I attribute my cognitive loss to not getting much needed sleep. This is affecting my motivation. My age and health issues doesn’t help me. Very possibly I’m going to have to move us and ill have to get many years of stuff organized. Deep decluttering by myself. I know God is with me…He will see me thru

I think it's a lack of interaction with other people especially in the winter. I find it's getting better on days when the sun shines and I can be outside. It's so easy in the winter to just vegetate and that is not a good thing. My mind is sharper when I have more human interaction. It's a fight I think we, as caregivers, are all fighting.

Monique,
I don’t know you age or anything else about you except that you have the kindest heart and your priority is always to do your very best for your husband. I am not an analyst or a doctor but I do know that caretaker’s lives can be filled with worry, uncertainty as to what choices to make that are best for him, and the possibility of feeling inadequate in such an important role. Stress and Exhaustion and the fear and worry of such a big responsibility can just make your brain just plain old tired. That can cause you to feel scattered, and unable to concentrate, your thinking can just feel off, making decisions hard. Not to mention forgetfulness and memory disturbance. Stress has powerful affects on body and mind, and cause these problems in your cognition, but it is not the same as the cognition lost to the death of cells in the brain. As I said I am not a doctor, and you might consider having a check up about this to give you peace of mind. I am just sharing my experience when I was healthy and caring full time for my father for close to 5 yrs and he had various very serious health problems and cancer and I alone had to make all the decisions, feeling so inadequate to make these decision. I took care of him without anyone even willing to let me have even a weekend away. It was 24 hrs a day and 7 days a week all that time, plus my son died 6 months after I started taking care of Daddy and my husband was working out of state. And my son died in Utah and I was in Louisiana on a 3 week visit with Daddy but a couple of days before I was to fly back to Utah where my 2 men were working at that time and we were living. I had a sense that I needed to stay, and so I stayed and 3 days later he had a stroke, then an Aortic Aneurism and he had to have dangerous surgery at age 90 the doctor wasn’t sure he could survive. Then after he recovered we found out he had bladder cancer. So I went for a visit and stayed for close to 5 yrs. I was the visitor that never left.😆 I stayed with him until the end. I am not trying to be a know it all or act like a doctor. I am merely sharing my tired brain and affects it caused. The Cognitive Issues I have now caused by Parkinsons are not the same as what I experienced as a caregiver. But have a check up to give you the peace of mind you need. Sorry this so long and also thank for your recent message and kind words about the loss of my sister and nephew 6 days apart. I should be CRAZY 😂 But God is Faithful and got me through it all. I still grieve but I am ok. To grieve is Normal. I ask God’s peace to fill your heart and mind. You are doing a loving and amazing job and I admire you so much.
Blessings,
Carol

5 things that help me: 1-eat nourishingly 2-make sure the water you drink has minerals in it, not just purified, cloud or distilled 3-use ginkgo biloba or lion's mane mushroom to reverse the decline (see my profile story for ginkgo. MKF Parsinson's Buddy Network, discussions for lion's mane) 4-exercise your brain with puzzles, card games or reading & writing 5-eliminate toxins from your environment (including the formaldehyde in new carpet, furniture or clothes)

I have showed decline because of anxiety and exhaustion. I am sure many other caregivers are going thru the same stuff. I am 78 now and I have the craziest memory issues. I just got money for my birthday, hid it and promptly forgot about it until weeks later when my granddaughter asked me about that money she gave me. I swore I didn't get it and didn't remember at all. The next day I suddenly remembered that I hid it in a drawer and how much it was. There is so much to remember it get things all mixed up.