Words ... trouble with words

I do the same things. It is odd, isn't it?

Iris

It was words, trying to retell someone about something i had just read or seen,or other situations once not a problem now disaster. This led to the memory clinic and the alzheimers discovery. Words are not my friends and are my friends i just have to treat them differently and give myself more time.Its true with everything now second guessing , did i just do that, what was routine i just *$%& up again.As they say on The Mandilorian "This is the way" unfortunately true. Constant checks and balances this will fail to.I hope someone will let me know when it does. Will i understand big? Well off we go.........

I'm sympathetic. Have a long-time friend that I've lived w/ for about 20 years who "developed" dementia, for lack of better term, and now has to be in a nursing home. She wasn't safe here, I couldn't keep her safe. She wandered outside one winter night and slipped in the driveway (why she went out I have no idea). Broke her collarbone. Things just continued from there. Forgetting who lived here was a big one, many police calls.

The fact that you can acknowledge you have this condition is a plus, as she was in denial. I hope you can all find some adequate treatment, and wish you the best.

is there nothing that can be done, when you are still in the stage of being aware of your cognitive decline? It seems like sitting at the top of a slide and the only choice you have is to slide down. I think, if you are aware, surely there is something that can be done to at least, slow your decent.

I’m new to this group, and already find it helpful! It feels like I’m finally “talking” to people experiencing some of the early stage Alzheimer’s things that I am. One thing that I don’t think was mentioned yet here is working with a speech pathologist who can help with difficulty in speech, writing, things you can do to help with the next stage, ex. I had no idea that these folks do such a variety of things.

One example of something that really helped with writing was the difficulty I was having remembering how to spell and write the names of my three children and their partners. This was really bothering me. The speech pathologist had me write out the list of names 10 times while looking at her writing of them, then had me do the same without looking at anything. It worked, and every once in a while I do this again at home to see if I can still do it.

This is just a small example, but a good example of how she listens to my concerns and looks to find ways to address them. We also spend a lot of time working on things I can do now that will help later on when things progress.

I tend to say "That guy" or "That lady" without providing any context. As if my DW knows who I'm thinking of in my head (with only 8 billion people in the world, how could she NOT know who I'm referring to?)... ;)

I had a friend with Alzheimer’s who did this same thing (i.e., used indeterminate naming for specific people or things). Must be common across the dementia spectrum (?).