Short-term memory......?‍♀️

Are you on any medication,certain things affect memory,especially sleeping pills———another thing is if you have had an anaesthetic.
They do say if you writing is getting much smaller you may have a problem———— but actually talking to friends we all seem to be forgetting stuff,got to remember our computers are getting full it takes longer to process things !

V3ra I have similar conversations with my DH - it’s only on the odd occasion we have a ‘witness’ that he’ll admit he’s incorrect (and then very grudgingly!)

My bedtime routine of checking door locked, heating off and lights turned off used to take a few minutes. Now I often have to get out of bed as I can't remember doing one of those things.
Reassuring that I am not the only one.

Camelotclub What a beautifully knitted jumper. Such a complicated, attractive design.

I remember the things which are important to me and tend to forget others. I think we worry about our completely normal memory lapses as we think it may be the onset of dementia or similar illness.
I'm always amazed at witnesses in TV programmes and films who can remember a person lurking round three months ago or the colour of a car parked nearby. I wouldn't have a clue after three days.

Nanna58,that made me lol.
Thank you.

One of my school reports 90 years ago said ‘Forgetful and lacks concentration’!
The only things I cannot remember now are the names of plants. I used to know all their Latin names, and some peoples names.

It may be time to get it checked out with your GP. Then again it could simply be age related cognitive decline. Out brains are at theie optimum at the age of 25 and they then start to decline. I've also read something about the fact that we can only hold I think, six things in our memory at a time. If you think of an extra one then the brain parks one of the others. I'm reading everything about brains now that mums got Alzheimers. I can also recommend YouTube vidoes by Teepa Snow.

I think it’s name blindness I suffer from. I take ages to recall people’s names. I’d be useless on Pointless.

As Amberone said, it would be a challenge if I had to tell the police what I did on a particular day. I wouldn't have the faintest idea.

In detective fiction, including TV series, it always seems unreal to me when people are asked to provide alibis for a date and time that was weeks or months earlier. Obviously you would be able to remember what you had done on, say, the 7th of September between ten p.m and midnight if you were committing murder, but how could anyone else remember? Yet they always say something like, "I went out with Bill for a drink." "What time did you get home?" "About half past ten."

Unless I went out with Bill for a drink every night of my life and always got home by half past ten, there would be no way I could answer. But no-one ever stares blankly at the detective and says that they have no idea and can't even remember what they did yesterday.

Some days I cannot do any of my crossword but if I keep coming back to it I can usually do most of it.

Does anyone get up in the night and get confused as to which bedroom you are In?

The times I have opened the boiler cupboard to put my hot milk there to heat up ..... the microwave is next to it ????

My bedroom is attached to my lounge as I moved it downstairs so my son and his girlfriend could have my bedroom as a lounge upstairs so when I start to forget that I will be seriously worried! ?‍♀️?l used to knit when I was about 15,haven’t knitted for years but that jumper is beautiful.? Also I do occasionally take sleeping tablets and they do really affect my memory the next day but I can go weeks without taking a sleeping tablet and still get the memory problem. This thread has actually been very reassuring so thank you all ?????..Also I believe antidepressants can have an effect on the memory...

Names completely elude me. A few weeks ago on my permitted exercise I met a couple I've known for years, our children were in school together. I still have not remembered their first names although I can remember their surnames. When I see repeats of TV programmes I find I've forgetten chunks of them. No book group at the moment but I was beginning to think I should make notes of the main characters as I often couldn't remember important points. Sometimes I find I can't find the word or phrase I need to describe something even though I know it's there somewhere in my brain and I know what I want to say. These days I make mistakes doing recipes that I've done for years. Also silly mistakes when knitting. I want to use up some of my stock of fabrics to make some new clothes (I used to be an experienced and skilled dressmaker) but I've lost confidence in my ability to do this.

Reassuring to read the other posts, thank you Shinamae for this post.

PS I'm early 70s

I’m really worried because just lately l can be talking to someone and l know what I want to say but can’t think of the word

Dirgni I sometimes get that as well....I do think there is a lot to be said for information overload as well, we are bombarded daily from TV,radio,phones, computers everywhere..... The people who have replied to this thread have alleviated a lot of my fears I have to say.....??

I would see your GP just to put your mind at risk, I know I was like that when I was looking after my dad with Alzheimer’s he lived with us, and sometimes I’d be so stressed I could stand in the middle of a room and think what on earth have I come into here for, memory would just go, Are you stressed Op

No TN6 not particularly stressed about anything thankfully...?

Thank you for the thread Shinamae. Very reassuring to know I am normal.
I can relate to many of the posts.
My OH can read very complicated books and remember every detail but for dinner has the little trees or spears ( broccoli or asparagus) as he can never remember the correct name.
We keep a note of what we have for dinner each night so that we vary it, as its difficult to remember.

Chestnut

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!

Chestnut but how come I can remember all their names and relationships over a couple of hundred years, (all sides of the family) even though I haven't done much research for a couple of years but I forget the names of people we know?

I do find if I can't remember the name of a person we know, it helps to go through the alphabet.

And I have difficulty remembering the names of plants and shrubs now but I never used to.

Is my brain too full of useless information?

Bluecat
That always amazes me too, but I would immediately suspect the person with the ready alibi!

I'm approaching 71 years. I have been so worried about my short term memory that I contacted the doctor, had blood tests, etc. (normal), and am waiting for a follow-up consultation.

I have had a lot of stress lately and can perhaps put it down partly to that but, if I'm absolutely honest, my short term memory was deteriorating before that.

I wonder if it is because I live so much in the past - constantly recalling old memories and conversations. I know it's not a good thing but can't seem to stop doing it.

I went to Tesco’s a couple of hours ago, just looked on my online banking and apparently I spent just over £19 down there and I’ve been racking my brains what I spent £19 on and I just can’t get it and I didn’t keep the receipt so that’s going to keep me awake tonight!..?? The stuff I can remember buying doesn’t come anywhere near £19 but hopefully I’ll have a lightbulb moment at some point and realise what it was..?