Symptom Discussion List

I put several days into compiling this list, since I knew if I didn’t have this resource things would get left out and I needed to make sure I communicated as many of my identified symptoms as possible. Here’s a copy of the list I took to my doctor, and finally to my neurologist…

Many of these issues have improved since the first few weeks, and are slowly improving over time (but very slowly in very small increments).  These are the primary issues that impact day-to-day living and working.

• Short term memory dysfunctional, unreliable
  • Conversations
  • Things I read
  • Dreams
• Reading comprehension/retention reduction
  • Having to read things more than once, complex topics multiple times
  • Having to go back and read something again later to remember what I read already and remembered after reading initially
• Ability to organize and plan projects and tasks impaired
  • Multifaceted projects at work are now very difficult to plan and organize
  • Visualization of project content and requirements is abstract and disconnected
• Struggling with complex tasks such as software programming
  • Ability to quickly learn and execute new methodologies significantly compromised
  • Ability to visualize and plan structural organization of code elements is almost nonexistent
• Multi-tasking and task switching requirements are extremely difficult
  • Examples
    • On large task, email or phone call, switch to short task, return to previous task
      • Reorienting myself to position and thinking in the previous task is slow, challenging, and often all but impossible
    • Job requires ability to smoothly switch between multiple tasks, monitor emails, deal with phone calls and pick up thought processes where they left off, this process is severely impaired
• Emotional “tight rope”, stability issues
  • Previous emotional balance is diminished
  • Buffer between stability and anger or tears is almost non-existent
  • Apathy
  • Depression
• Occasional Issues with spelling less frequently used words
• Communication issues (speaking and writing)
  • Lost or “Misplaced” words
  • Struggling to organize intended message into a properly constructed sentence
• Persistent low grade headache