Short Attention Span: Anyone Else Have This Problem?

[Cordelia]

Does anybody struggle with having a short attention span since starting dialysis? Is this a common thing?

It sucks. I try to watch movies or watch a few tv programs and I find I just can't watch tv or a movie for hours on end anymore. I've had this problem for a long time, likely even predialysis.

Why is that? It's beyond frustrating. I used to love watching a movie on weekends. I find I just can't do it anymore.     

I'm not depressed, I'm a pretty positive person.

[kitkatz]

Channel flipper here. Cannot settle on just one thing. Sometimes I feel like the picture that says: One potato, two potato, hey look a bike!

[Sydnee]

Please don't tell me I'm going to get worse.
 My favorite radio station is scan. I can't finish a prayer without side tracking.

[MaryD]

I have found my attention span has improved since starting PD.

[boswife]

Please don't tell me I'm going to get worse.
 My favorite radio station is scan. I can't finish a prayer without side tracking.

oh my gosh this cracked me up...

[JasonEb]

Yeah, I find tha-

SQUIRREL!

[Jean]

So happy to not be alone in this. I had to give up my 28 years of being a tax preparer because I was starting to forget the " rules" and not being able to read a good book and worse still sitting in front of the TV for hours and have no idea what I have watched.

[billybags]

Yep the husband is at it all the time. Every thing on the TV is rubbish, OK so it is. I send him to bed at 9 so I can watch the things that interest me with out some one keep chiming in. Its funny how football keeps him focused.  MEN

[jeannea]

I was an avid reader before dialyisis, 2-3 books a week. On dialysis I couldn't finish a book. It was awful. Definitely not unusual.

[Fatkidney]

I have been having a horrible time with this and I'm not even on dialysis yet.  I've been hoping it'll cure it when I do go on. If I'm talking to someone and they start telling a story, I drift off and have to do the fake laugh thing at the end and just hope it was supposed to be amusing.

[Willis]

Yes, I have this problem too. In my whole life up until starting dialysis (PD) my ability to concentrate and focus whether it was schoolwork, military operations, playing sports, or just casual reading was one of my strong points. Now I find my attention level drops quickly after 10-15 minutes of concentration...and that is very frustrating for me. At lower levels of attention (like watching a movie) I don't think it's much of a problem yet, but my boss has noticed it having an effect on my work. Fortunately, I'm in a small business and the owner is very suppportive.

 

[MightyMike]

I have this problem too.  My mind starts to wonder when I'm doing something or I just get exhausted.  Every time I sit to read a book after about 10 minutes I start to fall asleep.  When I'm watching tv I will put on something I like but tend to channel surf.  I don't know what my problem is.  Maybe it's just a chemical imbalance cause by the disease.  I wish I knew.  I find I get aggravated when it happens and I just take a nap.

[deniferfer]

Yes i have this problem all the time. I will to flip from one thing to another. i was never like this before. I was starting to think I had ADHD or something.  It astounds me each time when there is something else this disease messes with in your head or body. UGH!!

[lmunchkin]

Yep the husband is at it all the time. Every thing on the TV is rubbish, OK so it is. I send him to bed at 9 so I can watch the things that interest me with out some one keep chiming in. Its funny how football keeps him focused.  MEN

Boy BB, ain't it the Truth!!!!  I find that I have never concentrated on one given thing, I just might miss out on something! I dont want to miss out, no better yet, Im just plain nosey!  TeeeeeHeeeee.  John is actually better at concentrating than Iam, but it has always been that way.  Im the flighty one and he is the more settled.

God Bless,
lmunchkin

[Cordelia]

I am SO thankful for all your replies.....its such a relief....a good feeling to know I'm not alone in this!                    

[Deanne]

Pre-Dialysis and can't seem to stay focused long enough to even read short message board threads. It's been a long time since I've been able to sit through a whole movie. Friends talk to me and I forget to keep listening. I've back and forth between a couple of things just in trying to type this. I get soooo distracted!

[Cordelia]

I did something different yesterday. I did watch a movie. However, I watched it in the afternoon versus the evening. I actually stayed awake and didn't have any problems. Maybe it's just the 'time' of the day that I tried before that just didn't work. I'll have to try this tactic again sometime/someday and see if it helps again!                 

[cassandra]

Good one Cordelia, I think its down to phases too. Tomorrow you might find you are better watching movies early in the morning or something.   

[Cordelia]

Good one Cordelia, I think its down to phases too. Tomorrow you might find you are better watching movies early in the morning or something. 

            Thanks, Cassandra! 

[peaches94]

I'm sure glad I'm not alone. I had begun to think I was just going crazy. I use to love to read, I could finish a novel in 2days easy but I started reading a new series a month or so ago and barely got through the 1st book. Took me 2weeks to read a book the would have only taken me a day  b4. My daughter and I love to read the same kinds of books she was reading a series I read end of last summer, we were talking about it n she was telling me things I didn't even remember reading. As if that's not bad enough I can be in the middle of telling someone something and completely forget what I was even talking about. It drives me crazy I use to could remember
everything n I do good to remember my name half the time any more.

[Cordelia]

I'm sure glad I'm not alone. I had begun to think I was just going crazy. I use to love to read, I could finish a novel in 2days easy but I started reading a new series a month or so ago and barely got through the 1st book. Took me 2weeks to read a book the would have only taken me a day  b4. My daughter and I love to read the same kinds of books she was reading a series I read end of last summer, we were talking about it n she was telling me things I didn't even remember reading. As if that's not bad enough I can be in the middle of telling someone something and completely forget what I was even talking about. It drives me crazy I use to could remember
everything n I do good to remember my name half the time any more.

                 Peaches

[billyM]

brilliant . i'm not actually going mental . i spent HOURS , looking for my car keys , only for my son to find them in the ******* fridge !!!!! how did they get there ? i've no idea , maybe putting bread or milk away.

can i remember putting bread or milk away ? not a chance .

thank you for the opening post .

[JasonEb]

A month or so ago, I stopped for some Chick-Fil-A to take to dialysis.  After getting my food, I found that my keys weren't on me.  My car was locked and I didn't see them in the ignition through the window.  I searched everywhere I had been in the restaurant and the path from my car to the restaurant door to no avail.  After looking for about 30 minutes, I called my girlfriend at work to ask if she could come use her keys to unlock my car to see if they had fallen out of my hand and into some nook or cranny in the car.  I called the unit and told them the situation and decided to go ahead and sit down and eat my food, as it would be a while before my girlfriend would get there.

Sure enough, as soon as I looked in the bag, there were my keys sitting right on top of my nuggets.  I figure I must have dropped them in there when I put the napkins in the bag.

[Cordelia]

I'm finding the best way to cope for me is to laugh about it when I do silly things.