My husband is 52 years and is having a hard time remembering short and long term for some time now. He was on antidepressants for the past 3 years. He has been off of them for 4 months.(with doctors support.) He is now only taking stressB and magnesiam. Which doctor and how can he improve his memory.
2006-10-13 08:17:03 · 9 answers · asked by Wonderer 3 in Health ➔ Mental Health
the atidepress. were for anxiety, his memory prob. was happening before he took the antidepress. Thanks, you are all giving me hope!!! My hubby is a great guy. He is responsible for many things and many people.
2006-10-13 08:47:48 · update #1
Ok, a few basics first--how's the rest of his health, is he in shape (more or less), take multi-vits, moderate alcohol & drugs:
does he exercise at least a few minutes every day?--you know, get the blood flowing through the ol' brain--
Has he tried a balanced or broad based amino-acid supplement --I found Amino-1000 from GNC super helpful when my high-tech mind went "duh" during PMS cycles--also helped a friend's child who had learning probs.
How's he sleeping? This is a biggy really. Does he snore or stop breathing (have you noticed?) Get a sleep study done.
He can do memory strenghthening activities--this helps me a lot, crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, brain-teasers, etc
there are reports of chiropractic & accupunture, even therapeutic massage helping memory & other brain functions.
I may have more suggestions, but I can't remember them now :) Oh, btw, I'm 54 and I keep getting told I'm just getting old! lol.
2006-10-13 08:35:48 · answer #1 · answered by Clycs 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If his primary physician is no help, I would see a Psychiatrist. Not that I think your husband is mentally ill, but they are experts on medications dealing with depression. Perhaps the medication caused the memory problem. My antidepressant affected my memory. I am going to continue on the medication (short term) because the depression was more debilitating than the memory problem is. I know your husband has been off the medication for 4 months but perhaps that is not long enough. Another thought is that with depression you can have memory loss. Has his depression worsened since stopping the medication? I would get that straightened out before seeing a Neurologist about the memory problem. The few Neurologist I have known only seem to work with test results. If it doesn't show up in a test, they don't try to treat the patient. You may have to go to a Neurologist if it is recommended, but I would not go there first. Psychiatrists are also great at administering tests to see how bad the problem is.
Good luck to you and your husband. I know you both must be so worried.
2006-10-13 15:37:12 · answer #2 · answered by Patti C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he was on antidepressants, obviously he has been feeling depressed for some reason - too much stress maybe? People who have a whole bunch of different levels of stress can be forgetful. I believe there is a chance that some medications can cause that too. (I know that sleeping medicines can, for example.)
I think he should start with a general practice physician, although it may also make sense to find a new psychiatrist who is very familiar with what antidepressants may do, what being depressed or under stress can do when it comes to memory, and even simple things such as whether or not eating a little more fat of a certain type may help. (There was a study done on people who have seizures that no medication could help. Eating a certain type of fat dramatically helped them.)
I think its important that you and he don't jump to the conclusion that is must be something more serious than it may actually be. Of course, it is normal to worry; but I've seen enough stressed out people who are preoccupied and/or forgetful to know that's a really common problem.
2006-10-13 15:29:35 · answer #3 · answered by WhiteLilac1 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
He should see a Neurologist. Although he is pretty young for dementia he may have another form of cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson' s disease. See a physician. Do not attempt to self diagnose or treat this problem. There could be a serious underlying cause that responds to appropriate treatment. Delaying medical care could be detrimental to his chances of improving his condition.
2006-10-13 15:29:50 · answer #4 · answered by tallmochagirl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would start with the one you currently have and see what he says.
There is a theory that the brain is like muscle and improves with use. You can try improving brain function by doing mental exercises, like crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and the like.
2006-10-13 15:22:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Start off with your regular medical doctor.
2006-10-13 15:18:34 · answer #6 · answered by jessiekatsopolous 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
short AND long term? First guess is Alzhimers I would start looking into specialists.
2006-10-13 15:24:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would suggest a neurologist with a specialty in dementia.
2006-10-13 15:19:31 · answer #8 · answered by essentiallysolo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YELLOW PAGE DUH
2006-10-13 15:18:47 · answer #9 · answered by Tim 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋