How Much Memory Loss is Normal?

[faerieevenstar]

I got used to the idea that I can't remember things around the actual trauma and find it really hard to think about any specifics of events at all... and that seems to be normal.. but I keep forgetting little things... short term memory loss type thing, which I didn't know about...:dont-know For example I wrote something in my Livejournal earlier (online blog) and when I read it back later it was like reading something someone else wrote in places... I remember writing it.. but not what I wrote. That's weird for me... lots of other things I seem to be getting ditzy over too, my husband keeps saying "but we discussed this the other day and you said...." and I have no recollection of it. Tell me this is normal and I haven't collected another problem??

 

[Marlene]

faerie,

I don't know how much memory loss is considered normal, but I do know that my short term memory is spotty at best most days. Long term memory gives me no problems. There have been too many occasions to count where I've asked my husband or one of my daughters a question, they answer it and a few minutes later I ask the same question again. It's like their answer didn't register or something. Everyone's getting used to it and in the smart-assed tradition of my family, have begun to joke about it. :biggrin:

The part I find unusual is that when I'm at work, I only very rarely have this problem. I guess it's because I write notes all of the time to remember what I'm doing or need to do. And I also work very hard to keep my concentration focused at work.

It mostly seems to happen when I'm at home in a relaxed, safe place. Hmm...another question for my therapist. LOL

Hope this helped. :smile:

 

[Deleted member 93]

I used to ask things repeatedly and sometimes I still do. I write things out in my diary and only reason I know I talked about it in therapy is it is in my diary that I did! One of the many reasons a journal is useful. I think we all have a bit spotty memory. I don't see that as shocking since the area of the brain affected involves the memory...

 

[Nam]

Faerie, I have a terrible memory. From short term to long term. The short term memory does get better when your brain isn't working so hard on the trauma. The little insignificant stuff gets lost when it's trying so hard to process the past.

I thought this article was helpful: do things happen for a reason

 

[sibemom]

For me the memory loss is a hard one to deal with and I am not sure if it comes totaly from the PTSD or the TBI, I think it's both in my case. I know sometimes when I post something here, at the moment my thinking is very clear, but then when I go back to read it I don't remember writting it. Short term memory is a struggle with me that is why my house looks like a POST IT FACTORY. I have post it's everywhere I can stick them with remiders of just daily tasks. I don't think that there is a NORMAL amount and each persons case is different. If I try and remember details that were lost or go over the accident report to answer questions for my attorney that does make it worse. I know that if I try to really push my brain to remember things I get those mini seizures so that is why I use the post it system and it is not fool proof but it helps

 

[GR-ass]

Ummm, puts hand in air. I'm always forgetting short term stuff from what I talk to people about, what I write, why I've got my head in the freezer and where exactly was I supposed to go today?

Really frustrating part is that I don't ever remember why/what I do, planned to do or say, even when reminded.

Just gets so frustrating. Even notes don't help cos unless I write stuff as I think it, I forget to write it. Or forget where I put it.

heh, typical sievehead.

 

[anthony]

Memory loss has no limits with PTSD. If you think about your trauma as a cloud, then add all the symptoms to that cloud to build it nice and thick, then that is a representation of how much memory loss you could have. Basically, you have to chip away at that cloud until you get a hole, then more comes through, you chip away at that, and continue the cycle. Sometimes you open a hole big enough that a lot comes flooding through, some good, some bad...

Basically, the cloud completely covers your memory. Depending on how much a person has suffered, and more to the point, how that individual has taken the trauma personally, depends on how thick the cloud is.

Memory loss with PTSD is pretty normal if you basically remember next to nothing, struggle to remember how to spell, sometimes even talk certain words, find your past, etc etc... it is nothing at all to have this, and even worse. Chipping away at the cloud begins to break down the barrier, thus your memory gets better and better.

 

[rt1967]

I do things like that Faerie and have to keep checking message to respond even short ones.I liked the description of it being like a cloud before this last few months maybe my memory was much worse and there was a long time it actually felt like a heavy cloud a lot in my head ,might get that sometimes still but nowhere near so much .Some new info today from Laurence is that Dr dudlestone thinks i might have seizures and they are going to send me for a scan and some tests.Sometimes i write things on my hand or pieces of paper sometimes that helps sometimes i don't understand too.

 

[2quilt]

sleep apnea

I got a much better memory after I had a sleep study and found out that I have severe sleep apnea, and I wear a c-pap every night when I sleep. Sleep apnea means that I stop breathing when I exhale during sleep, and the brain does not get enough oxygen. If you do that hundreds of times or thousands of times each night, you will do crazy things like drive right by your own house, forget where your glasses are when they are on your face, try to pay your grocery bill with your driver's license, brush your teeth with hand lotion, etc.
(not that I have done any of these examples myself...)

c-papa stands for constant positive air pressure. It looks like a mask they put on you for surgery, although they come in several styles. Mine only covers my nose and is quite comfortable. I could not use the style that covers mouth and nose because I chew all night and that unseals the vacuum seal. So, It has a band that goes around your head and the air pressure comes on automatically by a sensor when you breathe into the mask when you first put it on. The pressure is not like a fire hose strong, it starts out smooth, of course, because you are awake. After you fall asleep, the air pressure ramps up slowly until it is strong enough to keep your passageway open when you inhale. It is not like breathing against a firehose; the air pressure goes down when you exhale and increases when you inhale. I promise it's comfortable, or people could not be using it already. My brain and my body feel so much better with oxygen. I don't have to take naps now, I am alert, happier, it helped my PTSD and depression, and my memory.

 

[Grama-Herc]

Wish my mom could read this post. She thinks that my severe memory loss is simply caused by my getting older, and that I am absolutely normal. NORMAL?? My life is a blank. I can't recall anything. The only reason I know I had a child is because she was always around. "grin"

Memory loss has been a source of pain for me all my life. I finally have proof that it is part of my PTSD and that I am not a mental freak. I remember nothing about my childhood, teenage years, marriage, childbirth---I am 1 big void!

So I know how you feel and the affect it has on you. And as far as the small stuff, my tfherapist told me that we are using every bit of energy and brain cells to just get through the day. It is not that we don't remember--it is that we never heard,noticed or was aware of--our attention is so focused on survival! I am actually worse about short term memory than my 83 yr mom! Of course, she loves it cuz it makes her look good and gives her a big laugh! It does however, drive me nuts