Anyone else finding it hard to concentrate?

mylo
mylo Member Posts: 53
edited 17. Jan 2009, 07:03 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi everyone - reassurance please! Since being diagnosed with RA and starting MTX last summer, I'm sure that my concentration/brain/mind isn't working as it used to, or maybe it's just age or the menopause .... I keep feeling as though I'm surfacing from the hell of having Arthur with me, now that MTX seems to be improving all the symptoms, but then I sink back down again to no energy, not concentrating etc etc.

Does anyone else feel the same? xx

Comments

  • jeannie2
    jeannie2 Member Posts: 135
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Oh! .... yes. I can relate to what you are feeling and what you say. I call it my 'can't want to' mode. Been feeling like that for weeks. That's why I haven't been contributing to the forum. It's not like me at all. I have bursts of intention which fizzle out to nothing and I end up having 40 winks .... again.
    Think it's a mixture of the rotten weather, the damp, the gloom and doom of the news and TV. The drugs take a time to get into one's system and send the body off-kilter. But I think pain and discomfort are probably the main contributor - it's probably the body's way of telling us to relax and take it easy while I mend myself.
    Hope you'll fee better soon ..... just know you're not alone. And now I've worn myself out!!!!
    Jeannie
  • mylo
    mylo Member Posts: 53
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    jeannie wrote:
    Oh! .... yes. I can relate to what you are feeling and what you say. I call it my 'can't want to' mode. Been feeling like that for weeks. That's why I haven't been contributing to the forum. It's not like me at all. I have bursts of intention which fizzle out to nothing and I end up having 40 winks .... again.
    Think it's a mixture of the rotten weather, the damp, the gloom and doom of the news and TV. The drugs take a time to get into one's system and send the body off-kilter. But I think pain and discomfort are probably the main contributor - it's probably the body's way of telling us to relax and take it easy while I mend myself.
    Hope you'll fee better soon ..... just know you're not alone. And now I've worn myself out!!!!
    Jeannie

    Hi Jeannie, Thanks for the comments - my only worry is that the weeks keep going by while I'm feeling like this, and it's going to be ages before I get going again ..... x
  • suziev
    suziev Member Posts: 252
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    hi

    have you had your thyriod function checked lately?
    i had awful vague feeling thought i was going mad but since taking my thyriod drugs i've got so much better. it turns out that thyriod has alot to do with our mental health! i still have moments when i think 'what was i doing' but on a whole it's few and far between now.
    ra and underactive thyriod are not uncommon together.
    ofcourse it might not be that but worth a mention anyway
    suzie
  • slummymummy
    slummymummy Member Posts: 69
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Yes, I have RA and started methotrexate 5 months ago. I feel like I am living in a blur, and about 3 seconds behind everyone else. My concentration and memory don't seem to be what they used to be. Maybe sleep deprivation and having 2 young kids has something to do with it.

    I have to say though, even if this is the methotrexate, I would rather feel spaced out all the time than in pain all the time. My pain is slowly melting away. Today I am celebrating 48 hours without my NSAIDS :lol::lol::lol::lol: which for the last 6 months have not been able to live without. :roll: :shock:

    Hope we all wake up when the warmer wheather starts, and come out of hibernation. :wink:

    Slummy
  • mylo
    mylo Member Posts: 53
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    slummymummy wrote:
    Yes, I have RA and started methotrexate 5 months ago. I feel like I am living in a blur, and about 3 seconds behind everyone else. My concentration and memory don't seem to be what they used to be. Maybe sleep deprivation and having 2 young kids has something to do with it.

    I have to say though, even if this is the methotrexate, I would rather feel spaced out all the time than in pain all the time. My pain is slowly melting away. Today I am celebrating 48 hours without my NSAIDS :lol::lol::lol::lol: which for the last 6 months have not been able to live without. :roll: :shock:

    Hope we all wake up when the warmer wheather starts, and come out of hibernation. :wink:

    Hi, thanks for the comments. Great news that you're managing without the NSAIDs, hope I can do the same soon. Hearing from everyone makes me feel there's light at the end of the tunnel. xx

    Slummy
  • mylo
    mylo Member Posts: 53
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    suziev wrote:
    hi

    have you had your thyriod function checked lately?
    i had awful vague feeling thought i was going mad but since taking my thyriod drugs i've got so much better. it turns out that thyriod has alot to do with our mental health! i still have moments when i think 'what was i doing' but on a whole it's few and far between now.
    ra and underactive thyriod are not uncommon together.
    ofcourse it might not be that but worth a mention anyway
    suzie

    Hi suzie, yeah, i had my thyroid levels checked when all my symptoms started last spring. They were OK then, unless things have changed. I'll try to remember to mention it at the next clinic visit. Take care, Mylo x
  • suncatcher
    suncatcher Member Posts: 2,174
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello my name is joanne i have been on metraxate for two and a half years I do lapse consentration.It is a problem for me it varys, I had a bad afternoon at collage i felt so tired on the out side. I must have shown i was not happy the teacher asked me if i was ok. I said i was because she does not have ra and would not .understand also how can you say i feel tired brain dead have no concentration and feel emotionless with out sounding ridiculus. i know its my condition i have this feeling occasionaly i just get on with it. you do dont you this is me now and if my body switches of on the inside i cannot do much about it exept rest as much as possible. this is normal for us.
    Joanne
  • mylo
    mylo Member Posts: 53
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    joanneprice wrote:
    Hello my name is joanne i have been on metraxate for two and a half years I do lapse consentration.It is a problem for me it varys, I had a bad afternoon at collage i felt so tired on the out side. I must have shown i was not happy the teacher asked me if i was ok. I said i was because she does not have ra and would not .understand also how can you say i feel tired brain dead have no concentration and feel emotionless with out sounding ridiculus. i know its my condition i have this feeling occasionaly i just get on with it. you do dont you this is me now and if my body switches of on the inside i cannot do much about it exept rest as much as possible. this is normal for us.

    Hi joanne, thank you, I feel so much the same as you. It helps to know other people feel like this. I just hope it all improves. Love mylo x
  • Wonkylegs
    Wonkylegs Member Posts: 3,504
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I think it's an arthritis thing AND a depression thing, and since I have both, I think I maybe need to take shares out in those little note-pads that I write all my lists on so I don't forget to do things!!

    Now then ...... where did I put that note pad? ..............
  • redpoppy
    redpoppy Member Posts: 108
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    i make shopping lists and forget to take them with me.i put things in a safe place then cant remember were.i got a calender for exmas i put it somewere i aint found it yet.lol...i think when your copeing with pain ect you do seem to loose your concentration,i certainly do!!
  • colinone
    colinone Member Posts: 1,039
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Mylo did i get your name right, I think its a combo of the drugs and arthritis. The world i live in is not the same as it used to be i dont even feel like the same person i was although i do have good days from time to time. It seeme the things you listed are quite comon among our group so at least you know you are not alone. I know how you must feel it is such a bad illness to cope with. Do you find your head seems to be on the misty side all the time. i don't seem to be able to rember things or i loose things including the plot in the movie, i loose interest and cant concintrate ( or spell ) or could i spell before. Over christmas i never had my Mxt shot for three weeks it made me feel like the old me but the pain was bad. Anyway you have found a great site with great people who will give you all the support you need. Take care and i hope you feel better soon
    Colin
  • mylo
    mylo Member Posts: 53
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi everyone
    Thanks for all the replies. I get so hung up on what's going on with the arthritis, my mind goes into a whirl, and I get nothing done. I'd assumed it was all to do with the disease, hadn't thought of the drugs contributing.

    But it's a lovely day today, and I'm determined to get myself out there, do something and start to feel more positive about things ....

    Take care, Mylo xx
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