Wow. That explaines
a lot.
For the past, oh I don't know, 6-7 years I've had
so much trouble remembering names and words in general conversation. I'll have a thought and go to say it and just "forget" a key word (usually an adjective or other word that isn't used in everyday conversation but is just a given in Environmental discussions) and just draw a complete blank. I think a lot of my colleagues doubt my education and accreditations sometimes.
And to be honest, I FEEL dumb because of it.
But I too have severe obstructive sleep apnea, and my sleep study revealed 83 apneas an hour. My ENT was horrified!
As a lifelong mouth breather with a jacked up nose/septum, I have to use a full face mask. But unlike most people I never had a single issue with my mask. I slept like a baby in the mask part of the study--even though the pressure was a bit high--and even better when I got my machine callibrated and got to use it that first night. I think I slept something like 14-15 hours straight without moving once! Hubby said he kept coming in to check to make sure I was still alive. When I got up, I felt really good, for the first time in I can't even tell you how long. Of course, for the first couple of months, I'd have a backlash and feel terrible the next day. My ENT said it was my body adjusting to acutally getting enough oxygen, and that the episodes would decrease in both frequency and severity--and they did. (I think I need to have my machine serviced and recallibrated though--I'm starting to feel really tired and sluggish again, for no good reason, and hubby says he's hearing me snore some now.)
Now I can't even think about sleeping without my machine. My only objection to my mask is the marks it leaves on the sides of my face--sometimes they take hours to go away, and are rather noticeable. I feel forced to wear makeup to work, which is a waste on a mine site!
Hubby can't sleep either, as the machine creates white noise--without it he hears everything. The silence is deafening!
Anyway, my memory never has gotten any better even though my energy levels and fatigue have. I've been eating a lot of curry and cayenne and drinking green tea, because I heard they all help with circulation to the brain, as well as doing book after book of crosswords and thinking puzzles, playing scrabble, Boggle, quick recall, and
still trying to find that darn Waldo/Wally--I'm convinced I got the book that doesn't have him in it!
But if my SA is the culprit and memory doesn't improve even after successful treatment, am I doomed to forget names and have word block forever?!