8 Reasons for Sudden Memory Problems

Under these circumstances, please do not delay and visit your neurologist, get yourself tested and work towards getting better.

2. Medications

There are a lot of medications that can affect your cognition. So check if you have any of the following in your medicine cabinet:

• Antihistamines like Brompheniramine (Dimetane), clemastine (Tavist), carbinoxamine (Clistin), diphenhydramine (Benadryl), hydroxyzine (Vistaril) and chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton).
• Sleeping pills like Eszopiclone (Lunesta), zolpidem (Ambien) and zaleplon (Sonata).
• Anticholinergics like Darifenacin (Enablex), oxybutynin (Ditropan XL, Oxytrol, Gelnique,), tolterodine (Detrol), solifenacin (Vesicare)and trospium (Sanctura).
• Hypertensive drugs like Atenolol (Tenormin), propranolol (Inderal), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol), sotalol (Betapace), carvedilol (Coreg),and timolol (Timoptic).
• Parkinson’s drugs like Apomorphine (Apokyn), pramipexole (Mirapex) and ropinirole (Requip).
• Painkillers like Fentanyl (Duragesic), hydrocodone (Vicodin, Norco), morphine (Astramorph, Avinza), hydromorphone (Dilaudid, Exalgo) and oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet) that fall under the  narcotics category.
• Tricyclic antidepressants like doxepin (Sinequan), nortriptyline (Pamelor),  Amitriptyline (Elavil), clomipramine (Anafranil), imipramine (Tofranil), protriptyline (Vivactil), desipramine (Norpramin) and trimipramine (Surmontil).
• Antiseizure drugs like Acetazolamide (Diamox), valproic acid (Depakote), carbamazepine (Tegretol), gabapentin (Neurontin), lamotrigine (Lamictal), ezogabine (Potiga), levetiracetam (Keppra), pregabalin (Lyrica), topiramate (Topamax), oxcarbazepine (Trileptal), rufinamide (Banzel) and zonisamide (Zonegran).
• Drugs for cholesterol like Atorvastatin (Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor), fluvastatin (Lescol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), pravastatin (Pravachol) and simvastatin (Zocor).
• Anti-anxiety drugs like diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin), flurazepam (Dalmane), temazepam (Restoril), lorazepam (Ativan), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), midazolam (Versed), quazepam (Doral) and triazolam (Halcion).

If you do, immediately talk to your doctor so that you can transfer to medicines that have fewer side effects.

3. Menopause

“Brain fog” is the common term used to explain a woman’s condition during menopause. This happens to 2/3 rd of menopausing women and is caused by depletion levels of estrogen. Our cognitive functioning is protected by Estrogen. Even sleep loss associated with menopause can cause loss of memory.

4. Anxiety, Worrying Chronic

Anxiety or worrying to a chronic level is something that causes your brain to seize up. If all your nerves are busy tracking all the thoughts going at such high speed continuously, it becomes difficult for them to focus, catch hold of and contain any new information. People with anxiety often say that they can’t help it. But your doctor can. There are various treatments for anxiety which might help you to regain your cognition powers.

5. Lack of sleep

Insomnia has become a household name, thanks to the frantic, stressful life that we lead nowadays. It is not only anxiety or medical conditions that keep us burning the midnight oil. It is also our job pressure and lifestyle. All the late night parties and irregular shifts are few of the reasons we do not get adequate amount of sleep.

Not fulfilling the required quota of sleep can cause havoc to our memory.Ensure that you get the adequate amount of sleep so that your brain can rest and can have full attention when and where it is required.

6. Lack of exercise

In today’s life, most of us end up in long hour jobs where we sit through the whole day. For your body and mind to function to the maximum capacity, they need to be conditioned regularly. Like an engine requires regular oiling and maintenance, regular exercise keeps your body fit and healthy. As we all know, a healthy body is abode of healthy mind. Additionally, exercise also helps to alleviate the problem of lack of sleep, which in turn results in better memory.

7. Chronically distracted

The major observation about this high tech, fast-paced generation is that we have become indoor people who prefer to talk, meet and have relationships with people in the virtual world than the real one. Various social media platforms like, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. have in one hand brought the world closer, but on the other, had turned us into the most inattentive people. As you keep checking your tab/ smart phone/ laptop every 2 minutes for any new notification, you are losing focus of the task at hand. You might be a very effective multi-tasker, but as you increase the number of tasks, you decrease the efficiency with which each is executed. This chronic state of being distracted is what decreases our retention capacity as well.

8. Too much alcohol

As you grow old, tolerance to alcohol may decrease. Hence, instead of accepting the extra glass of drink, assess up to which level you can handle now. That extra glass might be the reason of your lack of sleep and memory troubles. Figure out why you are reaching for that extra glass and uproot it from the very base.

If you take good care of your brain, it will take care of you, if not with as much efficiency as before but better than your current situation. With timely recognition of the cause and proper treatment, you can say goodbye to your memory troubles and lead a healthy and happy life.