Memory – Age…. or something more?

Hey all,

I have noticed over the last 6 – 12 months my memory is becoming more… i’m not really sure how to describe it…. Worse? Long term seems fine, i can remember all sorts. Its almost like my short term is getting a bit hazy.

It doesnt happen often, but on occasions i cant for the life of me remember a word, or a name, or a place. Its just not in my head. It doesnt exist. It can then take me a few seconds, or minutes or days, to finally remember what it is.

Example: My daughter will say something, and i will think, i must recall that to my wife later. Then when i see her, i remember i needed to share something with her, but sometimes i cant remember what it is, then it will come to me at some point later.

I’m 43. Fairly fit and healthy. Dont drink excessively, dont smoke, dont (and never have) done drugs. I’m a Project Manager, job has its elements of stress, but it overall isnt too bad. Have a good home life, i have a wife and two girls. a 17 year old who doesnt live with me and a 7 year old old who does. Hobbies, friends, the usual sort of stuff.

Am i just getting old, or is this the early onset of me losing my marbles!?!?

If anyone is or has been in the same boat, was there any solution or remedies?

Cheers.

I’m in the same boat, remembering folks names not from a while back but recent memory is not as great as it was. Partner reckons it’s just me getting older at 62 but it’s a slight concern as my mum ended up with dementia

Ask me anything about the ’70’s ’80’s etc still sharp as a tack but where was I working 5 days ago, Google phone taking a pic every day now is my timesheet

My old man at 94 remembers everything, sharp as a tack and very annoying

I was going to post but have forgotten what I was going to write.

Stress, distractions, and age can all affect memory.

It could be early onset dementia of course, but not likely unless it runs in the family. Stress and distractions run in everyone’s family so is far more likely 🙂

I had a similar thing going on couldnt remember a 6 digit number ,  lessened blood supply to my brain diagnosed by multiple MRI scans , turns out its slow and insidious and causes things similar, told lifestyle changes wont fix the small vessel damage , neuro doc says pretty common ,

Not saying its that but im a similar age and GP said lets check it out

I’m 42 and very similar- there are things that I absolutely know, like the name of a really famous actor or a musician but when I try to spontaneously reach for it in a conversation it evaporates and the more I try and recall it the further away it gets.

Unlike the OP I did a lot of drugs when I was younger and it does make me wonder.

On the other hand, I do fine in my job and am currently studying law part time (at a reasonably advanced level) and no problems there either despite it being a subject renowned for being quite memory/revision heavy.

My wife has commented on my poor memory before but then again she comments on a lot of things so not sure how much of a barometer that really is.

I’m not really the sort of person who does puzzles or crosswords or whatever, I’m sure if I started that could help a lot tbf.

I’m 55, and the sort of impact you describe is, for me, directly related to stress levels. If I’m going through a easy patch at work I get forgetful. If I’m going through a tough period at work I also get forgetful.

There’s a sweet spot where I’m stimulated, but not overly so, where my memory works like it used to when I was in my 20s 30s years.

Not sure, but I think the sweet spot range is getting narrower as I age, unlike my waist.

My understanding is that if you eventually remember then nowt to worry about, just age, stress, tiredness etc.

(My dad has dementia so had to read up on a few things)

Brain fog is a common symptom of long Covid, which is worth considering. It can be many things though. I’d look at cleaning up diet as much as possible, consider what environmental toxins you’re exposed to, reduce whatever stress you can, and sleep well. I think it’s generally believed to come down to environmental triggers and they accumulate over time.

I’m 52 and Duggan could have described me, except the part about studying law. I occasionally worry about it as my grandad had dementia, although not til his late 70s. I mostly put it down to having too much information floating around up there, now if something gets added something else has to go in deep storage.

If you work in IT, my memory analogy goes something like:

RAM -> SSD -> HDD -> Tape -> Tape in a firesafe -> Tape at Iron Mountain

Occasionally I have to send a truck to Iron Mountain to retrieve some memories.

My kids say my memory is like the archive vaults in the basement of library. You have to allow time to crank the handles to move the shelves, then hunt out the info. Eventually I will get there. Might take minutes. Can take hours.

I blame our phones doing all the remembering for us.

I blame our phones doing all the remembering for us.

When I was a kid in the 70s, I knew and remembered a good 9 or 10 of my mates home telephone numbers off by heart.  When I first started working I remembered bank account numbers, payroll number, national insurance number.  All sorts of useless dross. Numbers just embedded themselves in my brain with no effort. These days I know our landline number, my own mobile number and that’s it.  I have no idea what my wife’s, parent’s or kid’s numbers are without looking them up.  We have 2 cars and a motorbike in the household, sometimes I struggle to remember the registrations.  I can however remember my army number.  Pretty soon it’ll be all I can remember and I’ll resort to blurting out my number, rank and name like some lunatic POW whenever I’m asked for any kind of reference number.

The phones thing is a good point- I think its more than just remembering stuff for us too.

I basically outsource all of my cognitive reasoning to it- if I’m faced with any kind of problem or issue I find myself googling the answer to it on my phone before I’ve even tried to think it through myself even slightly.

The peri-menopause is hammering my memory, brain fog is very real.

Already been said about stress and other ‘environment’ factors. Particularly my brain doesn’t do multi tasking so distractions are a pain as I completely forget what I was doing, I walk up and down stairs multiple times forgetting stuff. Things like long Covid or other viruses can cause brain fog. Also sleep deprivation, things like sleep apnea or less extreme but if you’ve put on weight and snore when you didn’t used to. There are so many potential things really. If it’s worrisome you can go to your GP, or hunt out some memory tests online and try repeat testing over a period of time.

I can remember my NI number and the cheat code to Manic Miner, but colleague’s names can sometimes embarrassingly evaporate.. often when I’m introducing them to others….

I’m 43 and exactly the same it seems. Short term memory is shocking, forget to do tasks I set myself, forget conversations…. all sorts. It’s a right pain tbh. And like someone alluded to up there, increasingly often I’ll not be able to remember a word or a name during a conversation, I know I know it but it’s like it’s behind a wall and I can’t get to it, can be very frustrating.

On the other hand, I can remember all sorts of shit I’d be happy to forget! I’ll randomly remember some event from 20/30 years ago that makes me cringe and I’d rather forget!

What was the question again?

glad i am not alone. And seems like the joys of being 40+.

This has mostly put my mind to rest…. until i forget…..

Add me to the pile of I’m Glad It’s Not Just Mes.

41M names won’t come to me when I want them, however I still remember my girlfriends phone number from 1998 and the one from 2000-2002.

Also bank account and sort code numbers for personal and joint account numbers, all I think car reg numbers going back to 2000, but not he one that on the drive at the moment.

I’ve been worried because my wife is 5 years older than me and is displaying none of this, however she has been a stay at home mom for 14 years and does sudoku, I come home from work and stare into the abyss.