Anybody else out there have trouble forming words? If I'm not really concentrating on breathing and talking slowly, my words come out in this spurt and are incomprehensible. Just a big jumble of sound trying to express my thought. It happens so often: I have to stop and slow down and concentrate to speak and it's freaking me out!

Any comforting words from any other gals experiencing this?

yes! I thought I was the only one, but here you are! I feel so stupid most of the time because I cannot say what I want, I forget the words most of the time, and like you, jumble comes out of my mouth. People look at me like I am stupid or something, or I must be "slow".........so I also try to slow down and concentrate on what I want to say. Hang in there, hopefully one day we can say what we think =)

Hugs, Barb

I klnkthwl hoieha U feelx ,, ahhh

sorry, , yes .. I do this all the time .. there is a great article on this site called "Menopause and the Mind" give it a read ,, its great .. I first noticed it about 6 years ago when I would try to sing a song on the radio that I knew quite well and some very peculiar alien word would come out of my mouth ,, I thought I was having a stroke .. thank God I am around women going through this also ,, I stutter,, mumble something that sounds like a word ,, or say ,, "You know that thingy over there " ,, U are not alone !!

here it is its great

http://www.power-surge.com/educate/menopau...nd_the_mind.htm

Heres the list from the article !! it about sums me up !

THINKING CHANGES


Losing your train of thought more often than in the past
Forgetting what you came into a room to get more than in the past
Not being able to concentrate as well upon demand
Feeling foggy, hazy, and cotton-headed and not being able to clear it up at will
Experiencing a thought blockade: an inability to pull ideas out at will

SPEECH CHANGES

Naming difficulties for long-known names: children, best friends, things, places
Finding yourself at a loss for words in how to express something while speaking
Experiencing "It's on the tip of my tongue but I can't get it out" sensation
Making malapropisms: saying wrong words that are related some how to the intended one
Reversing whole words while speaking
Reversing the first letters of words while speaking
Experiencing "echo" words as unintentional intrusions into present speech - I stutter a lot !
Relying on "filler" words more often: "whatchamacallit," "that thing," "you know what I mean"
Organizing sentences and ideas less efficiently while speaking

CHANGES IN THE "BEAM" OF ATTENTION


Blinking social attention when interested and interacting: listening but not always attending - Really have a hard time listengin to people at times
Blanking-out amnesia for what you just did
Experiencing increased distractability

MEMORY CHANGES: SHORT- AND LONG-TERM




Forgetting what you just did, or past occurrences, with no threads of associationto getting back to what's missing: missing links
Changing certainty in how words should be spelled in once good or great spellers
Fluctuating agility in calculating and in "counting with a quick scanning look"
Experiencing changes in the speed and accuracy of memory retrieval
Forgetting the content of a movie right after seeing it but remembering your emotional reaction to it
BEHAVIORAL CHANGES




Making behavioral "malapropisms": unintended slips in behavior that are related to the intended behavior somehow, such as putting shampoo inthe refrigerator
Forgetting briefly how to do things long known, such as where to turn on the computer
Feeling that automatic skills such as driving for a few moments are not "automatic" in the same way as usual
Dropping things more often that require fine finger/hand coordination
Absentmindedly, leaving out or reversing letters in words while writing
Forgetting how to write a word in the middle of writing and having to leave blanks
Experiencing "translating" hesitations in converting what's heard into writing
Not handling the same amount of stress in the same way
SPATIAL SKILLS CHANGES




Changing skill in remembering and/or recognizing faces (not well-known faces)
"Looking at but not seeing" what you are looking for when it's right there ultimately, more than in the past
Changing reading skill in visually "seeing" and comprehending reading material
Spending less time reading, without difficulties above (for formerly heavy-duty readers)
Forgetting briefly how to get to long-known landmarks in your life
Experiencing familiar locales in one's experience as momentarily unfamiliar
ALTERED SENSE OF TIME




Forgetting appointments more or not anticipating events of personal importance with the same accuracy as in the past
Forgetting important events in your personal history timeline, i.e., which breast you had biopsied
"Living more in the moment" out of necessity: a "spliced-film-frames" sense of personal time

As usual, the women of P-S pull through. THANK YOU for writing me about your experiences and for sharing that wonderful article.

I was at a cafe today and the person at the counter asked me if I wanted my soup and sandwich/salad at the same time. I couldn't figure out how to say, "You can just bring it as it's ready" so blurted out, "It's OK if parts of it are early."

It's as if English has become my 2nd language!

Bless you and thanks again for the reassurance. What a little pot of gold this forum is.

xo to all,

sukie

I have learned to laugh at myself when this happens. I talk to people for a living and give speeches so just imagine my dilemma. lol. When it happens to me........I make a raspberry noise with my mouth....roll my eyes....look at everyone and say "Forgive me.....I have menopause mouth...it should pass in about 10 years". This always gets loads of laughter. So take heart....u r not alone. ha ha.

Thank you, Medium. I actually just went out and ordered that book (above link and pasted in information). I'm so glad to know I'm not alone. I really get spooked by this a lot and when I do, I get this sick feeling inside that I have Alzheimer's. Very glad to know that this might not actually be the cause.

Giant hugs to you all!

sukie

p.s. Amazon has that book for 10 cents if you buy it used! Lots of copies. I just ordered mine!

sukie

Oh, yes...it is a common symptom of hormonal imbalance! The word searching was the worst for me. I would often remember the word that I wanted to use hours later. Then I would shout it out to my family. LOL! (As if I did something great!) Although I was delighted, they were just annoyed and found it amusing.

Lack of Estrogen does all sorts of things to us. Most women think that they have a brain tumor & etc....Neuro doc charges a lot for an MRI....Do you think that they test peri & meno women for hormones? LOL! NO!...BHRT (bio hormone replacement) is cheap compared to what they will make by doing their thing....

Shebee

Hun, oh trust me, you are not alone in this. OMG it I do it all the time.... Hang in there, that's what I am trying to do, is just hang in there...

My daughter had the same problem. It would come and go. I noticed that if she was nervous it would happen more often. She is more relaxed now and she doesn't seem to do it anymore.

And I have to use medspeak in my working world I can barely make myself clear in plain English!

Gosh, I'm really not alone. And yes, it happens to me much more if eyes are on me in conversation. Even the slightest bit a focus on me makes it worse.

Geez. I'm starting to think that every baby girl that is born should get a how-to-deal manual titled, "Open me when you're 40."

Sukie, Yep you are not alone and also spelling has become very hard too!!!

Geez. I'm starting to think that every baby girl that is born should get a how-to-deal manual titled, "Open me when you're 40." .... This is just too funny . lol

Was stuttering like a fool today so had to come out and reread this thread for comfort.

I have a question for you, didgens.

On this item from that article you wrote that you stutter a lot.

* Experiencing "echo" words as unintentional intrusions into present speech

Is that what that means? That echo stuff? That's stuttering?

I stutter a lot, too!

xo

sukie

I think so .. yes I started stuttering a few years back .. its really aggravating ,, it kinda comes and goes .. when I catch it I just say .. oh ,, theres that menpausel mouth again ,, I just groan and try to slow down a little ..

I'm going to try to adopt your attitude. It's excellent!

Dear 'Sukie'
You are certainly not alone,my love
Was just reading all the wonderful replies of support and encouragement.
This time of life brings many weird symptoms and the lack of concentration leads to many spelling mistakes etc.
I had a student who stuttered quite badly.Lovely young man but he was getting rather self-conscious as he was starting to date.
He went to a Speech Therapist who showed him breathing exercises and many other ways to control his stutter which seemed to have its base in low self esteem .
Well I bumped into him over a year ago and the change was remarkable.

However,I do realise that Menopause is responsible for many physical,emotional and mental torments.

Good Luck with the new 'attitude'!
Please keep us posted
Warm Wishes
Elizabeth

Thank you, Elizabeth! This was an encouraging note.

You see, I made the mistake of looking up adult-onset stuttering and could only find references to horrible diseases that include the big "mental one" (Alzheimer's, dementia, etc.) Since that is my greatest fear these days, I've often gotten spooked by the stuttering.

I'm relieved to know that it can also be brought on by emotional issues (of which I've had many over the past couple of years).

You all are so awesome.

Large hugs to all,

sukie

Oh yea, the joys of the internet. It can scare the you know what our of you. For me it's like it will start, then I get nervous cause it started, and oh boy it's on! This comes for a woman that could been an autioneer, meaning that use to be able to speak like a mile a minute. Personally, I just feel is that we have so much going on in our bodies, and in our subconcious mind, it's like trying to carrying on two conversations at once.

Now I just laugh at it, especially love when my son will say something like where's the snacks, and I will reply oh in the office, I mean bedroom, I mean ahhhhh what's that word, oh yea kitchen cabinet...

Hey just gives me that look ....

Take care sweetie, and blessings on you.

Thank you, Becca233 and all the rest!

I have trouble talking too, it comes out too fast so have to repeat, or its like I've forgot how to talk can't think of right words to say!