Forgetfulness starting to impact work

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androbot2084
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07 Jun 2013, 1:04 pm

I forget things at work because I am trapped in my own little world. My Boss threatened to fire me.



beneficii
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07 Jun 2013, 1:17 pm

Thelibrarian wrote:
beneficii wrote:
Thelibrarian wrote:
beneficii wrote:
If I may ask, How old are you guys? I'm 29, so I think I'm a little too early for Alzheimer's or anything like that. I've been having some low-key psychotic symptoms off and on over the past few months with some problems with emotions, sleeping, and anxiety, so perhaps the memory problems are related to a developing psychotic episode? Hopefully, we can resolve it without it coming to that.


I'm fifty.

Again, your memory episodes could be indicative of something more serious. It is also the case that drugs can cause memory impairment, both of the legal and illegal variety, particularly cannabis.

Two things that do help me with my memory are good quality ginseng and eating oily fish, such as tuna and catfish. One theory of autism is that it is an inflammation of the brain, and the omega 3 fatty acids tend to inhibit inflammation. I don't know if this is true, but eating fish in particular seems to help me some.


I heard lithium may cause it, but I've been on lithium for a while. These memory problems have been there since before being put on the antipsychotics. I don't do illegal drugs or alcohol or tobacco.

Should I call my psychiatrist and let her know what's going on with my memory? Perhaps I should go to another psychiatrist for a second opinion of the diagnosis and treatment plan? How should I go about that? (I guess I can go back to my old psychiatrist for a session.) Should I contact an early psychosis center?

Well, I had no problem coming up with that list of questions. :)


Beneficii, first, I would caution you not to jump to any conclusions and unnecessarily worry yourself. I would let my doctor know though, and seek a second opinion if you find their answer unsatisfactory.

One of the other posters reminded me of something I read a while back. When we are busy and have to walk into another room for something, for some reason going into another room tends to make people forget what they went into that room for. It's happened to me more times than I can count. So, what I do now--at least when I can remember to--is to keep what I'm doing in the front of my mind when I go to do it.

Also, my AS tends to get better and worse, and tends to go in cycles. It may be the same with you, and you may be in some kind of down cycle right now.

I would certainly let my doctor know what is going on, but I would try not to worry about it too much.


Thanks. I'm not that worried about it, but instead have a kind of detached curiosity about it: I'm studying myself, interested in where this may go. Nevertheless, if there is preventative action that can be taken, I will take it. I do have some factors in my life that go into taking this a bit seriously, and I'm glad that my psychiatrist does, namely that I've had full-blown psychosis in the past--which I think would preclude going to an early psychosis clinic as they usually don't want people who've had their first episode, already. That alone means I should take it seriously and not just attribute it to Asperger's. (When I was a kid, before the psychotic episode, I had problems with disorganized speech for years which they seemed to just attribute to the PDD-NOS diagnosis I had. Then I had my psychotic episode for which I received a high dose antipsychotic, and the disorganized speech went away with treatment: I noticed within a few months the improvement in my ability to communicate which was a relief. So the disorganized speech was not likely to have been the PDD-NOS/Asperger's, but rather to the psychosis.)

I will call my psychiatrist and let her know.



OddButWhy
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07 Jun 2013, 1:37 pm

beneficii wrote:
I have been a lot more forgetful lately. There was a time when my dad asked me to take care of something as I was leaving the house, which was very clear and easy to do and would have taken at most 30 seconds and I was eager to do, but by the time I went by the task on the path out, I had already forgotten to do it.

Now I'm having a similar problem at work, which could impact my job. :( There's a task that needs doing before I leave, which takes like 5 to 10 minutes. It's easy, and in fact I usually do the task quite well, as remarked upon by coworkers. Unfortunately, I've been forgetting to do that task lately and it was remarked upon by my team lead that I had forgotten. I was really afraid and resolved not to forget and that worked, but then I've started forgetting again, which is disturbing again. Now it's been remarked upon by team lead again, and she noted I didn't respond to the last email. What should I say? I plan to set up reminders in Outlook, because this is unacceptable.

Should I call and let my doctor know about my memory lapses?


Definitely speak to your doctor and let him know that the memory problems are affecting your work, and tell him too about your other symptoms. There could be a cause like a sleep disturbance at the root of it all. The symptoms you describe can all be self-reinforcing: memory lapses cause anxiety, which interferes with sleep, causing more memory problems, more anxiety, etc. or: sleep trouble causes memory lapses, causing anxiety, and so on. I was just a few years older than you when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. In the months leading up to that, I was a wreck, always forgetting things, terrible sleep, and feeling like my mind was disintegrating. Not saying that's what's happening to you, it's just my experience.

Until you get it figured out, set up a fail safe method of reminding yourself to do the task at work. Outlook can be good, but it's also easy to overlook one Outlook reminder among many or, if you're not using your computer at the end of the day, to miss it entirely.. Since it's at the end of the day, can you attach a note to your car keys, steering wheel, bus pass, or some other object that you will definitely see as you leave, as a backup reminder? Maybe every morning put your keys in an envelope on your desk labeled "Do X' so you have to retrieve them and are reminded of that task?

For the benefit of your tem leader, how about a making a spreadsheet you keep updated each day showing the task was done? She may not even want to see it, but she might be satisfied knowing you're taking concrete steps to monitor and correct the situation. (Besides, everyone loves spreadsheets).



Thelibrarian
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07 Jun 2013, 1:43 pm

beneficii wrote:
Thelibrarian wrote:
beneficii wrote:
Thelibrarian wrote:
beneficii wrote:
If I may ask, How old are you guys? I'm 29, so I think I'm a little too early for Alzheimer's or anything like that. I've been having some low-key psychotic symptoms off and on over the past few months with some problems with emotions, sleeping, and anxiety, so perhaps the memory problems are related to a developing psychotic episode? Hopefully, we can resolve it without it coming to that.


I'm fifty.

Again, your memory episodes could be indicative of something more serious. It is also the case that drugs can cause memory impairment, both of the legal and illegal variety, particularly cannabis.

Two things that do help me with my memory are good quality ginseng and eating oily fish, such as tuna and catfish. One theory of autism is that it is an inflammation of the brain, and the omega 3 fatty acids tend to inhibit inflammation. I don't know if this is true, but eating fish in particular seems to help me some.


I heard lithium may cause it, but I've been on lithium for a while. These memory problems have been there since before being put on the antipsychotics. I don't do illegal drugs or alcohol or tobacco.

Should I call my psychiatrist and let her know what's going on with my memory? Perhaps I should go to another psychiatrist for a second opinion of the diagnosis and treatment plan? How should I go about that? (I guess I can go back to my old psychiatrist for a session.) Should I contact an early psychosis center?

Well, I had no problem coming up with that list of questions. :)


Beneficii, first, I would caution you not to jump to any conclusions and unnecessarily worry yourself. I would let my doctor know though, and seek a second opinion if you find their answer unsatisfactory.

One of the other posters reminded me of something I read a while back. When we are busy and have to walk into another room for something, for some reason going into another room tends to make people forget what they went into that room for. It's happened to me more times than I can count. So, what I do now--at least when I can remember to--is to keep what I'm doing in the front of my mind when I go to do it.

Also, my AS tends to get better and worse, and tends to go in cycles. It may be the same with you, and you may be in some kind of down cycle right now.

I would certainly let my doctor know what is going on, but I would try not to worry about it too much.


Thanks. I'm not that worried about it, but instead have a kind of detached curiosity about it: I'm studying myself, interested in where this may go. Nevertheless, if there is preventative action that can be taken, I will take it. I do have some factors in my life that go into taking this a bit seriously, and I'm glad that my psychiatrist does, namely that I've had full-blown psychosis in the past--which I think would preclude going to an early psychosis clinic as they usually don't want people who've had their first episode, already. That alone means I should take it seriously and not just attribute it to Asperger's. (When I was a kid, before the psychotic episode, I had problems with disorganized speech for years which they seemed to just attribute to the PDD-NOS diagnosis I had. Then I had my psychotic episode for which I received a high dose antipsychotic, and the disorganized speech went away with treatment: I noticed within a few months the improvement in my ability to communicate which was a relief. So the disorganized speech was not likely to have been the PDD-NOS/Asperger's, but rather to the psychosis.)

I will call my psychiatrist and let her know.


Beneficii, you are most welcome.

As far as your other issues are concerned, I can't speak to those, as I am not familiar with them. I will wish you the best of luck though.



beneficii
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07 Jun 2013, 1:48 pm

OddButWhy wrote:
beneficii wrote:
I have been a lot more forgetful lately. There was a time when my dad asked me to take care of something as I was leaving the house, which was very clear and easy to do and would have taken at most 30 seconds and I was eager to do, but by the time I went by the task on the path out, I had already forgotten to do it.

Now I'm having a similar problem at work, which could impact my job. :( There's a task that needs doing before I leave, which takes like 5 to 10 minutes. It's easy, and in fact I usually do the task quite well, as remarked upon by coworkers. Unfortunately, I've been forgetting to do that task lately and it was remarked upon by my team lead that I had forgotten. I was really afraid and resolved not to forget and that worked, but then I've started forgetting again, which is disturbing again. Now it's been remarked upon by team lead again, and she noted I didn't respond to the last email. What should I say? I plan to set up reminders in Outlook, because this is unacceptable.

Should I call and let my doctor know about my memory lapses?


Definitely speak to your doctor and let him know that the memory problems are affecting your work, and tell him too about your other symptoms. There could be a cause like a sleep disturbance at the root of it all. The symptoms you describe can all be self-reinforcing: memory lapses cause anxiety, which interferes with sleep, causing more memory problems, more anxiety, etc. or: sleep trouble causes memory lapses, causing anxiety, and so on. I was just a few years older than you when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. In the months leading up to that, I was a wreck, always forgetting things, terrible sleep, and feeling like my mind was disintegrating. Not saying that's what's happening to you, it's just my experience.

Until you get it figured out, set up a fail safe method of reminding yourself to do the task at work. Outlook can be good, but it's also easy to overlook one Outlook reminder among many or, if you're not using your computer at the end of the day, to miss it entirely.. Since it's at the end of the day, can you attach a note to your car keys, steering wheel, bus pass, or some other object that you will definitely see as you leave, as a backup reminder? Maybe every morning put your keys in an envelope on your desk labeled "Do X' so you have to retrieve them and are reminded of that task?

For the benefit of your tem leader, how about a making a spreadsheet you keep updated each day showing the task was done? She may not even want to see it, but she might be satisfied knowing you're taking concrete steps to monitor and correct the situation. (Besides, everyone loves spreadsheets).


Thanks for the advice. I just created a note (in Japanese) that I left for myself, telling me not to forget. As for the spreadsheet, I'm going to try to keep things as simple as possible for now.

Definitely having the note should help with remembering. I let my psychiatrist know, though she doesn't come in until Tuesdasy.



beneficii
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07 Jun 2013, 2:22 pm

Quote:
Beneficii, you are most welcome.

As far as your other issues are concerned, I can't speak to those, as I am not familiar with them. I will wish you the best of luck though.


Thanks. I called and left a message. She'll be in on Tuesday, so nothing to do but occupy myself with my restricted interests and work. :)



zer0netgain
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07 Jun 2013, 2:22 pm

beneficii wrote:
If I may ask, How old are you guys? I'm 29, so I think I'm a little too early for Alzheimer's or anything like that. I've been having some low-key psychotic symptoms off and on over the past few months with some problems with emotions, sleeping, and anxiety, so perhaps the memory problems are related to a developing psychotic episode? Hopefully, we can resolve it without it coming to that.


My memory has always been "quirky." I was about your age or younger and I could never seem to retain a phone number or street address unless I had to recite it many, many times. My short-term memory is crap, but give me a month and I might remember those things with no problem. I have near photographic recall at the oddest of times and for the oddest of things. I got through college and law school hardly studying because I could never know if I knew the material when I studied. It would either come back to me during the exam or it would not. This is why I was so anal about going to class and taking copious notes...it was how I imprinted the information. Traditional studying just didn't work for me.



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07 Jun 2013, 2:39 pm

I hope everything works out well or you, Beneficii.



Thelibrarian
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07 Jun 2013, 2:41 pm

Beneficii, if I may be so bold as to ask, what kind of work do you do?



beneficii
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07 Jun 2013, 3:18 pm

Thelibrarian wrote:
Beneficii, if I may be so bold as to ask, what kind of work do you do?


Workforce management, where we're in charge of employees' schedules, making sure we have enough staffing, making sure we don't have too much staffing, sending notices if employees are not adhering to their schedules, and various miscellaneous tasks. It's a nice job, somewhat easy but not too easy.