People my age are really scared about their memory. So let me share some of my experiences so maybe it won’t be quite so scary for you. And even younger people may find its not so scary when they have memory lapses.

So I think my first memory lapses had to do with racing thoughts and a diagnosis of, well first, schizophrenia, secondly, uh, manic depression, and then affective disorder, uh, I think they gave up on what to call it.

So what my internal medicine doctor and I learned was that I was saving more copper than I should from what I ate and what I was drinking. Because I had a copper bottom tea kettle that become too hot and it was leaking, visibly leaking copper into the water that I was drinking. Agh!

So that should have been for a nurse, whew, a big No-No in the first place. Even my children commented on it, and I said, “Oh, well, the kidneys will sort it out.” Heh! Well, the kidneys may have tried, but it was a 24 hour urine test that helped the doctor and I realize what was happening.

And I had to take extra zinc, still a little bit of copper to make sure I didn’t get too much zinc, and I think I took molybdenum for a while to drive the copper levels down.

Well, the next think that was happening that caused me to have memory problems was hypothyroid. I was showing within the normal limits of most of the tests, but when they did a Free T-3 test they discovered, “Nope, she’s not making T-3 like she should.”

So, then I went on levothyroxine and even Cytomel. But seemed to have a really, up and down, kinda uncomfortable, uh, trip you might say. Eventually I found a doctor who was willing to use Armour thyroid and its been much smoother since then.

Okay, so two things, in my history, that affected my memory was excess copper and low T-3 from my thyroid in my body, i wasn’t making enough T-3. So, the next time that I began to notice that I was having a hard time in finding words and remembering things, where I put them, and things like that…

I discovered something on the internet that said a doctor in the east, a neurologist, was recommending phosphatidylserine and finding that it helped his patients, So my doctor and I decided if they were recommending that, I would start it. So I started taking 100 mg. 3 times a week. Eventually I went up to every day, because every time that I found my memory wasn’t quite what I want it to be, I would increase that.

Eventually, I didn’t know how much I could take of that, but I read something about a supplement, used in Japan I believe, from a mushroom called Lion’s Mane. and the mushroom actually looks like a lion and a lion’s mane. It’s really pretty cute. so I ordered that and did not realize that it also had 100 mg phyphatidylserine in it. so then I was taking 200 mg. at different times of the day.

So those are the two things that have been very helpful to me. Now what started me on trying to get you some information about memory and some of the things that help with memory were some of the advertisements  about Prevagen. I was just really amazed to find out that Prevagen has one component from jellyfish and when they tested it, according to an article in the National Institute for Health, it helped people who already had good memories, but it didn’t help people whose memorys were failing them.

So its a pretty expensive medication, you might want to try some of these other products that are helpful for memory.

I want to give you two more lists, one is from healthreview.com website. and they list a number of supplements that they say have been shown to improve memory in people. Some of these will be duplicates of what you have already listed. But anyway, they include Bacopa Monniere, ginkgo biloba, DMAE with bitartrate, Taurine which is high in cottage cheese, acetyl L carnitine, L glutamate, and B12 which is best absorbed under your tongue, sublingually.

Their preferred product was Neuronol. It’s not one theIts manufactured by a different company, But Neuronol has all those ingredients except B12 which is best taken under the tongue. It also has caffeine in it.

The other list is from Bangkok hospital.com. They list fish oil, particularly DHA and the sources of salmon, tuna,  mackerel and sardines. Ginkgo biloba extract, choline bitartrate (important for cell membranes and production of neurotransmitters), acetyl choline, and then one I’m not familiar with at all, Gamma Oryzanol which raises level of neurotransmitters in the Central Nervous System and also promotes mood relaxation and restful sleep, L-Theanine, i think that’s in green tea (and higher amounts in black tea) It helps with sleep and increases levels of serotonin, dopamine and gaba, known as an anxiolytic (reduces anxiety). Phosphatidylserine, 

Inositol I don’t think i mentioned before, is considered part of the Vitamin B Complex but is not usually found in the B vitamins–it has a role in the nervous system and fat metabolism–it helps in producing healthy cells, bone marrow and cell membrane production and the myeline sheath for the covering of your nerves…its also important for hair growth (I think I need to increase mine).

Ginseng Extract, Soy Lecithin composed of phosphatidylcholine, (and phosphatidylserine) improves memory and learning ability, it also helps reduce the risk of gall stones and improves liver function, research shows it helps improve brain function and can prevent dementia, amazing!

They list L-Carnitine L-Tartrate which is important in acetylcholine production, then Vitamin C that plays an important role in the body–needed to maintain the health of the skin, cartilage, teeth, bone and blood vessels, also used to protect your body cells from damage, helps regulate body temperature and hormonal production, How about that.

Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin E DL-AlphaTocopherol Acetate,and then lastly they list Vitamin B Complex. Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) is a therapeutic agent for neuropathy and Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) hekos convert food into energy, Vitamin B3 (Niacin) helps enzymes in the body function properly and helps them use the other B vitamins, Vitamin B5 promotes digestive system and healthy skin, Vitamin B6 involves the immune system and brain development. It aids in the formation of neurotransmitters and it is required for the function of red blood cells and DNA its important for protein metabolism.

So I wanted to give you these which uh, the last one was a new source for me. I’m always glad to find something new that is helpful to people. I will follow this section up with further news to some of the other things that are being used as supplements for memory.

It was a young psychology student who was working part time at Prairie View Mental Health Hospital in Newton, Kansas, who came up with the idea of copper accumulation. and he brought a flashlight to work and shinned it in my eyes and had me look into the mirror and sure enough I could see around the outside of my iris a ring of little copper flecks. I believe that’s called a Fleischer ring. So it wasn’t that I was so smart about that, but when I told my internist, he was the one then that went ahead and did the diagnostic 24 hour urine test order that helped us figure that out. So I just wanted to clarify that.

Now for other things that can help you in your search for memory, I have a note here that says Water is amazing. It improves your brain function, improves your mood, your memory, your energy, your constipation, and your fatigue.

People in the older age group usually don’t feel thirsty and don’t drink enough water. I think some of the brain shrinkage we see in CT scans of older people may e due partly to inadequate water intake. So drink your 8 glasses of water a day, or 9 if you can do it. I try to do nine.

Grapefruit juice, cherry juice, seltzer, all those are additional ways, but if you drink coffee, they are asking you to drink one extra cup of water for every cup of coffee.

Okay, Dr. Dale Bredesen, is a neurologist and has either a blog or a pod broadcast, on improving memory and he has a product that he says improves working memory 27% in 90 days and the name of that is NeuroQ.

When I looked at the National Institutes of Health for products, supplements, that improve memory, there was, uh, maybe some confusing information, but they did mention things like Huperazine A, its been used with Alzheimer’s with doses of 50 to 200 micrograms twice a day. If the person is not Alzheimer’s but is what you call pre-senile memory problems they used 30 micrograms, did I say say micrograms before? 50 to 200 micrograms twice a day. And if its less serious memory problems, 30 micrograms twice a day.

Back to the Institute of Health again. they say if you use Vitamin E over 400 IU a day that it contributes to heart failure. So be careful about that. Now for omega 3 fatty acids. That’s DHA and EPA. Very important. Your brain has fat in it and needs to have have fat in it, so those are good fats. Anti-Oxidants–Vitamin E, and remember that warning about Vitamin E, over 400 units, don’t go any higher than that. It has been shown helpful for eyes, but please be careful to not take more than you think you are when you are using multiple sources of supplements. Vitamin C and multivitamins seem to help prevent people from having excessive memory problems. Folate, called B9, they like to have 400 units of that a day.

Ginkgo Biloba has been studied extensively and most short term studies don’t show much difference. When it come to 5 years that a person has been using Ginkgo Biloba, than those people do show that they have less memory problems than people who have not been taking it.

Vitamin D–for awhile was people were advocating high doses of Vitamin D, but more recently they are asking you to contain your intake to 1000 IU or less a day.

Vitamin A is another one. I notice if I get more than 2500 IU/day, that sometimes is too much and gives me joint pain.

Phosphatidylserine has been studied and used. Phosphatidyl choline is very important, has to do with memory and muscle and energy, very important. Panax  Ginsing is another one of the things that has been used particularly in oriental medicine.

Another that I’d like to mention is Rhodiola Rosea, Green Tea, and then there are three others that I’m not familiar with and have not seen them in other products. they are not used in Chinese medicine.

The latest thing that I’ve found has been people adding St. John’s Wort to their memory supplements. Uh, the problem is the study that precipitated the addition used a special kind of St. John’s Wort extract. And I don’t think that kind if commercialy available yet and nothing I could find said what dosage to use so I am a little concerned about adding St John’s Wort although it has been used in depression and shown to be helpful there, but adding it for memory alone, I’m not sure that is helpful. If depression is part of the memory problem, it probably would be helpful.

 One of the doctors that I like to follow is Dr. Russell Blaylock and he has something he calls “brain age breakthrough” he like to take for himself as a preventive. And it has Ginkgo Biloba in it, Bacopa Monnierri, phosphatidylserine,(back to Bacopa Monnieri, he says that it showed statistically improvement in speed of visual information processing, learning rate, and memory after three months. And he thought was helpful in learning and in memory. it has Huperazine A in it, derived from a Chinese club moss and has benefits to the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, those are the chemicals that go between the different neurons in the brain across the connections. And it also reduces inflammation, reduces those free radicals. And if you are one of those people who has been taking iron and its been accumulating in the brain, that happens sometimes and its not good. Huperazine A is thought to help with that problem. Dimethylaminoethanol, DMAE, is another one of the ingredients in his product. You can get it in anchovies and sardines. Its supposed to speed up acetylcholine in the brain and stabilizes the cell membranes. What he calls this product is CRESCO.

I will mention on the hypothyroid, where you don’t have enough Free T3, if you’re not eating enough, and a lot of older people don’t have much appetite and don’t eat enough, that can decrease your Free T3! And I think that will cut down on your memory.

So please eat your, at least the 5 fruits and vegetables that are recommended for each day, along with whatever meat and carbohydrates you want to add to it. 

I want to insert here some information about B12, because it is very important. If you don;t hae enough it can cause things like anemia, and uh loss of balance, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs and weakness. People that are apt to be low in B12 are people over the age of 50, many of whom are like me and don’t have enough hydrochloric acid in their stomach to help with the absorption. And that’s basically why I take the sub-lingual type to try to get better absorption.

People who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet tend to be low because B12 is mostly in animal products.If you’ve have stomach of intestinal surgery for weight loss or some other disease or if you have digestive conditions such as Celiac’s disease or Chrone’s disease are apt to have deficiency in vitamin B12. The amount of Vitamin B12 that we need is not so great, it’s just that we don’t absorb very much very well. But can you take too much? There have been some recent studies that do indicate that you can take too much. People who were pregnant and were taking Vitamin B12 to excess ended up having more autistic children. And people who are either type I or type II Diabetics with advanced kidney disease have problems with high dose Vitamin B Complex that includes high dose of Vitamin B12 and that was harmful to them.

There’s also been some concern about an increased of colorectal cancer and lung cancer for people who are taking high doses of Vitamin B12, Back to people who have trouble absorbing B12, If you are on Prevacid, Prilosec or Metformin, strict vegetarians or alcohol or drug abuser, or recovering from surgery or burns, People with bowel or pancreatic cancer, the supplement is really recommended. There’s a question as to whether we really need the high doses that you find in most of the supplemental products.

While talking about the B vitamins, I want to mention that Niacin B3–there’s a couple versions of niacin, niacinamide and nicotinic acid, that can cause higher blood sugars, so if you’re taking high doses of that, and sometimes as one of my doctors advised that I take niacin for high blood pressure at one point to help lower it and some doctors order it to help lower the level of cholesterol. So careful  if you have blood sugar issues if you are taking some form of niacin, Vitamin B3. It may raise your blood sugar and having high blood sugar is dangerous over the long run. 

So here’s a blessing for you, a book that I just finished reading that was recommended on one of the United Methodist Insight articles. It’s called “SOZO” by, lets see, let’s get the author’s name up here, Dwana De Silva and Teresa Liebscher. Uh, their main point is that we really so need to have a good solid connection with God. God as our Father, God as our Savior in Jesus Christ and God that lives in us–the Holy Spirit. And so they have, actually exercises that you can use to help you improve your connections with God in these three different aspects of God-self. So again, Evelyn Maxwell with Wholistic Health Education wishing you a wonderful day, evening, night or whatever time you happen to be reading. Soon you can find the 2 videos with captions on my youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuE2bceZjBSWJuY5g6npZsQ This information is not provided to diagnose or treat any ailment, but is provided only as public education.