with what harshedbuzz said. I know too many people with dementia who worked long past “retirement age” in professional careers that required a lot of brain power. Any and all brain exercise is good, IME, just as physical exercise and diet are important. But I don’t think they do much, if anything, to prevent dementia. I still love my jigsaw puzzles and word games though!

Bob in LW

Many of us older people like to watch "Jeopardy" because it is a good brain exercise when you try to think of the correct answer within the few seconds allotted.

Faith,Hope,Love

I try to read when DH isn't talking, but that's hard to do.  I read cozy mysteries and find reading helps me a lot.  It helps me to escape into another person's life for a little while.  I also quilt, do cross stitch, sew and have started EPP (English Paper Piecing).

GothicGremlin

I've certainly become more aware of my "senior moments" since my sister was diagnosed.  I don't know whether or not puzzles or games help, but doing them can't hurt, right?

So.. when I see her, I do jigsaw puzzles with my mom-in-law. I've played Go for years and still do Go problems.  I think the problems that I do are probably similar to math/logic problems. There's a spatial element to them too.

During lockdown when I couldn't go anywhere or see anyone, I took up writing (done when my s.o and Peggy were sleeping). It's a good escape. Lockdown was a dark time, so I went for light -- cozy mysteries. Coming up with a structure for a series and mapping it all out was a good brain exercise. One is almost finished, with six or seven more to go.

Of course none of this happens all the time. There are days where it's all dementia all the time, and all I can do is veg out at the end of the day.

zauberflote

I find myself observing every word that won't come out on time, critiquing my driving, wondering if the things I'm behind in are because of executive function loss rather than what I tell myself (I'm old, I'm tired, it takes longer to just live life in this older body so I have less time, don't try to live up to so-and-so-- some of those are actually the case!)-- IOW I am pretty scared of finding I am on a path to dementia. 

My mother was advancing through the ranks in Sudoku in her mid/late 70's/early 80's. I can't abide the game! That means I should make myself do it, right? I have serial obsessions with solitaire, and with word games. I played Wordle for awhile, then Quordle, and finally Sedecordle  

I'm a flute player, and I keep my face and fingers in shape as best I can, and play professionally as much as I can. Hoping that brain connection will serve well. 

CStrope

Zauberflote that's awesome that you still play the flute.  I played clarinet but that was way back in high school and college!

Paris20

I’ve been doing crossword puzzles for close to 50 years. Now I’ve added Wordle. I studied French for many years to exercise my brain. I never started crosswords because of any fear of brain stagnation. That idea j’reste up on me gradually. I find crosswords and Wordle fun and a way to focus my concentration to reduce the stressor of the outside world. Having taken care of my DH for the last seven years, I have no illusions about preventing AD. he had a PhD in Accouting & Finance, subjects my brain could never master. He taught classes for decades. Nevertheless, he still came down with AD.