Pain & Memory Loss

That makes sense to me. I saw a neuropsychiatrist last year to assess my memory problems. I do have some. I knew I did, and that is why I quit being a medical transcriptionist. However, he thinks the "fibro fog" (his quotes) have to do with my taking Norco and Soma. Funny thing, though. I have only been taking these for 2 years, and I've had the memory problems since 1996. Guess he missed that part of the interview. I personally don't think he believe in FM...he said I needed to make choices about whether I wanted to take the pain meds or have better memory. As if that's a choice when you can barely walk while having a bout of sciatica down both legs on top of a fibro flare. No choice at all to me. I'll take the pain relief.

I've just started telling people I have a 4 GB brain in a 60 GB world. That gets a laugh. Or I tell them that when I make a memory, I have to let one go to keep the balance.

I will be watching for further info. Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks for the interesting article, Chutz. I'm so thankful for all of the research that is going on relative to chronic pain and fibro. The more we understand, the better we can eventually treat them.

Hugs - Austen

I was giving a talk to high school students today and I was right in the middle of a thought and my brain just stalled. I was embarrassed. But, I am getting my CPAP machine soon, so here's hoping!!! :)

Thanks Chutz,

good topic. I just went for a 3 hour evaluation myself because I can't seem to remember anything anymore, forget words midsentence, can't do simple math problems when writing out the dreded bills, forget where I am going while out in the car, and told the neuro it is getting worse.

Well, if I didn't feel like an idiot before, I certainly did after the 3 hour test. Some of the things they put me though I think my dog should have been able to do. Well, anyway, when I went for the evaluation I was told my problems are related to being depressed and having anxiety over having a chronic illness and how it will affect my future, and due to pain and lack of sleep from said chronic illness. Well duh, did I really need your embarrassing tests to tell me that and make me feel even more stupid.

Don't feel too bad for me though, I do have a good sense of humor and after thinking about some of the tests I came home and laughed about what I couldn't do with my 16 year old daughter. If I can't laugh at myself, who should be able to, right? And to think, people spend thousands of dollars going to school to tell us that. I guess we can all have the last laugh. HAHAHA

Debbie

Chloe_s_mom: That's funny about the Great Britain thing. I would have done that, too.

ak angel, the think that ticked me off with this neuropsychiatrist is that I believe he not only didn't believe in FM or fibro fog, I believe he thought I was trying to game the system. He mentioned at one point that I depended too much on my husband, described me as having a very dependent personality. He said that I needed to see a psychologist and my husband should also see one with me to cut down on my dependency on him. To me that was in effect saying to my husband, "she's just using you because she doesn't want to do stuff." My husband has always been there by my side, 25 years of this, and he knows what I can do and what I can't a lot better than a person who interviewed me for maybe 30 minutes.

He also mentioned something in the report about me getting some kind of --can't remember exactly what he said, but in effect it was that when I didn't want to do something, I used the FB as a crutch. That really made me mad. I USED to be very independent until stupid things started happening to me (like I ran into my BIL's house with my car and was dragged by my car for about 20 feet before I let go of the wheel, and two years ago when I got 2nd degree burns while browning some meat). I'm clumsier and yes, stupid things do happen to me. I could give you several more examples but I'm sure if you are as clumsy as I am, you already know what I'm talking about. Yes, I did become more dependent on my husband after the car accident and because of my illness. But I felt the neuropsychiatrist was a bit smug when he wrote his report.

Another example was when he asked me how long had I worked at my longest job. Well, I couldn't remember, so I started going through them in my mind...he got perturbed after several minutes and said, just choose a job...well, the fact is, if we hadn't moved from another state to this one, I would still HAVE the job I had in the other state that started in 1990 and ended in 1993 because of our move. I liked that job, I was good at it, and I wouldn't have quit there. I only quit because we moved. Since I moved to this state, and with developing technology, when I got to where I couldn't work, I would work at home. So the real answer would have been the years between 1995 and 2008 when I worked all those years at home being an independent contractor, but because he rushed me, I couldn't remember that. Then he wrote in the report that I had a hard time holding down a job. That made me even madder. Aarrgh!

After I saw the report, I called his office because he said I had a history of a lot of medical things that are really in my family history, and it took several calls and a visit to get it corrected. I hope it helps me when I file for disability again. I dread the whole process because it makes me feel worthless. I've been procrastinating filing again and I know I need to get off my duff and do it.

What's the test like and who ordered it for you? I'm thinking I should have one of those done too!

Bwfm- I' am sorry you were treated that way. I did have some things in my report that wasn't all correct also. The person that interviewed me wanted me to rely on my husband for my safety. At That time I wasn't thinking very well. I just got over some brain swelling and seizures. It would be nice if they were more considerate. Just remember to document all your problems.

Bwfm, that doc was a piece of work! Sounds pretty blunt.

Oh my, you don't know how much your support means to me. I am almost in tears. Yes, he was a jerk.

Bubbaryn, my nurse practitioner ordered it for me and I did show some deficits when I took the memory tests. I can't remember everything, but as an example, they will show you flash cards or a list of words or numbers and you have to repeat them, then repeat them again in 30 seconds or so. Then you leave the room and come back in five minutes and they record how many you still remember. On some tests, it was 30 minutes. And they give you the test to tell if you are depressed or not. I can't remember the name of it except that it has Minnesota in it...wait, it's the MMPI, I think..or something like that.

The thing is, when you're a medical transcriptionist, you're supposed to have 99% accuracy in your reports. I had already failed one assessment before I quit working, then I got my score up, and then I started having problems again. I couldn't go on working and transcribing people's MRIs and other x-rays in good faith because I didn't want to screw up something. But when I told that to the doctor, again, I could tell he didn't believe me.

When I do file again, my doctor is going to write a letter for me to send to SS. When I filed before, I got a letter from SS that asked me to have my husband call them so they would know that I was getting their material (even though I had faxed everything to them that they had asked for). I didn't know they wanted my husband to write a letter to them about my having FM. When I was turned down, it stated that he didn't respond to their request. If they had asked that in the letter, he would have known to write a letter supporting me.