[Maggie_S]

Hello everyone, I 'm new to this site.

I've registered because I need to ask you all a question:

I have noticed that I have developed difficulty in getting my fingers to hit the keys in the right order when I type (and sometimes miss letters altogether). This is worse on some days than on others. It is particularly distressing because my job involves teaching/writing, and I have always been an automatically good 'speller' until now. I often don't even seem to be able to see my own mistakes - and typing/writing something takes much longer than it used to.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? And might it be connected to Lupus?

I have been ill for 4 years - diagnosed with rheumatoid at first, but I don't have RF, or joint damage. Now they say it is Lupus/MCTD. I have been taking MTX and prednisolone for nearly a year, and my physical symptoms are much better (except the Raynaud's, which is still bad, and fatigue).

Any answers would really be appreciated

Thank you,
Maggie

 

[pennylp]

Hi Maggie,

First of all I would like to give you a big :welcome: to the site...
There is a ton of information here and a whole lot of support from everyone...
Have you mentioned what is happening to your doctor.... I am not sure if your meds could cause this... There are so many symptoms with this desease...
I am sure one of the girls with much more knowledge than I do will be able help you...

I hope you get the answer you are looking for... Take care and welcome again...

Love Penny

 

[Katharine]

Hello Maggie and welcome

In short, yes, I think this problem is quite common. I too work with words as I am a translator and used to also do in-company training in English.

Brain fog and concentration problems are part of lupus and, for a while, were particularly bad for me. I developed what I call "typing dyslexia". I also have quite painful hands so maybe some of it is physical rather than mental.

I have had to learn to slow down. I used to type very fast but, as you say, I would get the letters out but often in the wrong order or with letters missing. So, now, I type slower and I reread everything even more carefully.

My problems are a lot worse when I'm tired, and of course, we don't always feel we are tired when we have got used to being tired all the time. I would say that, unless you can work on that fatigue in any way then it is a case of adapting and learning to work with it. Obviously, I say that presuming that you don't have any more "serious" brain fog issues and that there is nothing neurological going on.

hope that at least tells you that you're not alone

Katharine

 

[Maggie_S]

Thanks

Thank you both, but Katharine especially - yes, I've thought of this as a kind of dyslexia too. Like you I type very fast and find this VERY frustrating, but I feel a bit better knowing that it has happened to someone else as well.

 

[sjink]

Hi Maggie

This was one of my first symptoms along with the fatigue. I used to type at 80wpm and now some days I stumble along. I think it is, like Katharine said, part of the brain gof --- oops see there I go --- fog or cognitive dysfunction that goes with lupus. I now have to read everything over before I click 'send' or 'print'.

Texting is hardest, as the keypad is smaller and I often send gobbledy **** to friends and family. They are used to me. :lol: And I am used to constantly hitting the backspace or delete keys. Thank goodness for computers.

I also use the wrong words when talking sometimes, or can't find a word. My family laugh still at me calling a greenhouse a briefcase.

Katharine is very right I think when she says we don't recognise being tired. My partner has to tell me sometimes, usually after I have become clumsy, maybe being irritable or tearful, or of course talk nonsense. As Katharine says we get used to being tired all the time.

I see mis-typing as a sign of fatigue or that my hands (which suffer a lot of pain) need a rest. Pacing is important, taking a break every hour even for a few minutes. At work I learnt to nip to the loo so no-one knew, now I am at home I just collapse onto the bed every 45 minutes for 15 minutes rest. I am still fatigued but get a little more done in a day that way.

My rheumy recognises this cognitive dysfunction - they don't know whether it is part of the illness, or a side effect of fatigue. But they do recommend resting more when it is worse. I always know my lupus is flaring a bit when my typing goes out the window and I loose control of the english language :lol:

Hope you are having a good day
you are not on your own with this list. I only joined 24 hours ago and got some real help straight away.
Sara
x

 

[KarolH]

I am new here too and love these people.

They are very helpful and supportive.:wink2::wink2::wink2:

 

[goats]

Hi

hello and welcome to the site. you find you are not alone here in your problems
I have had the same problem for over five years. and tired really causes a lot of it. as I always feel tired I don't know it is happening till I reread what I have typed. or written
I put words into sentences that make no sense,I spell terrible. and I believe I speak worse when people look at me funny

and trying to do problem solving or any type of math, is almost impossible some days.
typing here takes forever as I have to keep checking. when I am in chat.I dont worry about it, otherwise it would take forever to have a conversation.

my rheumy and neuro say I don't have cns. they say meds or fatique.
I think our brains and body have enough to cope with lupus and the rest gets forgotten. so as long as we are not a danger to ourselves I just let it be. But with working it must be frusterating.
rest often with your eyes closed might help, over stimulation might also be a problem

 

[Marshmellow]

I have found Dragon dicate voice recognition software an enormous help when working (I'm a research student at Uni) I had it provided for me since I am considered disabled so am not sure how much it costs but it is worth investigating
Rachel x

 

[nicky00]

Yes Maggie, I do also have problems with typing as you described.

It can actually look as if my keyboard is stuck ( eg I just wrote tuck instead of stuck).

The letters can be jumbled or transposed or backwards.

All I know is that I never had this problem before Lupus.

The state of my typing is fine if Im feeling generally fine. Generally anyway.

As things became more under control with medication so did my typing.

Good luck

Nicky

 

[sjink]

On a slightly silly note... maybe they could give typing tests as one of the diagnostic tests for lupus. Sorry - getting ready for my lupus clinic tomorrow and getting on the edge of silly here. Mind you it would be as good a ttest as some of the weird ones they give you in neurology departments.
Sara

 

[Joandublin]

Hi Maggie

Im another one with typing problems over the past few years. I was a very fast and accurate typist - I have certs for 100wpm and I know I got even faster since I did those tests.

However over the last couple of years I have had to slow down considerably. I keep hitting the wrong keys and sometimes hitting two keys together and at other times I miss out letters. I think its because my hands are sometimes sore and sensitive so I must be hitting keys with different pressure - and sometimes that pressure must be too light.

The very odd thing is that sometimes I type words and leave out whole chunks (I just typed somes instead of sometimes and I could have sworn I typed the letters time in there) The other thing that happens is that I type words almost right e.g. I will type considerable instead of considerably and things like that. Those ones are the hardest to correct because a spell check wont pick them up. I have to re-read everything I type for these kind of mistakes.

My typing problem gets much worse if I am tired or feeling unwell but its there to some degree all of the time.

Luv n stuff
Joan:rose:

 

[LolaLola]

Hello and Welcome to our Newcomers.
Anyone who has been in the Chat Room with me will tell you I type like I am wearing Boxing Gloves!
It is frustrating but at least here we all understand it. Also I am such a baby with the Mobile phone I have to have a really simple one and even then I look at it as if it will explode. Still haven't managed much punctuation on it when texting.
x Lola

 

[LBH]

Welcome!

I guess you can add me to the list! I too get spurts of the same thing that comes and goes. One day I am typing great and the next day I am typing horribly! Pleasure meeting you!:hehe:

 

[cad]

Hi Maggie,
yes i too have noticed definate roblem now with typing and writing. You can see it if you look at most of my posts!!
I have also been forgetting words taht i would have been familiar with and names of objects and things. Spelling ghas also become more of a challenge to me. I have always very articulate grammaticly but i can definately notice a change in this more recently.
It is frustrating, i am going to mention it to rheumy next time i go.


Cassie

 

[Maggie_S]

OK - thanks everyone. This is a huge help - I'm an academic, so this is a big issue for me. Lots of things in all these responses resonate with me, and make me feel, if not better then at least that I am not mad! I used to make mistakes with typing before - but nothing like this - sometimes I have to type the same sentence or phrase over and over - backspace and delete are becoming my favourites too (as someone else here said!) , letters get missed and words come out wrong. I have to concentrate so hard on typing that I can't remember what to write!

and yes - I have had to correct this post several times already:worried::lol:


I'll mention it when I see the rheumatologist and see what she says....

 

[cad]

Hi Maggie,
As you'v pro ably noticed i don't even bother correcting anymore, it takes so long!!

:lol: :lol:

Cassie

 

[Jirel]

My biggest problem lately has been typing thing instead of think. Its very frustrating! And I'm not a fast typer. Most of the problems seem to be in my left hand. I also have two fingers that will occaisionally spasm and just jump up and down over the keyboard. I find pushing on them makes them quit.

 

[Jenkay]

I don't type as much as I did when I use to work but I had significant issues typing. By the time the word went from my brain to my hands (even if I whispered to myself what I should be typing), my hands would type a different word.

It actually just happened above but I went back and fixed it. I think the more fatigued you are the worse it gets.

Jen

 

[sjink]

HI
As a point of interest, I type badly when typing my original work, thoughts etc. But if I do any copy typing it is really accurate. Obviously some difference in brain function between the two I would think.
Sara

 

[Maggie_S]

That's interesting about the copytyping - that used to be when I would make mistakes, which didn't happen when I was typing my own stuff. Now there is no difference between the two - and typing my own words is just as likely to produce gobbledygook.... (or maybe I was always writing rubbish!:lol