Alzheimer's at 43 - BUT I REFUSED TO GIVE UP

When Anita Goundry started forgetting simple words and losing her way home, she knew it was more sinister than the menopause

- ASHLEIGH PAGE

An Alzheimer’s or dementia diagnosis is never an easy one to accept. It’s filled with uncertainty for the future, worry for your family and sadness for the person you once were and the memories you might lose. But for me, as well as all these emotions, my diagnosis came, surprisingly, with relief.

I began to struggle with my memory around 2013 when I was 43. A forgotten word here, a tea gone cold there – nothing too serious – but soon I was finding myself catching buses and not knowing where I was when I disembarked. I had a partner and two children and my personality changes were putting pressure on us all.

I was working in a pub while studying for a degree in social work and I struggled to count the right change or pour the right drinks. It was bizarre and worrying but a visit to the doctor resulted in it being put down to depression.

Confused, I knew that wasn’t right. I didn’t feel sad or suicidal, I was struggling with my memory. But years later I was still fighting for answers, getting nowhere, and my mental health was now suffering. My memory loss was accompanied by poor vision, lack of spatial awareness and poor balance.

Anxiety, hormone imbalance, perimenopause – doctors threw different diagnoses at me but none of them seemed to fit. I was only in my 40s, I was sure that the menopause wasn’t causing this.

Huge changes With no answers and no improvement, I quit my job in the pub, meaning that my family of four was living on one income. It was incredibly tough and my relationship struggled. Along with the confusion, I often felt angry and my family couldn’t understand why my personality had changed so drastically.