Last Updated: Jan 7 2025

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Finding yourself more forgetful? Don’t worry just yet - there are many preventable and reversible causes of memory problems, especially if caught early and fixed.

This article explains how to re-balance your brain to reverse or slow-down memory changes.

We suggest you use this article to start a conversation with your doctor or healthcare provider to address your memory concerns.

For more on how memory problems are diagnosed, read this.

STEP 1: Understand your balance

Memory symptoms happen when the strength of our brain is outweighed by the damage that has accrued over a lifetime.

For the science behind brain balance (also called “cognitive reserve”), read this.

In brief, you can think of the brain like a set of scales, with things that build strength on one side, and things that cause damage on the other.

reversing dementia reversing alzheimer's disease — *Your cognitive reserve is how much strength you build up - and therefore how much damage you can overcome.*

If you’re starting to get memory symptoms, it means that your brain is out of balance - there is either not enough strength or there is too much damage.

The good news is that scales aren’t set in stone - they move!

In 25 - 40% of people with early memory problems the symptoms can be reversed, and in others the symptoms can be slowed down (read the science here, and here.).

The key is to start as soon as possible, and to take the changes that you need to make to your life seriously. Otherwise, memory problems tend to get worse over time.

Download the handout and fill it out to see where you can increase strength and reduce damage, based on your personal circumstances.

STEP 2: Find the cause

Often there are one or two significant sources of damage or lack of strength that tip someone’s balance over the edge, causing symptoms to appear.

You’ll need to fix these first to improve your symptoms.

Here are the 8 BIG causes of reversible memory problems, based on research and clinical experience.

1) Medications

Review your medications with a pharmacist for ones that can cause memory problems. These include things like:

sleeping pills (lorazepam, temazepam, zopiclone)
certain antidepressants like paroxetine or amitriptyline
strong opioids like dilaudid (hydromorphone), oxycodone, etc

Do not stop without the guidance of a healthcare provider, as often these medications need to be slowly reduced to prevent withdrawal symptoms.

You can read this article on which medications to avoid if you’re becoming forgetful.

reversing dementia reversing alzheimer's disease medication — *Some medications can impact your memory, causing forgetfulness.*

2) Alcohol

Reduce your alcohol intake, with the goal of drinking 0 - 1 drinks a day.

If you are drinking more than 3-4 drinks a day, read this article for advice on how to cut down.

reversing dementia reversing alzheimer's disease alcohol — *Alcohol can impact your memory, causing alcohol-related dementia.*

3) Sleep and Sleep Apnea

Ask your doctor for a sleep study to check for sleep apnea if you snore. Read this article for more on sleep apnea.

Improve your overall sleep, even if you do not have sleep apnea. Read this article for more.

A man staring off into the distance — *Read* *Karl's Story* *for how he reversed his memory problems from medications and sleep apnea.*

4) Emotional Health

Consider whether you might be feeling low (sad or depressed), or anxious (on-edge, worried).

This can be particularly noticeable if you are experiecing grief from the loss of a loved one.

Talk to your doctor about therapy, lifestyle, and medication options.

A woman in a pink hat eating watermelon — *Read* *Winnie's Story* *for how memory can improve after depression, grief, and a medication change.*

5) Lack of stimulation

Keep your mind active by:

wearing hearing aids and glasses (if you need them). (Read this)

making plans to see friends, family, or other social groups (Read this)
learn new things and challenge yourself with a new hobby

The old saying “if you don’t use it, you lose it”, is very accurate when it comes to memory and the brain!

reversing dementia reversing alzheimer's disease exercise — *Getting out and doing things with others can help on a number of fronts - social connection, communication, and challenging new experiences.*

6) Poor blood flow

Improve blood flow to the brain by focusing on your heart health - this includes:

exercise (Read this).
a healthy MIND diet (Read this)
smoking cessation (Read this).
managing blood pressure (the top number should be between 120-140)
managing blood sugars (your 3 month average blood sugar, known as your “HbA1C” should be around 7.5%)
managing high cholesterol (your LDL cholesterol level should be less than 3 mmol/L).
maintain a stable weight (don’t lose or gain too much)

Talk to your doctor if you are unsure about your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, or weight targets should be.

7) Repeated falls

Ask for an occupational home safety assessment and physiotherapy referral for fall prevention if you have fallen and hit your head recently.

Even if the fall didn’t result in any “big” damage that made you seek medical attention, recurrent bumps to the head can cause concussions, which themselves can impact memory.

Joining balance exercises like pilates, yoga, and tai chi can also help prevent future falls. You can read other advice for managing falls here.

reversing dementia reversing alzheimer's disease fall prevention — *Preventing falls is important for the brain AND body.*

8) Other medical conditions

In a very small number of people, there are some medical conditions that can impact your memory.

Ask your doctor to check:

CBC, electrolytes, creatinine
Calcium, albumin
TSH, B12
HbA1C (for diabetes)
Other special tests if you are less than 65 or have an unusual story (ask your doctor)
Brain imaging - such as a CT scan or MRI

If any of these tests are very abnormal, your doctor should work with you to bring them back into a normal range.

However, if any of these tests are just slightly abnormal, they probably aren’t the cause of your changes to memory. You can still work with your doctor to bring them back into a normal range for good health, but they aren’t enough to explain your symptoms.

STEP 3: Stay consistent

Your memory likely changed gradually over the years as your brain balance became off-center - it will take time to gradually recover.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see changes overnight. The important thing is to keep going.

However, if your memory problems are coming from medications, alcohol, or sleep apnea, often you can see improvement in as little as 3 month once these issues are fixed.

If your memory problems are coming from heart-health, emotional-health, or lack of stimulation, this can take longer. In some people, you might see an improvement in about 6 months.

In other people, you might not notice an improvement, but you notice that your symptoms aren’t getting any worse. This is still a good thing when it comes to preventing dementia.

The important thing is consistency. For help with staying motivated, read this.

In closing…

Memory problems appear when your brain balance (aka cognitive reserve) is tilted too far to the side of damage, rather than strength.
To fix your balance, you need to fix the underlying cause
8 big, reversible causes include: certain medications, alcohol, poor sleep and sleep apnea, depression or anxiety, poor blood flow from poor heart health, lack of stimulation, and falls causing head injuries, and certain medical conditions.
In about 25-40% of people, memory symptoms can be reversed, and in others the memory loss can still be slowed down.
Stay consistent in your actions - your brain will thank you!

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