Neuropsych testing

My doc is kind of pushing me towards doing some cognitive testing.  Part of me wants to do it so I can find out how its all going (fogginess, forgetfullness, cognitive function) but part of me doesn't because I'm scared to find out. 

I also have a full time job with a lot of responsibilities and I don't want to know if I am declining.  When my doc told me that it is the same test that they do for Alzheimer's patients for diagnostics, my immediate reaction was no way - not doing it.

Anyone had this testing and how did you feel about the results?  Should I just go ahead and do it, are my reasons silly or what? (yes, I can be irrational sometimes)

edited for spelling... how ironic

Hello there your reasons aren't silly this stuff is scary....My neurologist wanted the test done and I put it off for awhile because I didn't want to know either. Eventually though I felt that if I did do it I might have a baseline for comparrison purposes, also I want the docs to have all the info they need so that my treatement is where it needs to be.  There is a scale they use from 0-96. 96 being the sharpest best you can be and zero being the worst. I scored a 48 which was a little upsetting. I had old school test scores that the doc found useful to compare what I had to what I had lost. He told me that I had lost a minimum of 20 IQ Points, which was hard to hear. Apparently I have one of the worst attention spans he has seen, as well as many short and long term memory issues. He called me "quite impaired".  He told me these results could be caused by the lesions in my brain, or by simply having multiple diseases. He said that was for my neurologist to decide. On the bright side he did not feel the damage was permanent he felt that if I got better my cognative issues would get better too. I found the whole thing validating in a werid way because I really had been feeling stupid and it was starting to scare me. People would tell me we had entire conversations that I never remembered having. Now I feel like I understand whats happening to me and it is not so mysterious or scary anymore.  Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

 Mellissa

When I first got sick 4 years ago I spent several months in hospitals including 5 weeks in a rehab hospital because I was completely crippled by a muscle disease, polymyositis.  I needed PT, OT and speech therapy (could not swallow) and the speech therapist wanted to give me cognitive tests.  I responded that my problem was that I was crippled and had nothing to do with my brain.  Was I surprised.....the tests showed that I had short term memory loss and concentration problems.  What the tests did not show was that I was much more emotional and had difficulty dealing with stress as well. 

All of these areas have improved over the past 3 years but there is no question that lupus impacted my cognitive powers.  It is much better to know what your problems are and learn strategies to deal with them in day to day life.  I used to be a list maker who never needed them but today I do.  I never forgot anything.  Today I make sure I am prepared for anything I need to do and try not to solely rely on my memory.

I would encourage you to take the tests.  If you do not you will always wonder and not do anything to help yourself with new strategies or exercises to help.

Bill

Thanks Bill and Lynnwood, and for also sharing your experiences. You are right, it is better to know and I just need to do it!

I just emailed my rheumy to let her know that I am for doing this. I'll let you all know how it goes. :)