Forgetting a family members name

[Anonymous]

I am in my early 40s and haven’t noticed any memory issues but this week we had family in town and I was alarmed at something that happened. I was looking at my nephew (age 12, we see 2-3 times a year) and while I could remember his brothers name, I couldn’t think of his name for anything in the world. This lasted about 60 seconds until I remembered. This was very unsettling. Has anything like this happened to you? It was such an isolated incident so trying not to spiral about early onset Alzheimer’s but that’s an easy path to go down.

[Anonymous]

Yes, this kind of thing if it is intermittent only, is quite normal in your 40s and onwards, especially if you're tired / stressed / distracted by other things.

Do not worry that you're losing your memory, the fact that it concerns you is good example of the state of your memory health. If you were unconcerned or didn't notice, then that would be worrying.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a larger family and definitely remember a lot of “hey … you!” Comments from extended family. “Katie? Kathy? No … Kristy? Right???” Type of comments. But my relatives are all 70s or even 80s now and still mentally healthy!

[Anonymous]

It can be a symptom of perimenopause and since you’re in your 40s, you’re likely in perimenopause.

[Anonymous]

Yeah totally perimenopause. Also happens with less sleep.

[Anonymous]

I find that as my family and my kids’ circles both get larger and larger, the cast of characters gets really tough to keep track of. Especially when Nephew #2 becomes someone I see less than DD’s Boyfriend #3, and when Step-Uncle looks exactly like Nosy Neighbor Across The Street.

It might be hormones, it might be memory loss, or your mental filing cabinet could just be stuff full. If I really cared, I would write down names and practice like I do for big work events, but for family stuff the guests are too unpredictable so I just let it ride.

I say this as the youngest cousin who was called by the oldest cousin’s name all my life, and or lumped in with my twin sister and just known as “the twins.” I’m sure some relatives never knew our names.

[Anonymous]

Here’s what someone told me years ago about Alzheimer’s. Normal forgetfulness is, you put your keys down and then can’t remember where they are. Alzheimer’s is, you can’t remember where your keys are and then you find them inside the refrigerator.

So if you looked at the kid and were like ‘who are you, I don’t even recognize you’, that might be more concerning.

[Anonymous]

It's fine

[Anonymous]

No big deal. I can't remember which cousin is Matthew and which is Michael, or if the other cousin is Jonah or Jonas. I barely ever see them. I'm sure they can't remember if I'm Laurie or Lauren.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s what someone told me years ago about Alzheimer’s. Normal forgetfulness is, you put your keys down and then can’t remember where they are. Alzheimer’s is, you can’t remember where your keys are and then you find them inside the refrigerator.

So if you looked at the kid and were like ‘who are you, I don’t even recognize you’, that might be more concerning.

The variation I heard was forgetting where you've put things or what you're looking for is normal. Forgetting where you live, is not.