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I'm 47 yrs old and I can't spell anymore.

popmom

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popmom

popmom

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Has anyone else experienced this? Is it just me? Should I be concerned?

 

I used to be an excellent speller, and nowadays I'm constantly having to Google words to make sure I'm spelling them correctly. For example tonight I typed dispair instead of despair. I didn't catch it until I reread what I typed, and I didn't even know for sure that I had spelled it wrong until I looked it up. Five years ago I would have never messed that up. 

 

My mom complains she has no short term memory since she hit menopause, but this is different. And I'm technically not in menopause yet. Close, but not there yet.

 

I was never really thoroughly taught the rules of spelling--as in the way it's taught in something like The Writing Road to Reading.  If I had learned the rules, I probably wouldn't be having this problem. I've just always been a naturally good speller--didn't need to know the rules. I think I need to dig that book back out and educate myself. ;)

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Guinevere

Guinevere

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I'm younger, and haven't experienced this.  I did get a concussion a few months ago, and that caused me to struggle with spelling.  I still find difficulty writing a word in all capital letters.  It's a strange feeling.  It is much worse if I'm tired or hungry.  

 

I know that's not particularly helpful, but I saw you had 20 views and no comments.  I didn't want to be another "look and run."

 

I imagine you should check the basics: enough rest, b vitamins, thyroid, etc.  

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popmom

popmom

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You're probably in perimenopause, and the hormone changes can cause mental fog like one gets when pregnant. I don't think that it's considered a sign of dementia or anything like that, if that's what you're concerned about.

 

Yeah, I don't have any other troubling signs of dementia. I'm not terribly worried about that. But this is a fairly recent thing with me and very, very annoying. Hormones are powerful. At least I'm hoping it's just hormones.

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popmom

popmom

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I'm younger, and haven't experienced this.  I did get a concussion a few months ago, and that caused me to struggle with spelling...  

 

I know that's not particularly helpful, but I saw you had 20 views and no comments.  I didn't want to be another "look and run."

 

 

 

Ha ha! Thanks for the pity comment! lol :) Actually it's very interesting that a concussion would affect you similarly. I do feel slightly brain damaged. But only on spelling. Otherwise my memory is fine. I just cannot spell anymore. Easy words--yes--but anything remotely tricky--I have to look it up.

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popmom

popmom

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Well, Google is my friend. I found an article that mentions this very thing.

 

" Or when you realize that you, once a champion speller, aren't so sure anymore how to spell "potato" or "forty." "

 

The above describes me--perfectly! So I'm not alone. lol  She's saying it's definitely perimenopause. (Y'all don't know how long I had to pause to make sure I was spelling "definitely" correctly. Is it right? Spell check says I spelled perimenopause wrong, so I don't know if I can trust it.)

 

 

 

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popmom

popmom

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Yep. I am post menopausal- not sure if that coincided with losing my ability to spell-but I am definitely feeling embarrassed now about my years of feeling annoyed and judgmental about other people's spelling mistakes!

 

 

Same! Thank you! I used to be so not understanding of people who couldn't spell! I just couldn't comprehend...now I do. It's SO BIZARRE. Is bizarre spelled right? 'Cause I don't know anymore... I'm off to go look it up. Seriously.

 

And then I'm going to bed because lack of sleep surely won't help matters.

 

I've just never ever heard of this being a symptom of menopause or perimenopause, and it's so very annoying. But it has to be my hormones. I haven't started any new medications or anything like that. Anyway, the struggle is real. 

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Sarah CB

Sarah CB

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Well, Google is my friend. I found an article that mentions this very thing.

 

" Or when you realize that you, once a champion speller, aren't so sure anymore how to spell "potato" or "forty." "

 

The above describes me--perfectly! So I'm not alone. lol  She's saying it's definitely perimenopause. (Y'all don't know how long I had to pause to make sure I was spelling "definitely" correctly. Is it right? Spell check says I spelled perimenopause wrong, so I don't know if I can trust it.)

 

I am not impressed. I've noticed the same thing. Not every day, just every once in a while I either catch a misspelling or I know I'm not sure how to spell the word. And I was someone who always knew how to spell. I'm an excellent speller.

 

Plus, I am only 40! Definitely not ready for any menopause related conversations. 

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Pawz4me

Pawz4me

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Yep, I'm 54 (almost 55) and seemed to lose a lot of my ability to spell about ten or so years ago. Google was (and still frequently is) my friend.

 

The good news is that my ability to remember how to spell words has returned somewhat. The bad news is that now my eyes can't always see well enough to accurately read what I've typed or written. ;) :(

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plansrme

plansrme

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Remember Ann Landers, advice columnist? I read something by her decades ago in which she said—well before the internet—that reading misspelled letters from readers day in and day out had adversely affected her spelling. People spell or type so abysmally these days, and we read it so much on social media, as opposed to the old days when nearly everything we read was professionally produced. I definitely find that affecting me, and I also was a champion speller in my youth.

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Sarah CB

Sarah CB

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Remember Ann Landers, advice columnist? I read something by her decades ago in which she said—well before the internet—that reading misspelled letters from readers day in and day out had adversely affected her spelling. People spell or type so abysmally these days, and we read it so much on social media, as opposed to the old days when nearly everything we read was professionally produced. I definitely find that affecting me, and I also was a champion speller in my youth.

 

I like that explanation much better. And it makes a lot of sense. When reading books, we are seeing the correct spellings all the time, but when you add in the internet and texting it means we're seeing wrong spellings a lot of the time. I can see how those spellings would infiltrate.

 

I'm going with this. It's all your fault, internet. 

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Paige

Paige

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I’d want to rule out any medical issue. Mental decline shouldn’t be accepted as normal female aging at such a young age. It may be common around the age of perimenopause, but that doesn’t make it normal. There’s lots of other issues that can come up at the same time.

 

I was having fuzzy thinking: poor spelling, getting briefly lost on the road, and blanking out on simple math problems about 2 years ago. I finally found a doctor to listen. He ran some tests, gave me Vit D and some thyroid meds and I’ve felt much more like myself since.

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Guest

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Same! Thank you! I used to be so not understanding of people who couldn't spell! I just couldn't comprehend...now I do. It's SO BIZARRE. Is bizarre spelled right? 'Cause I don't know anymore... I'm off to go look it up. Seriously.

 

And then I'm going to bed because lack of sleep surely won't help matters.

 

I've just never ever heard of this being a symptom of menopause or perimenopause, and it's so very annoying. But it has to be my hormones. I haven't started any new medications or anything like that. Anyway, the struggle is real.

To the bolded, let me just say before I was in perimenopause, I clearly had only the Cliff Notes/brochure version of info on things that are common in perimenopause. There have been several things I have only learned are common hormonal symptoms when I started comparing notes with my friends here or IRL. For example, I did not know that many women experience the hermit phase: an intense reluctance to go out and to not be called upon to be going out a lot. I also didn’t know a lot of people become noise intolerant. And I never was much of a food craver until recently.

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Pawz4me

Pawz4me

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I’d want to rule out any medical issue. Mental decline shouldn’t be accepted as normal female aging at such a young age. It may be common around the age of perimenopause, but that doesn’t make it normal. There’s lots of other issues that can come up at the same time.

 

I was having fuzzy thinking: poor spelling, getting briefly lost on the road, and blanking out on simple math problems about 2 years ago. I finally found a doctor to listen. He ran some tests, gave me Vit D and some thyroid meds and I’ve felt much more like myself since.

 

That's a very good point. The decline in my ability to spell started a couple of years before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. And a low thyroid brain is . . . not a well functioning one.

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popmom

popmom

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OP here. Very interesting comments. I haven't started any new medications, but I do take a low dose of an anti anxiety med every night. I need to check to see if that could be causing it. I've taken it for several years though.

 

I never considered that it could be my thyroid. I'll see about getting that checked at my annual in a couple of months. 

 

Interesting to thing that reading all the poor spelling on social media, etc. could be causing it. I can see that being part of the problem. It's a curious thing--I'm still mostly able to pick out spelling mistakes when I'm reading stuff on social media/internet. Just like I found my own when I reread "dispair". But when I go to type or write something, I can't recall the spelling. 

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creekland

creekland

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I think this sort of stuff happens far more than most people realize.  I was told to expect things after brain radiation - memory lapses in all sorts of things, including spelling, switching words, forgetting words I want, etc, and when I apologize for these things to non-radiation (or chemo) affected similar aged peers, I always get told not to worry.  They do those things too.  So now we just laugh about it and I tell people they can pick old age or radiation to blame - whichever they want.

 

Yesterday I had my first incident with slurring words coming very shortly (same conversation) as really working to get the correct words I wanted out to say to kids - at school - in a math class - teaching word problems.  That wasn't fun.  (sigh)  I'm blaming it on being the last class of the day (with very little break).  Perhaps the lung issues I'm having investigated at the end of this month will be responsible in some way, shape, or fashion.  That's what I'm blaming it on anyway.

 

I've only got your age beat by three years.  I notice tons of typos in my posts when I re-read them (later).  I see none when typing and rereading on the spot.  I share your frustration.  The vast majority of my posts have edits in them.  99% of those edits are fixing typos I just didn't see when I re-read before posting.

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KungFuPanda

KungFuPanda

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When my mother or I go senile, no one will ever know. Our forgetfulness is legendary from a young age. My 93-year old grandmother is not similarly afflicted. We drive her nuts. Now that she lives with Mom, Mom just tells Mamaw where she puts everything so that Mamaw can tell her where it is later. My family asks ME where things are and that's NEVER been a good system. I'm convinced it's cyclical with me. Some weeks I'm a rock star and some weeks I stare at my son's middle name and wonder if I spelled it correctly. I'm worse post-forty . . . like, the minute I turned 40. I'm sure part of this is that I care less and don't try so hard. 😂

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ElizabethB

ElizabethB

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You could work through my Syllables program with your two youngest to improve everyone’s spelling and possibly reading speed. It has some writing and word root activities in he second half.

 

My,spelling greatly improved after a few years of tutoring when I learned all the phonics and rules I had not learned in school, they are all in a file in my Syllables program.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/syllablesspellsu.html

 

You could also watch through my spelling lesson movies on your own.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Spelling/spellinglessonsl.html

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Tanaqui

Tanaqui

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On the one hand, hormonal changes can definitely affect brain function. Somebody upthread mentioned pregnancy, we've also all seen this with our own kids as they go through puberty.

 

On the other hand, new neurological symptoms should always be taken seriously. Keep a record of any sign of possible declining mental function, no matter how trivial, and after a month or two go to the doctor. It could be nothing, but it could be something - and it might be treatable! It won't do any harm to make an extra visit. Best case scenario, it's all very normal and the doctor rolls her eyes about it after you leave.

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  • 3 years later...
Maddie

Maddie

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This happened to me to!!!  I'm also 47.  It is soooooo frustrating.  Also, it takes just a bit longer for things to "click" or "dawn" on me.  I am very smart (yes, I'm tooting my own horn), but this is very humbling.

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Tap

Tap

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I am dyslexic. But I notice the more tired and stressed I am, the worse I spell.  I spelled 'name' ....'naim' the other day. 🤣🤣🤣 When simple words become my victims, I know I am wayyyyy over taxed. My mistakes usually make me laugh because they are physical manifestation of my mental state. The bad errors are always a relief. It always validates what I feel on the inside. HAHA

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popmom

popmom

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6 hours ago, Katy said:

To some extent, it's the result of doing 95% of your writing into an electronic device with automatic spell check.  Your brain doesn't have to worry about it anymore because it isn't that important.

No it’s not. Most of the time when I’m typing a challenging word, I can’t even get enough typed to get spell check to kick in. That’s pretty bad. And like the poster above—I’m smart. Never ever struggled w spelling before peri menopause.

Also, I can’t believe it’s been 3 years since I started this thread! I was definitely dx post menopausal the following year. Im 50 now. I’m not better, but I’m not worse.

im glad to know it’s not just me. 

Also...THE HERMIT PHASE coinciding with the pandemic. I never want to interact socially with anyone outside my immediate family EVER AGAIN. 😭

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Ausmumof3

Ausmumof3

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On 11/18/2017 at 11:01 PM, Quill said:

To the bolded, let me just say before I was in perimenopause, I clearly had only the Cliff Notes/brochure version of info on things that are common in perimenopause. There have been several things I have only learned are common hormonal symptoms when I started comparing notes with my friends here or IRL. For example, I did not know that many women experience the hermit phase: an intense reluctance to go out and to not be called upon to be going out a lot. I also didn’t know a lot of people become noise intolerant. And I never was much of a food craver until recently.

Maybe I’m experiencing super early menopause then...

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Ausmumof3

Ausmumof3

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8 hours ago, Katy said:

To some extent, it's the result of doing 95% of your writing into an electronic device with automatic spell check.  Your brain doesn't have to worry about it anymore because it isn't that important.

I realise this isn’t the case for the OP but I believe this to be true.  Pathways get rusty when not used all the time.

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Carrie12345

Carrie12345

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I vividly remember about 2 years ago, freezing because I couldn’t be sure how to spell forty!!

Definitely lots of glitches over here. I was an excellent speller who learned even more using AAS with the kids. And now I look up words and sometimes even stump autocorrect.

(I’m about to be 44.)

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  • 1 year later...
Lucretia

Lucretia

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I am so glad to have stumbled onto this post! I recently turned 50, am a professional writer and have been noticing the misspelling of words and even writing similar but wrong words - this has been horrifying and profoundly disturbing to me. I have also been experiencing moments when I know what I want to say but cannot seem to get the words out of my mouth - kind of like marbles in my mouth. I'm having a bunch of neuro tests but I feel like hormones might be the culprit. Taking HRT is not an option due to family history so I need to find another way to sort this out. Thank you for sharing.

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