‘How I reversed my memory loss from overlooked brain condition’ (FCD)

[Sly Saint]

In 2021, Suzanne was troubled to find that she was getting increasingly forgetful, despite only being in her fifties.

She was sometimes unable to find the right word, would forget why she had gone into a room and struggled to cope in her volunteer work for a disabled children’s charity.
“I was attending meetings, and I was finding it really difficult to concentrate and take in what everyone was saying,” she said. She stopped most of her work and even gave up on trying to read books.

Suzanne’s GP suggested she might have brain damage caused by a recent Covid infection that had affected her badly for several weeks, and she was referred to a neurologist.

But the neurologist, Dr Verónica Cabreira at the University of Edinburgh, had surprising news. In fact, Suzanne had a condition that can mimic dementia, causing forgetfulness and difficulties in concentrating, but has a much better prognosis – and can even be reversed.

The condition is called functional cognitive disorder or FCD. While it is still poorly understood, FCD seems to arise when factors such as stress or anxiety cause the normal memory process to go awry. It is similar to the way that anyone can have a temporary memory problem if they “go blank” under pressure.

Unlike dementia, FCD isn’t due to any loss of brain cells, but could be thought of as a psychological glitch. And, as stress and anxiety can be triggers, distress over the memory problems can worsen the symptoms, in a vicious circle.

“You lose confidence in your memory and start to notice everything going wrong in greater detail,” said Suzanne. “You start checking and double checking everything you do for mistakes – that becomes exhausting in itself. So you forget more things, and that feeds the negative feedback loop.”

Once Dr Cabreira explained this, it was like an epiphany, said Suzanne. “I didn’t realise that, subconsciously I was doing exactly that.”

When neurologists suspect that someone has FCD, they start trying to rule out real dementia or brain damage, by ordering brain scans and doing various other tests.

Suzanne’s situation is complicated by the fact that she also has a liver condition called primary biliary cholangitis, which causes chronic fatigue and pain, among other symptoms. When she is feeling tired, this can make her forgetful. In fact, this might have started her downward memory spiral in the first place.

“Whilst I still have memory lapses, what I know now is that they are connected to my chronic fatigue. But the FCD has gone away. My memory was definitely better even after just six weeks of using the app.” It has also reduced her pain and helped her sleep better.

MSN

 

[Hoopoe]

Suzanne’s situation is complicated by the fact that she also has a liver condition called primary biliary cholangitis, which causes chronic fatigue and pain, among other symptoms. When she is feeling tired, this can make her forgetful. In fact, this might have started her downward memory spiral in the first place.

The article behind the link lists "problems with memory and concentration" as symptom of more advanced biliary cholangitis.

I'm not sure why FCD needs to come into this. If no other causes can be found, it's likely a symptom of the biliary cholangitis.

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

This looks like a load of dangerous horse ####.
That sort of presentation could well be a transient ischaemic episode.
The idea that the brain can concoct memory loss in some 'functional' way is as far as i can see pure fairy tale.

People do not 'do things subconsciously'. This is just the fag end of Freud's hippodetritus.

Bleurrgh.

 

[Jesse]

This really reads as if they're just making shit up as they go along.