Is there something wrong with me or am I just a tired mom?

[Anonymous]

Let me preface by saying that I’m a tired working mom in my late 30s. I get about six hours of sleep per night and am constantly juggling everything with a c suite job and two children.

I have always expressed myself better through writing than speaking, but lately I have found that I trip over my words a lot, lose my train of thought while I’m trying to say something important, or say the wrong thing. I will mean to say one word but I will say another. There have been a few occasions where I’ve sat back and just thought, wow, I sound like a babbling idiot.

Yesterday one of my colleagues was talking about a child having a “disorder of written expression” and it sounded a lot like my struggle with spoken expression. Is it possible that there is something wrong with me? Or is this just a situation where my natural weaknesses in public speaking are being exacerbated by a lack of sleep and a chaotic life?

[Anonymous]

It’s just a lack of sleep and ...age. It gets much worse btw. You need to prioritize sleep and understand that age will affect your ability to recall the right word with speed and agility. I’m afraid it might be totally normal and awfully frightening. BTDT, not early Alzheimer’s.

[Anonymous]

ME TOO!!! And my DS mocks me when I say wrong word
Sleep deprivation I think (I sometimes get less than 6 hours)

But I’m going through menopause so I’m sure that doesn’t help my concentration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible that there is something wrong with me? Or is this just a situation where my natural weaknesses in public speaking are being exacerbated by a lack of sleep and a chaotic life?

I'm not a doctor but I think it's the lack of sleep more than the chaotic life.

[Anonymous]

It is most likely lack of sleep and stress, but if you haven’t been to the doctor lately it is worth it to get blood tests. I suffer from autoimmune disorders which cause “brain fog.” Whenever I get super stressed the brain fog gets even worse and I feel like an idiot, especially when speaking. You may have a vitamin deficiency like low vitamin D. Worth getting checked!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is most likely lack of sleep and stress, but if you haven’t been to the doctor lately it is worth it to get blood tests. I suffer from autoimmune disorders which cause “brain fog.” Whenever I get super stressed the brain fog gets even worse and I feel like an idiot, especially when speaking. You may have a vitamin deficiency like low vitamin D. Worth getting checked!

just chiming in to say i agree with this poster. you are juggling a lot and sleep is how we recharge.

[Anonymous]

I have two little kids. Recently we had a string of awesome luck where I was getting a solid 8 hours a night for MANY nights in a row. I even got a bit more than that a few nights. All of sudden I looked at my DH and said "omg I feel SO GOOD. Like amazing. Just so happy and wonderful". That's when I realized the only thing that had changed was how much sleep I was getting for multiple nights in a row.

Get more sleep. Drop everything extra besides your job and kids.

[Anonymous]

It's the sleep. When you dip below 8 hours of sleep for long periods of time it messes with your brain and speech. Once I started getting 8 hours of sleep nightly, I really did become more productive at work and felt the fog lifting (this was just last month when my baby finally started sleeping 7-7!).

I remember postpartum I had trouble driving, turning left, remembering words to simple songs and I'd lose track of my days. I seriously wondered if that's what dementia is like.

[Anonymous]

And take a multivitamin every morning, in case you don’t wan to spend time going to a doctor to find out that you have a slight defciency.

[Anonymous]

has this always been an issue or this this something new? If it's new then I would say lack of sleep.

You need to make sleep a priority. What is going on that you only have time for 6 hrs/night?

[Anonymous]

Welcome to aging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to aging.

This. Also the amount of deep sleep we get as we get older decreases as we get older. Deep sleep is critical for brain repair. As a frame of reference, young children get approx 50% deep sleep per night, someone 40yrs old gets 10-20%, by the time we are 60 many of us are getting 0% deep sleep. No matter how long you sleep, without deep sleep, your brain starts to decline. Unfortunately women as a biological rule get less deep sleep than men. Thanks again mother nature.

[OliviaMcMakardy]

Everyone faces such a period. It's important not to give up. Search for support

[Anonymous]

Wait till you turn fifty.

[Anonymous]

That sounds like me when I had a vitamin D deficiency. Get checked!