Long Term Pregnancy Brain vs Natural Forgetfulness

EVerything that you describe happens to me too. I have discussed it with doctors and also reasearched it and have come to find it is normal. I have also just had a brain MRI done and know there is nothing that would cause it so now believe it really is normal.

My doctor told me that how to tell if it is something like altzheimers is that you would forget things like what a fork is for or what milk is. ITs not as much about misplacing things or forgetting what you are doing.

Studies have actually proven that being a mom makes you smarter.
You use more of your brain or something like that.
BUT you also have more going on, more people to keep up with, more IMPORTANT things to remember. And it's not just about you anymore so you really try to remember ALL the stuff.
We can only be so organized and keep up with so much. We are bombarded daily with information from TVs, newspapers, computers, kids, spouses, schools, eek!
Um... I forget where i was going with this....
You just have so much stuff going on now that you forget stuff. No biggie. We all do it. I do it everyday. Retrace my steps, ponder on a name all day only to have it come to me that night, forget things I was just told. I think part of it is not fully concentrating on the task at hand-too much attempting to multiple-task.
Dint worry-that's just one more thing cluttering your brain!

That's happened to me all my life starting around age 9. People like to say "Oh it's ok, it's pregnancy brain", but in truth it's not... I'm naturally very scatterbrained and lose train of thought easily.

I still can pick out an adult whom I went to kindergarten with and never saw again, I can still ace a major test in any subject (barring algebra) after listening to a lecture without studying, I can remember long string of numbers after a few tries, etc... Being scatterbrained doesn't mean you are getting dementia or anything else is wrong - it simply means you have a lot going on and somethings take a back seat while others are natural priorities.

Haha, I had to laugh when I saw your question topic. I swear my memory lost a lot of abilities as soon as I became pregnant with my first, almost 9 years ago. It sounds like you're a normal mom with a lot on your plate and trying to please everyone - that will make anyone forget a few things!

The sleep deprivation when my son was young did that to me.
Then I started taking a statin to lower my cholesterol - and after 2 years I had a bad reaction to it.
At one point I was driving down a road near home that I'd been on constantly for more than a 10 year period and for 10 min I had no idea where I was.
When I accidentally ran out of my prescription my memory and aching joints got way better.
So I stopped taking it and live with high cholesterol, but my joints and memory are fine.
It's a quality of life thing.
The other thing you should have checked out is your thyroid.
A low functioning thyroid (you'll test high on TSH if this is the case) will cause your brain to feel foggy.
Make sure you get plenty of sleep, exercise and take a daily multivitamin and your memory should improve a bit.

I think my son was 8 before my brain felt normal lol, and now he is 10 and we have a 3 month old so I'm starting all over. I don't think what you are experiencing is abnormal. My suggestion would be o just try and be more organized, I found that really helps me!

Do you notice this tends to happen more when you have more going on? I find this happens to me often when I am juggling a lot at once - three kids with places to go, work deadlines, etc. I have considered taking Ginko to help, but as I am currently nursing, I have put it on the back burner.

I think once you added your 5 year old to the mix, things changed. Your priorities changed, and your brain can only handle so much at once. I wouldn't worry too much about it, unless you start to really forget things like where you are, where you are going, etc. If you are getting enough sleep and have a healthy diet, those will help. But from your post, you sound like a normal mom with PERMANENT baby brain to me.

I'm 57 and starting having the "what did I go upstairs for?" thoughts when I was about 44 (my only baby was born when I was 40). Right now, I take B complex vitamins to help me out, in the mornings. I think it does help. I really, really need more sleep though!!

Hope that helps. God bless!

It's a little known fact but having kids makes your brain develop holes like swiss cheese. Every woman I have ever known with children has complained of this same thing. I think it is because we have too many irons in the fire as my Gram used to say. Too much going on makes for swiss cheese brain. My record for going back to the place I started to remember where I was going? 7 times. Don't feel bad.