Anonymous wrote:My vocabulary is shot and I lose my train of thought when speaking. Not great when you are a trial lawyer. I thought it was early onset of dementia, but a psychiatrist said its perimenopause. Did this happen to you, and if so, did your ability to speak in complete sentences return after you made the transition? This is humiliating.

Also a lawyer, although I don't practice anymore. But I am now a writer and I'm feeling this even worse -- my cognitive abilities in general feel trashed, but my verbal skills in general cause me trouble from day to day. I'm glad your psychiatrist knows enough about menopause to say this; mine put me on klonopin for sleep problems that ended up cured by HRT that my pcp gave me when I got hot flashes. I had no idea my sleep and anxiety issues were menopause until the hrt fixed them. I wish my psychiatrist had know that could be the issue; it would have spared me the hell of coming off klonopin.

I'm 53, and occasionally worry that I have early onset dementia as well. Yes, the public speaking is awful -- I can't find my words and get confused in the middle of sentences occasionally. It's awful not being anywhere as near as smart as I once was. Truly awful and it is hurting my self esteem, and very sense of self. But I'm 53, and this is where we are. HRT helped with the cognitive stuff a tiny bit, but not a lot.

Anonymous wrote:HRT

Yes this exactly. Try to get testosterone, it’s helped me feel sharper.

Yep. It’s brain fog. I cannot remember words an embarrassing amount or time. It’s awful.

HRT

Anonymous wrote:OMG! I'm 51 and in the last six months have noticed a serious drop in finding the right word. I'm so sorry to hear how common it seems to be but also selfishly happy that is this common. Thought I was alone!

+1 I started to notice this around 50. It sucks.

For me, it started around 50. It's especially difficult to remember people's names. It seemed to ease some after a year (or two) but I'm still shocked to find I can't remember the name of someone famous during conversation. At 56 I feel like my brain is rewiring itself and I am consciously trying to improve my recall. I will say that it has improved, but not what it once was.

Anonymous wrote:It’s the brain fog. I have it too. I swear I’m intelligent but I feel dumb when I can’t come up with the word I want!

This!

It’s like an umbrella, which also covers mild ADD/ADHD, some memory stuff, etc. So frustrating.

OMG! I'm 51 and in the last six months have noticed a serious drop in finding the right word. I'm so sorry to hear how common it seems to be but also selfishly happy that is this common. Thought I was alone!

Yes, I started to have a hard time recalling words and names after 46. Currently still in peri but it's stabilized.

Yep. -45

Anonymous wrote:My vocabulary is shot and I lose my train of thought when speaking. Not great when you are a trial lawyer. I thought it was early onset of dementia, but a psychiatrist said its perimenopause. Did this happen to you, and if so, did your ability to speak in complete sentences return after you made the transition? This is humiliating.

OP here: it’s

FFS.

Constantly pausing and reaching for the next word mid-sentence. Age 47

It’s the brain fog. I have it too. I swear I’m intelligent but I feel dumb when I can’t come up with the word I want!

I can't find my words or say the wrong word. I can no longer spell either or want to say "that" and type "the" instead, over and over again. My frustration is through the roof since it's harder to express myself. I can totally sympathize op.

My vocabulary is shot and I lose my train of thought when speaking. Not great when you are a trial lawyer. I thought it was early onset of dementia, but a psychiatrist said its perimenopause. Did this happen to you, and if so, did your ability to speak in complete sentences return after you made the transition? This is humiliating.