this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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ADHD Women

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Whenever I go to the doctor's office and they ask about something that happened unrelated to that day's visit, I can't seem to remember.

Examples:

At one appt, "So have you had any more troubles from your sinus infection that we saw you for 9 months ago?" Oh yeah...I had a sinus infection.

At a different appt, "You had your eye surgery in a different network. Let's update your record in our network. Who was the surgeon and when was it?" Um, it was a guy...and it was, I think, three years ago. (I looked up the surgeon's name online based on where I remember the surgery center to be and called and the surgery was a hair over a year ago.) That sounds like an extreme example because the surgery was a big deal, but yeah.

Often I can't seem to recall any of the original symptoms that led me to taking a medicine.

It's like medical amnesia. They have everything in their notes, but I've got zilch. It's really frustrating.

I've considered writing everything down, but once I'm out the door, that idea seems to vanish.

I've learned to take in a very full description of what's currently going on because I know I'll draw a blank when the doc asks of the specifics on why I'm in that time. I feel like a weirdo with a printout. If only I could remember to hang onto that printout for future reference. Ugh.

I'm not dumb and I'm not like this with other things. It's weird and I'm wondering if it's just me.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I have issues with this a lot as well. Got a new doctor recently and mentioned I'd had a reduction in the past plus a revision. She asked when and I could not for the life of me tell her when the surgeries had happened. Happens a lot when asked about what symptoms occurred, when, when certain events happened, who was involved, what order events occurred in, etc. My working memory is one of the worst things I have to deal with regarding my adhd.