3 ms·

I wish you well and hope the treatment is successful. > Cognitive decline is a real issue for me. How do you track this? Do you have any self tests to keep th

I wish you well and hope the treatment is successful. > Cognitive decline is a real issue for me. How do you track this? Do you have any self tests to keep the cognitive state in check or are they standard medical tests?

treeman79 6y ago
2 ways. I started tracking my memory score over time. https://memtrax.com/ https://memtrax.com/ At my lowest it would frighten people to watch me take the test. “You just saw that image 3 times in the last 60 seconds” Me: I have never seen that image before. At my best I could outscore most anyone in the office. Second is more arbitrary, but more important. Been programming for decades. Since I was a kid. A task that normally would take me a few minutes might take me a week. Harder concepts were beyond me, felt like I was trying to tackle calculus after learning fractions. I “knew” I could do it, except I couldn’t anymore. Then I would have some good days, and I would go around the office solving all the really hard problems for people.
- Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
  As person with disabilities and physical health problems people are often at awe at me for how I go on with my life and now I'm looking at the same awe at you. Do you feel there's anything missing with memtrax or any other tool which can make your life easier i.e. help track your cognitive health or help your current lifestyle?
  - treeman79 6y ago
    Time to diagnosed is one of the biggest things. Gig economy kept family off the street when I was at my worst. I had symptoms 20 years ago, serious problems 10 years that were warning signs of autoimmune. When it got really bad it was 20-40 doctor visits to get a diagnosis. It’s the Second most common autoimmune condition, behind lupus. Also getting ride of American diet. A lot of people are predisposed to autoimmune, but need a trigger.
    - Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
      The least I could do to help was to mention this problem -'Reduce time to diagnose Autoimmune Disease'[1] in my problem validation platform. You're welcomed to join the discussion, hopefully one day we'll be able to find a solution. [1]https://needgap.com/problems/186-reduce-time-to-diagnose-autoimmune-disease-medical-health https://needgap.com/problems/186-reduce-time-to-diagnose-aut...
dualthro 6y ago
Not OP but I live in a different country where I barely speak the language. I can turn on the TV in the morning and depending on how easy or difficult it is for me to parse what they are saying, tells me how sharp my mind is that day. Similarly to the sibling comment, I spent years struggling. There were points where I sat down to write a super simple Craigslist scraper and couldn't do it, my working memory was so poor that it was like I couldn't hold more than 2 or 3 concepts or ideas/variables in my head at the same time. This task is something that I knew just a few years before I could have whipped up in 30 minutes or less.
- Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
  Thank you for taking the time to answer. Do you use any tools like OP to help with your lifestyle? I know memory is a complex problem even for those who don't usually face explicit issues like you do; but does common memory retention practices like 'spaced repetition' made any positive improvements for you?
  - dualthro 6y ago
    Definitely. Most of the time I'm pretty sharp, although I definitely have days where I basically can't get anything done. I have just started using Anki to great effect (preparing for programming interviews is a nightmare if your brain is a sieve). Since I know that my symptoms are almost entirely caused by diet, I have written down everything that I've eaten, every supplement that I've taken, every hour that I've slept, every noise or pain I feel in my stomach, and information about all of my bowel movements since 2017. I thought I had things under control last year, and didn't take any notes for 2 months. Now I have an issue with H2S bacterial overgrowth, essentially a sulfur sensitivity. "If it can be measured, it can be managed." The fact that I moved to Europe in October to avoid the pandemic and election nonsense, hasn't helped me. There are tons of supplements and tests that I would be able to get in the states that are simply unavailable in the country that I'm residing in. Pretty frustrating, and tbh, I can't wait to get back, hopefully late spring/summer.
    - badactor 6y ago

treeman79 6y ago

2 ways. I started tracking my memory score over time. https://memtrax.com/ https://memtrax.com/ At my lowest it would frighten people to watch me take the test. “You just saw that image 3 times in the last 60 seconds” Me: I have never seen that image before. At my best I could outscore most anyone in the office. Second is more arbitrary, but more important. Been programming for decades. Since I was a kid. A task that normally would take me a few minutes might take me a week. Harder concepts were beyond me, felt like I was trying to tackle calculus after learning fractions. I “knew” I could do it, except I couldn’t anymore. Then I would have some good days, and I would go around the office solving all the really hard problems for people.

Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
As person with disabilities and physical health problems people are often at awe at me for how I go on with my life and now I'm looking at the same awe at you. Do you feel there's anything missing with memtrax or any other tool which can make your life easier i.e. help track your cognitive health or help your current lifestyle?
- treeman79 6y ago
  Time to diagnosed is one of the biggest things. Gig economy kept family off the street when I was at my worst. I had symptoms 20 years ago, serious problems 10 years that were warning signs of autoimmune. When it got really bad it was 20-40 doctor visits to get a diagnosis. It’s the Second most common autoimmune condition, behind lupus. Also getting ride of American diet. A lot of people are predisposed to autoimmune, but need a trigger.
  - Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
    The least I could do to help was to mention this problem -'Reduce time to diagnose Autoimmune Disease'[1] in my problem validation platform. You're welcomed to join the discussion, hopefully one day we'll be able to find a solution. [1]https://needgap.com/problems/186-reduce-time-to-diagnose-autoimmune-disease-medical-health https://needgap.com/problems/186-reduce-time-to-diagnose-aut...

dualthro 6y ago

Not OP but I live in a different country where I barely speak the language. I can turn on the TV in the morning and depending on how easy or difficult it is for me to parse what they are saying, tells me how sharp my mind is that day. Similarly to the sibling comment, I spent years struggling. There were points where I sat down to write a super simple Craigslist scraper and couldn't do it, my working memory was so poor that it was like I couldn't hold more than 2 or 3 concepts or ideas/variables in my head at the same time. This task is something that I knew just a few years before I could have whipped up in 30 minutes or less.

Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
Thank you for taking the time to answer. Do you use any tools like OP to help with your lifestyle? I know memory is a complex problem even for those who don't usually face explicit issues like you do; but does common memory retention practices like 'spaced repetition' made any positive improvements for you?
- dualthro 6y ago
  Definitely. Most of the time I'm pretty sharp, although I definitely have days where I basically can't get anything done. I have just started using Anki to great effect (preparing for programming interviews is a nightmare if your brain is a sieve). Since I know that my symptoms are almost entirely caused by diet, I have written down everything that I've eaten, every supplement that I've taken, every hour that I've slept, every noise or pain I feel in my stomach, and information about all of my bowel movements since 2017. I thought I had things under control last year, and didn't take any notes for 2 months. Now I have an issue with H2S bacterial overgrowth, essentially a sulfur sensitivity. "If it can be measured, it can be managed." The fact that I moved to Europe in October to avoid the pandemic and election nonsense, hasn't helped me. There are tons of supplements and tests that I would be able to get in the states that are simply unavailable in the country that I'm residing in. Pretty frustrating, and tbh, I can't wait to get back, hopefully late spring/summer.
  - badactor 6y ago