Afraid I'm getting dementia

[rockyranger90]

Lately things have been looking so unfamiliar to me and small tasks I usually do feel so overwhelming and it's just too difficult to do or to process how to do it. Lately, mostly when I'm out, things look so unfamiliar that I feel I will get lost or sometimes like I'm not sure which direction to go. Things sometimes feel like they're spinning or changing direction. I have a hard time thinking about how to get to a store I've been to millions of times. My most recent disturbing symptom is the sense of time disorientation. I found this explanation on a website for dementia because I couldn't really describe it myself. "A person's sense of time is increasingly fragmented, so that they can only grasp what is happening in the present moment, and concepts like "soon", or "recently", or "later on" becomes meaningless, which can be very anxiety-producing." That's exactly what I've been experiencing. Sometimes I can't distinguish if 2:15pm is earlier or later than 2pm. It happens with months too, like is July before or after August. I'm terrified. I don't feel like I can function like this anymore. I'm only 31 and all these issues started about 2 months ago. I had a few symptoms a few weeks prior to going on vacation and while on vacation I had a horrible anxiety attack one morning. It caused us to come home early. Since then I have been on a few different SSRI's and have stopped them all. I've been off of all meds for almost a month. Since vacation all these things has started and have been getting worse. I only take ativan as needed, which lately is daily. I've been to the hospital a few times because of these symptoms. Had blood work, ekg, urine test and ct scan of my head. All came back normal. I'm seeing a neurologist in about a week. I'm so scared of forgetting where I am, my boyfriend, my dogs or even simply how to take a shower that I don't leave my room. What's happening to me?

[ThePhoenix]

Lately things have been looking so unfamiliar to me and small tasks I usually do feel so overwhelming and it's just too difficult to do or to process how to do it. Lately, mostly when I'm out, things look so unfamiliar that I feel I will get lost or sometimes like I'm not sure which direction to go. Things sometimes feel like they're spinning or changing direction. I have a hard time thinking about how to get to a store I've been to millions of times. My most recent disturbing symptom is the sense of time disorientation. I found this explanation on a website for dementia because I couldn't really describe it myself. "A person's sense of time is increasingly fragmented, so that they can only grasp what is happening in the present moment, and concepts like "soon", or "recently", or "later on" becomes meaningless, which can be very anxiety-producing." That's exactly what I've been experiencing. Sometimes I can't distinguish if 2:15pm is earlier or later than 2pm. It happens with months too, like is July before or after August. I'm terrified. I don't feel like I can function like this anymore. I'm only 31 and all these issues started about 2 months ago. I had a few symptoms a few weeks prior to going on vacation and while on vacation I had a horrible anxiety attack one morning. It caused us to come home early. Since then I have been on a few different SSRI's and have stopped them all. I've been off of all meds for almost a month. Since vacation all these things has started and have been getting worse. I only take ativan as needed, which lately is daily. I've been to the hospital a few times because of these symptoms. Had blood work, ekg, urine test and ct scan of my head. All came back normal. I'm seeing a neurologist in about a week. I'm so scared of forgetting where I am, my boyfriend, my dogs or even simply how to take a shower that I don't leave my room. What's happening to me?

All of these things are also caused by anxiety as well, it causes memory loss and disorientation as a part of it. If I am feeling anxious then my memory is sketchy and il walk into a room and forget why I went in there. Its only because your mind is concentrating so much on what its worried about it almost runs out of working memory to function and when you fear those symptoms it makes it worse! The fear feeds the symptoms and the symptoms get worse feeding the fear!

When you begin to relax and calm down the symptoms will start to disappear.

[Nervous Nelly]

You are not alone with this feeling. During intense panic attacks, I get dizzy, lightheaded and confused. If I'm at a store when this happens, I end up walking around the isles in a daze for about a minute trying to get myself together. Being a hypochondriac, I of course immediately think something is seriously going wrong with me and it takes about a minute or so to realize I'm ok. But it's a horrible thing, the confusion. You almost forget where you are. I know I don't hear anything and it's like for that minute or so, I'm in some strange bubble. It's like when you see a war film and a grenade goes off near someone and they are walking around in a daze. I've had the same things you mention. The getting lost in the car momentarily, trying to remember why you came into the kitchen and what you where reaching for. It's very scary, but it's NOT dementia. Confusion and disorientation are very typical events during a panic attack. The time thing you mention is a doosey I've experinced once or twice. Looking at the clock and can't figure out what the time is. You're not alone. Don't be disheartened, you're not losing it.



Lately things have been looking so unfamiliar to me and small tasks I usually do feel so overwhelming and it's just too difficult to do or to process how to do it. Lately, mostly when I'm out, things look so unfamiliar that I feel I will get lost or sometimes like I'm not sure which direction to go. Things sometimes feel like they're spinning or changing direction. I have a hard time thinking about how to get to a store I've been to millions of times. My most recent disturbing symptom is the sense of time disorientation. I found this explanation on a website for dementia because I couldn't really describe it myself. "A person's sense of time is increasingly fragmented, so that they can only grasp what is happening in the present moment, and concepts like "soon", or "recently", or "later on" becomes meaningless, which can be very anxiety-producing." That's exactly what I've been experiencing. Sometimes I can't distinguish if 2:15pm is earlier or later than 2pm. It happens with months too, like is July before or after August. I'm terrified. I don't feel like I can function like this anymore. I'm only 31 and all these issues started about 2 months ago. I had a few symptoms a few weeks prior to going on vacation and while on vacation I had a horrible anxiety attack one morning. It caused us to come home early. Since then I have been on a few different SSRI's and have stopped them all. I've been off of all meds for almost a month. Since vacation all these things has started and have been getting worse. I only take ativan as needed, which lately is daily. I've been to the hospital a few times because of these symptoms. Had blood work, ekg, urine test and ct scan of my head. All came back normal. I'm seeing a neurologist in about a week. I'm so scared of forgetting where I am, my boyfriend, my dogs or even simply how to take a shower that I don't leave my room. What's happening to me?

All of these things are also caused by anxiety as well, it causes memory loss and disorientation as a part of it. If I am feeling anxious then my memory is sketchy and il walk into a room and forget why I went in there. Its only because your mind is concentrating so much on what its worried about it almost runs out of working memory to function and when you fear those symptoms it makes it worse! The fear feeds the symptoms and the symptoms get worse feeding the fear!

When you begin to relax and calm down the symptoms will start to disappear.

[Itzomi]

Hi there!

I can totally relate to being worried about having dementia, though for me I wonder if it's Alzheimers (my dad and paternal grandmother had it). My fears have to do with my speech. I often forget words right in mid-sentence, and when I keep doing it sentence after sentence, or forget 2 things in the same sentence, it freaks me out. I'll forget simple words, like "refrigerator" or "pen" or whatever. Usually a noun, oddly enough. Sometimes I'm OK and don't do this, but it doesn't take much for me to get like this. I feel like I'm turning into a vegetable sometimes - I cannot have an intelligent-sounding conversation, though I have a high IQ and write with no problem. I feel like I sound like an idiot, and it's embarrassing!!! But, it's most likely the distraction of anxiety.

[rockyranger90]

Thanks for your replies. I know these issues can happen during anxiety attacks, but I'm not having them during actual attacks. They are a part of my daily life. Mostly just for the past 2 months. I do feel anxious almost all day, every day, but not really any anxiety attacks.

[ThePhoenix]

Thanks for your replies. I know these issues can happen during anxiety attacks, but I'm not having them during actual attacks. They are a part of my daily life. Mostly just for the past 2 months. I do feel anxious almost all day, every day, but not really any anxiety attacks.

Your confusing two different things, your not getting anxiety attacks everyday. Like me, I dont get anxiety attacks everyday, in fact I rarely get them but I am still anxious most days, I am still stressed and anxious and worried and these things increase your stress levels and thus your symptoms.

[Itzomi]

Phoenix took the words right out of my mouth. People keep thinking you have to have an "attack" for symptoms to show up. Nope. Just low-grade anxiety (even when you don't realize you're anxious) will do the trick.

Let me give you an example. There used to be a billboard on my way to work for a Jazz station that had the word written in huge letters, "RELAX." Every time I saw this, I would relax, and realize that I had been all tensed up while driving. Had you asked me if I were stressed or anxious, I'd have had no clue, I felt fine - but my body was all tensed up!!

We are "on the defensive" without even realizing it a lot of the time. The constant tension adds up!!

[Oliver Gaziano]

Hey rockyranger. Can I ask how you feel now? I am literally experiencing the same symptoms as you after a panic attack I had 2 months ago. I'm 21 years old and I'm also scared of getting dementia.