# Abilities you seem tto have suddenly lost. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-seem-tto-have-suddenly-lost/760064 "2016-07-16T18:22:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-seem-tto-have-suddenly-lost/760064/41 "2016-07-20T01:13:07Z")
Suddenly, I can’t go down stairs unless they have a railing. I went to a ball game in the spring. Our seats were in the top row, where we entered from the bottom. Since there was no railing, I had to ask my son to let me lean on his shoulder. Peripheral neuropathy is the apparent reason. I cannot get up from most chairs without using my arms to hoist me. On the other hand, my ability to do mental arithmetic is unchanged. I can still multiply two random three digit numbers in my head. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-seem-tto-have-suddenly-lost/760064/42 "2016-07-20T02:10:29Z")
Can’t hit the high notes anymore. Had the flu one winter and now I can’t hit the high notes when singing along to the radio. I used to be able to say “snuggle” just like that commercial bear, nope, no more. ---
**Author:** ![Parthol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-seem-tto-have-suddenly-lost/760064/43 "2016-07-20T04:15:57Z")
I’ve got a weird one. I can no longer be submerged in water without water going up my nose, causing me to feel as though I’m drowning. When I was a kid, that was never a problem. I never even thought about it. I could swim around underwater for as long as I could hold my breath. Then, one time, in my early 30’s, I jumped into a pool and water shot straight up my nose; I struggled to the surface and spent a good minute or two coughing. And it’s been that way ever since. If my head goes underwater, I have to hold my nose to keep the water out. Did some subtle shift take place in my nasal passages? I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/and_his_buzzer_goes/32/377_2.png) [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_his_buzzer_goes)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-seem-tto-have-suddenly-lost/760064/44 "2016-07-20T07:57:24Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > This one happened quite a while ago: > > I lost my fearlessness of heights. As a kid, I climbed anything and everything I could. I’d be 40 feet up a Doug fir where the top could barely hold my weight without bending over and loving it. > > Sometime in my late 20s or early 30s I lost it. Then I’d only edge up to sharp drop-offs and take a quick peek before backing off. Don’t like going up very high on an extension ladder, etc. > > I think it was a fairly quick transition because I really noticed it when it changed. I’m having the same feeling as well. Narrow mountaintrails or something are not a problem, but walkway bridges and things are no longer pleasant. A few years ago we were at a lookout point with grate style flooring on the outside. My son was looking down and yelling: “look how high it is, daddy !”. “Yes, I can see that from here as well”. :o ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-seem-tto-have-suddenly-lost/760064/45 "2016-07-20T15:30:18Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Suddenly, I can’t go down stairs unless they have a railing … Peripheral neuropathy is the apparent reason. Stairs are slowly becoming more of a vestibular (?) challenge for me, too. I didn’t realize there might be a specific physical cause (aside from “gettin’ old” ☹ ) – gotta look into that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-seem-tto-have-suddenly-lost/760064.md?page=2)