First steps for coping with mild cognitive impairment

@johnnoregon How frustrating and upsetting to not be able to find a doctor to help you with MCI. Have you tried calling the Medical Society in your city? They should have a list of all the doctors and what their speciality is. And the local hospitals should know of geriatricians, doctors who specialize in older people and their medical problems.
You may have already checked out these sources. If not, please do! What other sources have you looked into?

@johnnoregon do you have a neurologist?
If you feel like you are getting worse, I suggest you see a neurologist and ask them to put you through the tests. MRI, EEG, PET-SCAN, and the dreaded psycho neurological test.
That’s what I did. Now I know I have Alzheimer’s Dementia and am going to be treated with the medication starting next week.

@labrown I so sorry to hear about your husband’s MCI.
I also took Memantine for almost 3 years, not only did it not work but when I stopped, my brain fog cleared up!
Sorry to say, aside from the usual advice from everywhere to keep your brain busy, and physical exercise I don’t really think there’s much.
However, there’s lots of resources for caregivers. Go on YouTube where you can find lots of resources that can help both of you.
I’m overwhelmed by all changes in my life right now. I can’t drive anymore so I have to arrange for volunteers to help me. I will try to keep you updated.
Blessings

A family member is showing signs of MCI and so far has been diagnosed with Slow Processing skills. He does not acknowledge any problems but forgets appointments, promises to do things and never does, and continuously makes excuses or "reasons" for everything and even if shown those things did not happen, he totally believes what he thought or intended to do happened,

Any advice on what to do or who to go to for help when he tells everyone there is no problem and when he talks to doctors alone, they have no clue if he is telling the truth.

(@ndck) I have a son (age 50) with MCI. I asked him to take vitamin B1 and it helped.

From the Alsheimes Association:
"Korsakoff syndrome is a chronic memory disorder caused by severe deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B-1). Korsakoff syndrome is most commonly caused by alcohol misuse, but certain other conditions also can cause the syndrome."
https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-dementia/types-of-dementia/korsakoff-syndrome
For erasing my brain fog, I take creatine powder (Thorne brand) and wasabi (Eden Foods).

Thankfully my husband was on board when I asked if I could start going to his doctors appointments. I would ask my husband questions about appointments and next steps, and he wasn't remembering. He then agreed to let me tag along for his appointments. This led to a referral to a Neuro doc, to a diagnosis of MCI.

@ndck, not recognizing the symptoms or being in denial is pretty common. You might also find this blog post helpful:

- Is it Denial or Something Else? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/living-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci/newsfeed-post/is-it-denial-or-something-else/

Does your family member have someone who accompanies him to his medical appointments and who can take notes or add their observations? Would he allow that?

I forgot to mention, @ndck. You may also wish to join the discussion group here:
- Caregivers: Dementia Support Group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/caregivers-dementia/

Thank you, may do that but for now it looks like we may have more problems as he is waitiing for final diagnosis of Erheims Chester disease which will cause more than MCI.

I was just diagnosed with MCI last month along with significant cerebral atrophy. Mine is related to a severe TBI in 1996 and a mild TBI in 2015 followed by heavy alcohol abuse from 2018-2024. I have tested negative for the P-tau proteins and don’t yet have an idea of how quick the atrophy is progressing. I am 44 and welcome any advice!!! Thank you!