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I've had the exact same experience following minor surgery, for which they 'kindly' offered to do under general anesthetic. And now rely extensively on notes li

I've had the exact same experience following minor surgery, for which they 'kindly' offered to do under general anesthetic. And now rely extensively on notes like you (anki, in fact). Never needed to jot stuff down before that. Learned entire libraries of piano music by heart just by hearing. Used to be able to be able to hold the positions in my brain to calculate 5-6 moves ahead in chess within seconds; now I can barely do 3, regardless of how much time I try to spend on it. Thing is, I'm still very academic, so nobody would believe me; if I'm already good at something and I complain that it feels half-capacity, people don't take too kindly to that. Plus, people are always too quick to put things down to ageing etc. So I guess I've learnt to live with it; extensive notes it is.

myself248 6y ago
> I'm still very academic, so nobody would believe me; if I'm already good at something and I complain that it feels half-capacity, people don't take too kindly to that. YES! Nail on the head. It's like if I take a car to the mechanic and they say "Well, its performance hasn't fallen below that of a '93 Escort, runs 0-60 in 12 seconds just like it should", and I say "But it's not an Escort, it's a Taycan Turbo S and it used to do it in 2.42, and there's something severely wrong with it!" and they say "Sorry sir, our diagnostic criteria only allow us to work on it when it's no longer roadworthy" What a crap mechanic. I never played enough chess to have that sort of comparison, but at work, there's a machine I built several years ago, in an afternoon, didn't bother writing anything down because it all went together in my head with room to spare. Recently I had to build another identical unit, and even with the first one to look at, I spent a day and a half tracing it out and writing things down to try to figure out how it worked. My brain just wouldn't do the thing. I constantly feel trapped in a fog, some deranged medley of Comfortably Numb and Keep Talking. I never would've consented to anesthesia if I'd had any idea this could happen. Fuckit, I'll live with weird digestive issues, just give me my mind back.
- Hydraulix989 6y ago
  I had the same issue with sleep apnea, which also affects your memory and ability to concentrate. Because I was already operating at an extremely high level, I went from one of the top of my field to above average -- but still quite good, so on the surface, when I tried to get jaw surgery for correcting my small airway, people looked at me like I was crazy. I ended up getting it anyways, and now I feel my health recovering to the point where it was at before. Skeptics are even noticing the difference, too.
  - milesvp 6y ago
    Sleep deprevation is no joke. Parents of newborns will see a massive cognitive decline. It took me 6 months to recover from my first child who didn’t sleep through the night until she was 2.
    - non-entity 6y ago
      Sleep deprivation had gotten to me this year (for unrelated reasons). I remember at one particular, my AC had died and I was waiting for someone to replace it and I hadn't slept in few days. By mid day it was so hot and stack with the sleep deprivation it was incredibly disorienting. I remember laying in bed hoping I could catch an hour of sleep but never fully falling asleep, just sweating and unable to think straight. The combo made it feel almost comparable to some moments from a bad trip.
    - leetrout 6y ago
      I still have not recovered my abilities from before having a kid. I’m just tired all the time and can’t think at nearly the speed I used to. Kid is 2.5 now so hoping we find some balance when Covid is “over” (haha yea right).
  - codezero 6y ago
    Shit. Now I need to find out about that surgery. I’ve had surgery for deviated septum but only helped so much. I have a tiny airway and very asymmetrical jaw. If you’re in the US and have any resources handy about specialists or what I even tell my doctor I’d love to hear :)
    - Hydraulix989 6y ago
      You're looking for MMA surgery. Try to find someone who understands sleep apnea. Ignore anyone who tells you to get UPPP which only has 25-50% effectiveness. The best surgeons are at Stanford in Northern California. It will be a year long process with wisdom teeth extraction and orthodontics. Be patient, and good luck!
Aeolun 6y ago
> Used to be able to be able to hold the positions in my brain to calculate 5-6 moves ahead in chess within seconds; now I can barely do 3 Yeah, I see what you mean. This definitely sounds like some form of humble brag :)

myself248 6y ago

> I'm still very academic, so nobody would believe me; if I'm already good at something and I complain that it feels half-capacity, people don't take too kindly to that. YES! Nail on the head. It's like if I take a car to the mechanic and they say "Well, its performance hasn't fallen below that of a '93 Escort, runs 0-60 in 12 seconds just like it should", and I say "But it's not an Escort, it's a Taycan Turbo S and it used to do it in 2.42, and there's something severely wrong with it!" and they say "Sorry sir, our diagnostic criteria only allow us to work on it when it's no longer roadworthy" What a crap mechanic. I never played enough chess to have that sort of comparison, but at work, there's a machine I built several years ago, in an afternoon, didn't bother writing anything down because it all went together in my head with room to spare. Recently I had to build another identical unit, and even with the first one to look at, I spent a day and a half tracing it out and writing things down to try to figure out how it worked. My brain just wouldn't do the thing. I constantly feel trapped in a fog, some deranged medley of Comfortably Numb and Keep Talking. I never would've consented to anesthesia if I'd had any idea this could happen. Fuckit, I'll live with weird digestive issues, just give me my mind back.

Hydraulix989 6y ago
I had the same issue with sleep apnea, which also affects your memory and ability to concentrate. Because I was already operating at an extremely high level, I went from one of the top of my field to above average -- but still quite good, so on the surface, when I tried to get jaw surgery for correcting my small airway, people looked at me like I was crazy. I ended up getting it anyways, and now I feel my health recovering to the point where it was at before. Skeptics are even noticing the difference, too.
- milesvp 6y ago
  Sleep deprevation is no joke. Parents of newborns will see a massive cognitive decline. It took me 6 months to recover from my first child who didn’t sleep through the night until she was 2.
  - non-entity 6y ago
    Sleep deprivation had gotten to me this year (for unrelated reasons). I remember at one particular, my AC had died and I was waiting for someone to replace it and I hadn't slept in few days. By mid day it was so hot and stack with the sleep deprivation it was incredibly disorienting. I remember laying in bed hoping I could catch an hour of sleep but never fully falling asleep, just sweating and unable to think straight. The combo made it feel almost comparable to some moments from a bad trip.
  - leetrout 6y ago
    I still have not recovered my abilities from before having a kid. I’m just tired all the time and can’t think at nearly the speed I used to. Kid is 2.5 now so hoping we find some balance when Covid is “over” (haha yea right).
- codezero 6y ago
  Shit. Now I need to find out about that surgery. I’ve had surgery for deviated septum but only helped so much. I have a tiny airway and very asymmetrical jaw. If you’re in the US and have any resources handy about specialists or what I even tell my doctor I’d love to hear :)
  - Hydraulix989 6y ago
    You're looking for MMA surgery. Try to find someone who understands sleep apnea. Ignore anyone who tells you to get UPPP which only has 25-50% effectiveness. The best surgeons are at Stanford in Northern California. It will be a year long process with wisdom teeth extraction and orthodontics. Be patient, and good luck!

Aeolun 6y ago

> Used to be able to be able to hold the positions in my brain to calculate 5-6 moves ahead in chess within seconds; now I can barely do 3 Yeah, I see what you mean. This definitely sounds like some form of humble brag :)