I don't know if I've said anything about this before but I feel like I'm falling in the rabbit hole and don't know what to do....
I am having periods where I can not recall anything that has gone on - for very long times. I have done this at least 4 times where I can not remember doing anything, like a couple weeks ago, I took my husband to have a procedure done at the hospital and I remember walking down to the room with him, I remember holding his hand but from the time he went back to the time we got home, I have no recollection of what happened. Another time, my mother took me to a dr's appt and I do not remember that AT ALL. This has happened several times plus I'm having trouble with thoughts, completing tasks, forgetting where I am going or stopping in the middle of a sentence - forgetting what I was saying or can't remember things that happened 5 minutes ago.
First is AD hereditary or genetic? (or are those two words the same?) My father has vascular dementia and has had several strokes. Does this increase my likelihood of having it?
I do have a neurologist appt next week, so I'm hoping they'll take my concerns seriously. I'm only 50 so I figure if something IS happening maybe they can start something to keep it from progressing quickly.
Am I right to be very concerned about this or am I just a normal 50 year old that can't remember sh*t?
But because you asked... sibling studies indicate that AD can be inherited, but you are not guaranteed to inherit it. Perfect example is my 2 living aunts ages 97 and 100 who have lived together their whole lives (except 1 year), neither ever married or had kids. Neither ever smoked or drank much. Medditerranian diets. Worked at the same company for almost the same amount of time. Ate the same food, went on the same vacations, exercised the same amount. Different personalities: one extrovert (97 yo) the other introvert (100 y0). The 97 yr-old has total dementia and the 100 yo is clear as a bell. Same parents. Same life. Different outcomes.
But you need to be sure it's not TIAs or something serious. Mine was "stress". The hardest thing to deal with and nearly impossible to get people to understand.
Good Luck!!
1) could be early onset dementia
2) you are not too young to have had a stroke or other cardiovascular event including heart attack, and women's symptoms are different
2) could be related to menopause / hormonal changes
3) could be related to another health condition or medication so you need a complete physical with your primary care including blood work
4) could be stress
Please let us know what the diagnosis was. These things do feel scary when they start to happen.
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