I thought I was forgetful after having a baby…  but my life was turned upside down when I was  diagnosed with DEMENTIA at just 46

Staci Marklin thought running around after her toddler was sapping her physical and mental energy—but in reality, the 46-year-old’s forgetfulness was a symptom of dementia. 

Ms Marklin, now 47,  was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s last year, when her son, Gunnar, was only two-years-old.

The former nurse, living in Knoxville, Tennessee, initially put her slight memory loss down to her pregnancy and post-partum ‘mum brain’.

But, as time went on, she started to have more and more difficulty in finding her words and a brain scan led to her diagnosis.

Ms Marklin, a former hospice nurse, said: ‘It’s hard to say when the symptoms actually started because I was having them when I was pregnant and post-partum with my son.

‘I initially brushed the forgetfulness on pregnancy and postpartum mum brain.

‘I would say stuff like “move the carpet” instead of “move the curtain”.

‘It’s such a hard thing to believe at such a young age.’

Because of a history of dementia in her family—her grandmother had had Alzheimer’s—she sought reassurance from her doctor, who told her that it was unlikely she had the memory-robbing disease.  

Dementia is Britain’s biggest killer, and there are around 944,000 people in the UK living with the condition, and around 7million in the US. 

There are several types of dementia, but the most common is Alzheimer’s Disease which affects around six in 10 people diagnosed with the condition.

Around one in every 13 people with Alzheimer’s are under the age of 65.

Memory loss isn’t the only warning sign, with experts previously highlighting a string of behavioural changes which should ring alarm bells, including becoming more short tempered, different eating habits, and in younger people, heavy drinking.

Ms Marklin said: ‘I told her I was nervous about Alzheimer’s because my grandmother had it.

‘She said it would be rare at my age.’

But nearly two years after giving birth to her son, Ms Marklin’s symptoms were getting worse and worse.

‘I forget my son’s birthday frequently,’ she said.

‘I find anything that is mildly new to me is easy to forget.

‘As soon as someone asks me something I don’t know, there’s this intense fear.’

Her symptoms began to also affect her working life.

She said: ‘There would be times when things would just disappear from my brain.

‘Someone once asked me about a co-worker, and I had absolutely no idea who they were talking about.

‘I could tell it was someone I should know by the way they were talking.

‘It was a few days later when I realised it was a co-worker that I had worked really closely with.’

Ms Marklin underwent a series of tests where her MRIs, EEG and blood tests initially came back as normal.

But further tests revealed she had high blood markers indicative of Alzheimer’s disease.

She was officially diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in October 2024 after an amyloid PET scan revealed amyloid plaques in her brain.

She said: ‘By the time I was getting these tests, I had already stopped working and I knew something was wrong.’

Her cognitive function level came back in the bottom 0 per cent to 10 per cent expected for her age group.

 ‘I saw the result and knew what it meant,’ she said.

‘I was with my husband at the time and we were in shock.

‘We cried together and knew nothing would ever be the same again.’

Ms Marklin said she often deals with people not believing her diagnosis, as it is branded as an older person’s disease.

She said: ‘The stigma that is associated with this disease is also problematic.

‘People generally see this as an older person’s disease and view people with Alzheimer’s as if they can’t do anything for themselves.

‘It was difficult for me to get people to believe me and to trust the results I had gotten.’

Aware of a long road ahead for her family, Ms Marklin has begun making plans for the future.

She has been making videos on TikTok for her son and the rest of her family to remember her by, which also includes her husband, Erik, 46, of nearly 16 years, and a step-daughter, Rylee, 21.

She has also recently started a new treatment, lecanemab, for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, sold under the brand name Leqembi.

The intravenous infusions are given twice a month, and are designed to remove harmful plaques in the brain from the amyloid protein.

An 18-month global study showed this treatment to slow the cognitive decline in patients with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease—and Ms Marklin hopes to be one of these success stories.

Despite being available in the US, the treatment is not given on the NHS in the UK— but it is available privately.

Although it is too early to say if the treatment will benefit her, the side effects from the infusions are lessening with each course.

Whilst navigating life after her diagnosis, she tries to remain positive and grateful for the time she does have with her family, making memories she hopes her son can treasure as he grows up, one day, without her.