Septic Shock and the brain

[kitkatz]

I read that there are studies done with septic shock patients and they say their brains are different.  Mine sure has been.  I lose words now.  I feel like my brain has been scrambled and I have to get my words back into the organized files I was had in the brain. I have the definitions of the words however the word will escape me.  I can give you numbers and dates, but some words can be very difficult now.  I have had this happen with septic shock several years ago.  Letting the brain rebuild itself it difficult.

[kristina]

Hello kitkatz, I am very sorry about this problem and I wonder whether you could ask your doctor to help you and approach rehabilitation-programs, which are in place for stroke-sufferers with word-finding-difficulties?
On the Continent there are some interesting programs available for stroke-sufferers with word-finding difficulties (in different languages, not sure about English) and hopefully in America there are some similar programs (or translations of the above) available?
The "ticket" might be, that word-finding difficulties are "usually" associated with stroke-sufferers and starting from that angle might bring success?
... A little while ago I was reading in a medical magazine, that the University of Heidelberg has a continuous stroke-rehabilitation-research-program in place and they published four books for stroke-sufferers to work through these books in their own time in an effort to be gently led out of their word-finding difficulties. The article also pointed out, that whenever the patient is tired, the word-finding difficulties get worse...
I send you my good luck wishes from Kristina.

[MooseMom]

KK, I've never had septic shock, but your post was very interesting because something happened to me back in 2008 that resulted in what feels like being the same sort of brain "damage".

I had abdominal surgery and of course was under general anaesthetic.  The surgery went well, but I apparently didn't wake up when they thought I should wake up.  I was in the ICU for several days.  I finally awoke to the point where I was aware of what was going on around me, but I couldn't open my eyes.  The anaesthesiologist started to panic and said she'd never seen anything like this in her experience.

After several nghts. my surgeon told me that because my vitals were fine, they could not justify my staying in ICU, so I was transferred to a regular room.  After just a few hours, the fog lifted suddenly, and I was immediately back to my old self.

I was told that probably what happened was a result of my poor kidney function being unable to clear the meds.  I told them that made no sense because 1. everyone knew about my crappy kidneys and 2. I was sure I was not the only surgical patient who ever had crappy kidneys.  I never did find out what happened.

Anyway, since then, I immediately noticed the same sort of problem you're having with word retrieval.  It is maddening.  I don't lose words like "phone" or "dishwasher", rather, I lose more complex words and find myself having to use a lot of words when that elusive word would have done the job.  I could say that it's because I'm getting older, but 1, I'm not that old, and 2. it started happening at a definitive point in time after a specific event.

Like you, I can feel my brain flipping through wordfiles in an effort to find the missing one.  I, too, can give you numbers and dates, but I get wordlag.

Is your brain rebuilding itself?  Mine doesn't seem to be.

And to your point, kristina, it is absolutely true that when I am tired, the wordlag gets worse.  Or when I'm upset.

I feel for you, KK, I really do.  If you find something that helps, please let me know.  Thank you.

[willowtreewren]

This aphasia definitely happens with Lyme disease. I describe it as opening the "dictionary" in your head and the pages are blank. At my worst I totally resorted to written communication. I could take my time composing what I wanted to say and email, or in a pinch, read fro what I had written. I found that if asked a direct question the aphasia kicked in almost immediately. I would lose the simplest of words like table and girl or book. More complex words were completely out of the question.

I went off one of my antibiotics 2 months back and just now have recovered from the brain fog. I feel fortunate, because I do find that my abilities recover over time, although the more complex words take me longer to find.

MM, your bout with anesthesia sounds truly frightening. I know that I respond to medication in "odd" ways, so they are always careful with me.

KK, I hope that your situation improves as mine has.

Sending hugs all around.

Aleta

[Whamo]

Thrive naturals sells "Super Brain Renew" online.  I use it.  I love it.  You might try it.

[lulu836]

Hate to tell you guys this BUT speaking from an age appropriate position, it's mostly your age with just a pinch of bad experiences for flavor . You don't have to be elderly for your mind to attack you. I know this because I have been on the "OMG where did my mind go" bus for many years.  For names I run the alphabet quickly and if I can get the first letter of the name then I'm home free.  For places and events if you sort of do the "thousand yard stare" you will either remember the event or someone else will give you a clue.  ..........a mind is a terrible thing to waste.   Not to worry though the forgetfulness is not named Dementia, rather it is called age.

[MooseMom]

Lulu, I know it would be easy for me to say, "Oh, it's not AGE!  It must be something else because it CAN'T be age!", but that's kinda what I have to say!   

I "forget" specific things.  Words.  I don't seem to forget other things like names or what I'm supposed to do that day.  It's really odd.

The other reason I suspect that the wordy bit of my brain got all weird is because since my bad experience, I read so much more quickly.  I've always enjoyed reading, but now I read so quickly that if I'm watching a film with sub-titles, the sub-titles are too damn slow!

You could well be right.  Maybe it is "just age".  The timing of it all just seems suspicious, ya know?  Well, even if it IS "just age", that's ok.  I was never quite sure I'd reach my age, so I'm happy! 

[kristina]

Hate to tell you guys this BUT speaking from an age appropriate position, it's mostly your age with just a pinch of bad experiences for flavor . You don't have to be elderly for your mind to attack you. I know this because I have been on the "OMG where did my mind go" bus for many years.  For names I run the alphabet quickly and if I can get the first letter of the name then I'm home free.  For places and events if you sort of do the "thousand yard stare" you will either remember the event or someone else will give you a clue.  ..........a mind is a terrible thing to waste.   Not to worry though the forgetfulness is not named Dementia, rather it is called age.

Hello Lulu, it is quite true what you mention about age-related forgetfulness, word-finding difficulties and even dementia etc., but, according to medical research into these matters, the onset could surely be age-related and that is the bad news... but ...the good news is, that again, according to medical research, "things" like keeping our mind as alert as possible, "doing" puzzles and crosswords, taking part in discussions, visits to Museums etc. give us a chance to slow this process down in a very considerable way.
Another "thing" is, that sometimes we might also get "overburdened" by stress etc and this stress at a particular moment might give us problems with word-finding, but this can be just due to the stress-situation at a particular moment and/or being "overloaded" with too many thoughts at a moment and that may play a part as well...
Best wishes from Kristina.

[Charlie B53]

I've always known that I am 'Demented', and as far as I am concerned I'm perfectly fine with that.

I do have to admit to that memory failure thing.  Words and names can escape me sometime for hours before I finally remember.  That's been happening since my 30's.  I'm 64.  It gets worse.

I theorized long ago that people have little 'mini' heart attacks and strokes.  A single muscle cell or brain cell dies.  And the adjoining cells finally step in and take over function.  This begins surprisingly early in life, as early as the late 20's.  No doubt those of us with less than ideal diets, and other poor habits like alcohol and tobacco have a higher incidence, but it does wear on everyone.  No one is immune.

Studies have shown those that keep their mind active playing games, reading, doing activities that require using the brain, have far less loss of brain function.

Atrophy of muscles is real, anyone that has broken an arm or leg can attest to that.  Atrophy of the brain is also real.

That old thing about "use it, or lose it."

Stay active as much as possible.

[Cupcake]

The bad news is, studies show that renal failure causes cognitive decline (loosing ones marbles) and hemodialysis is worse for the brain than PD.  We are all gonna have mental decline, but keeping the brain stimulated helps. Not sure if any studies have been done on transplanted people and mental function. Yeah for PD! Another reason to prefer it if possible.

[Charlie B53]

I've still got all of my marbles.

I keep them in a half gallon jar hidden behind one of my desktop computers so that Grandson cannot find them as I am sure he would lose them.

And I sure do not want to lose my marbles.