in_a_pickle

Hello all, it's now officially 10 days since I packed in the booze.

I know this has been mentioned before and Carol sent me a link (PAWS) that was very useful, but my short term memory loss has started to get me worried. Yesterday my bicycle was stolen because I forgot to lock it up. At work, I taught the wrong lesson for 25 minutes today, although the kids didn't actually seem to notice. I walked out of a store without paying for something. I was holding it in my hand!

Some of the things I've been doing are quite funny but I'm worried that people will start to think that I'm losing my mind, yesterday I walked out of the front door without shoes on; that doesn't look good.

Is there anything I can do to help or do I have to just sit tight and wait for it to pass?

Blessings to you all.

Tazman53

Congrats on the 10 days!

Keep your self well hydrated, take multivitamins, especially B complex ones. Make sure you are eating well and getting plenty of sleep.

I am over months sober and I still have short term memory problems but they get better all the time! Compared to where I was 9 months ago right after I quit I have excellent short term memory.

One other thing to do is get one of those computer programs that exercises your brain, the more you use it the better it gets.

I always remind myself when I get impatient with the speed of my recovery that I spent 40 years screwing myself up, how can I expect 9 months to cure it all!

Hang in there, in the early days things come back really quick and then slow down but from what old timers have told me things can keep getting better for over a year.

GlassPrisoner

It comes back. About 30 days in, I put the milk in the pantry, and a box of cereal in the fridge.

Now, at just over 8 months, the only problem I still have is who went to what meeting.

Astro

I'm two years sober and still drive around the block twice every morning to make sure I closed the garage:-) Lol. But it does get better.

Taz had some excellent suggestions. Eat right, take vitamins, exercise, and use that brain as much as possible.

10 days is great, but recovery takes a lifetime of work. So sit back and enjoy the ride!

degadar

Well done on the 10 days Pickle.

Taz's suggestion of Vitamin B6 is spot on. They worked wonders for me too.

It feels awful - but it does pass , slowly, but it will get better.

You're doing good.

Deg.

Can you get Marmite in Japan?

needtobefree

I hope it gets better soon for you. My short term memory has been bad for ages, I put that down to the booze, hopefully it'll get better soon for both of us.

Well done on getting this far :0)

BaldHeadedJohn

Congrats on your time! Every day sober is victory.

I'm on day 12, and I find I'm forgetting things, too. Every morning I make a list of what I need to do, and if I get half of it done, I consider that good (assuming I don't lose my list, that is). Things will get better with time. That's what I sometimes have trouble with, wanting everything perfect right now. But I'm learning. Time takes time. No way around it. Just think, one day you'll be laughing at these things!

You take take care and do what you need to do to stay sober.

My best!

BHJ

in_a_pickle

I'm definitely going to take up pretty much all of those suggestions, I don't think I can buy Marmite (maybe vegemite), but I can have some sent over from Britain. The Japanese are crazy for food supplements and vitamins, they are available in every convenience store.

I'm sleeping really well at the moment, in fact I feel quite exhausted every evening. I put this down to the withdrawal and having to work in the very hot humid weather here in Southern Japan. I'll get into suduko again, I quite enjoy those puzzles, maybe take up a maths course.

I'm quite annoyed about my bike though.

Tom

I can't answer your question regarding short-term memory, Pickle, but congrats on the 10 days. I'm about to join you in less than two hours. Happy and sober 4th.

RedFox

I'm at 89 days right now and my short-term memory is way better than it was at the beginning. I posted here a little frustrated and worried about it too. I'm very impatient and hate waiting for things to work themselves out, so I know how you feel. It's just one of those things that you have to sit back and wait for, just take care of yourself while you wait.

Paulos

I've got a lot of memory problems with going off booze or on it or whatever the heck, I had this stuff before but now it's worse that's why I'm going off booze to reform and just be improved. I'm way worse off than you, I have paranoia about my intelligence and I'm only 21, thinking I'm not smart enough for the minor things to do in life, anxious about everyday things, wondering what will happen next... when will death occur, and lots of times things just seem real bland. Yeah my life pretty much sucks right now, no wonder I drank so much in the past lol... 2 years wasted of my life, I've just got to keep going and see if my passion for life comes back because it sure isn't with boozing.

needtobefree

I had a thought, my Mum used to grow a herb called Ginko, it's apparently supposed to help your memory. If I find any info on it I'll pass it on to you :0)

needtobefree

OK, I've done a search on google and there's heaps of info on it, seems it's good for many things. I think we aren't allowed to provide links here but on the second google page there's a university site with info, it seems to be very relevant, it's got many uses, not just memory. Might be worth a try.

barb dwyer

hey, Pickle -

yes, it's common - here's a little something my friend LetStartOver started - check out yer fellow alcoholics here!

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-drinking.html

ps - it DOES go away ....

mikel60

Short term memory loss can be quite....um, what was the question?
Hmmm... probably not too funny. I still suffer from short term memory loss but I attribute much of it to having more to think about now that I have a life. It could also be that I always had a bad memory but alcohol covered it up, or I didn't care enough to remember. Anyway... good luck with it and I'd listen to the others. They seem to have a better grasp of the issue than I do.
Mike

karrotop

congrats on your 10 days...it's been a few months for me now and my memory is so much better now....i guess some of the brain cells i destroyed are coming back....i used to think i was suffering from early alzheimers or something...never gave my daily intake of alchohol a thought.

in_a_pickle

Thanks for all the help guys and girls.

Looks like I'm just going to have to sit tight and ride it out. I'm not really impatient, I'm more worried about work. I'm worried that I seem at best forgetful, at worst incompetent and lazy. I can't tell them the truth and I'm running out of excuses. In the long run I don't plan to renew my contract with this company, so I'll be moving on anyway. I just don't feel comfortable being so, well, rubbish.

Once my contract is over I plan to go and teach in Thailand before heading home. I suppose the company I work for did hire a raging alcoholic and I was never all that good at organising myself anyway. I'm just going to see out the end of my contract and stay sober tomorrow.

Just clicked over into day 11. It's getting easier.

gr8tful2day

lol...Congrats on your ten days...Short term memory loss in early recovery, it will most definately pass..make sure you giggle at it..I found it was a way for me to find my long lost sense of humor.

Keep up the great work.
One day at a time.
Leah

fraankie

short term memory loss

do you really need to remember what you had for breakfast yeaterday?

go to AA



best
fraankie

barb dwyer

I dont even remember IF I had b'fast yesterday ... lol

but I woke up and kenw where my car was!