Brain fog: blank mind, comprehension, concentration, cognitive, and memory problems

[needhelpguy]

6 hours ago, cymbalta said:

i cant understand first time when someone tell me something.. im thinking and after i can understand.. anyone else have this problem?

Hi Cymbalta,

 

It will be great if you can post your drug history in your sig.

I understand what you going through, its like our mind is not instantaneous enough to process conversation and it gets blank most of the time.
I think the drugs make us unable to focus 100% like previously. I rmbr during my prozac treatment, Im feeling "drugged" most of the time, like having blank mind and high? But during treatment my cognitive ability and memory were 100% like before my anxiety. It's only after I cold turkey for 4 months I  started getting these problems. I rmbr reading in pubmed that SSRI produce morphological changes to our serotonin receptor. My PhD friend told me morphological changes can revert back to its original state but it will take time. How long? I don't know. 

 

I also get this daily nausea and slight lightheadedness and it trigger my health anxiety again for brain cancer. Anyone have daily nausea and slight dizziness in the afternoon after withdrawing cold turkey after 1 year?

 

I also worry if I will be like this permanently. But if I keep worrying I only waste my previous youth (27 now). At least today my cognitive and memory problem recover 50% back after I distract myself with work. Worrying about this permanent thing will only compound the problem.

Try to distract your mind from worrying about this. If it's overwhelming try to go outside and have a walk for 5 min.

[xyz]

hi, 

 

i have been tapering my valium at a snail pace for the last 3 years (can't go any faster) and my memory is getting really really bad.

i wouldn't be able to recall  a conversation topic a day after they occurred

has anyone experienced this and recover their memory?

[ChessieCat]

I've noticed improvement in my memory.

[herod]

To everyone here: during a window, do your cognitive withdrawal symptoms stop? Or do they stay even if you are in a window?

Mine completely disappear when I am in a window (I have a window every 5 days for 1 day...)

[noearthlyfamily]

today i watched the Truman Show movie on netflix....for the first time, or so i thought!

 

turns out i watched it with my Hubbs at the movie theater whenit cam e out in june of 1998...the year they put me on seroquel. i mean i don't remember any of it, not the exoistential deep conversation with my Hubs afterwards, none of the movie scenes, or subject matter, nothing. this trips me out...i had only been on seroquel a short time when i saw the movie. i am wondering if that memory was recorded on a brain section that is now filled with scar tissue that shows on mri, or did it just die and never regenerate...or is this the result of 18 years of SSRI and other meds erasing my memories?

[herod]

21 minutes ago, noearthlyfamily said:

today i watched the Truman Show movie on netflix....for the first time, or so i thought!

 

turns out i watched it with my Hubbs at the movie theater whenit cam e out in june of 1998...the year they put me on seroquel. i mean i don't remember any of it, not the exoistential deep conversation with my Hubs afterwards, none of the movie scenes, or subject matter, nothing. this trips me out...i had only been on seroquel a short time when i saw the movie. i am wondering if that memory was recorded on a brain section that is now filled with scar tissue that shows on mri, or did it just die and never regenerate...or is this the result of 18 years of SSRI and other meds erasing my memories?

Wait a minute, did you actually get your brain scanned and it turns out you have scar tissue? Did you injure your head, or is this due to your medication?

[noearthlyfamily]

9 minutes ago, herod said:

Wait a minute, did you actually get your brain scanned and it turns out you have scar tissue? Did you injure your head, or is this due to your medication?

 

yes i have 4 sets  of mri's of my brain and spine and they show bright white scar tisue/lesions which are actually scar tissue that fills in the holes left where healthy brain tissue died off. it was cause 100% by seroquel and othe drugs mostly AD's over a 20 year span. i absolutely do not have a head injury and no MS. i have the original mri films as proof.

 

also a side note, the radiologist lied outright to me about the gadolinium metal contrast dye they injected in my vein to make the mri's with contrast show all the minute vascular/cappilary details. they said gadolinium is 100% safe and clears the body in 24 hours. total lies. google Chuck Norris' wife and mri gadolinium dyes lawsuit. they won. she is permanently disabled. i knew her before when she and Chuck were engaed to  be married and they bought me a steak n lobster diner in the stockyards before a Willie Nelson concert we went to. Chuck's besties with my then karate tteacher. anyways. lovely couple. he had the lawyers to fight and win the case.

 

 

[noearthlyfamily]

ps i was told by the radiologist privately after my foirst set of mri's thta he could lose his job so i promised not to talk, but he said the meds i was on (seroquel at  the time) could cause the same signatures in the mris as mine.

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by ChessieCat
removed quote

[herod]

I'm so sorry. The brain has a remarkable ability to heal itself, we mustn't forget -- Whether you have/haven't lost your cherished memories, your brain will heal in time.

 

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by ChessieCat
removed quote

[noearthlyfamily]

25 minutes ago, herod said:

I'm so sorry. The brain has a remarkable ability to heal itself, we mustn't forget -- Whether you have/haven't lost your cherished memories, your brain will heal in time.

 

Herod is sure hope you are right!

 

i mean, it would be nice to retain the good memories at least..instead of focusing and ruminating on the really bad ones. 24 years of psych meds ...i don't know anyone else who'se been on as many for as long as i have and made it thru...recovered to tell a succes story. so far it's just hoping for the best, but we don't know yet.

[ChessieCat]

3 minutes ago, noearthlyfamily said:

24 years of psych meds ...i don't know anyone else who'se been on as many for as long as i have and made it thru...recovered to tell a succes story. so far it's just hoping for the best, but we don't know yet.

 

GiaK

 

"I withdrew from a cocktail of 6 psychiatric drugs that included every class of psych drug."

 

Shep

 

"30 years on many drugs starting at the age of 17."

 

Aria

 

"Aria's recovery from poly drugs.  I had no idea when I walked into a psychiatrist's office 25 yrs ago the horrible labyrinth I'd entered."

 

JanCarol

 

"A lifetime of being prescribed antidepressants that caused problems (30 years in total)."

[noearthlyfamily]

THANK YOU ChesieCat! i just went and hit follow on all 4 of these members and left a lil message saying you reccomended them to me...

 

i thought i was the only one here with 2 decades of psych med history...and was feeling quite discouraged, but these people's stories will help me to keep going thru the storm until i see the daylight!

xooooo )whole buncha hugs!)

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by ChessieCat
removed quote

[ChessieCat]

I've been on an AD for 25 years.  Not poly drugged though.  I'm now down to 4.25mg Pristiq, from 100mg.  Just recently I've noticed a big improvement in my cognitive abilities.

[noearthlyfamily]

10 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

I've been on an AD for 25 years.  Not poly drugged though.  I'm now down to 4.25mg Pristiq, from 100mg.  Just recently I've noticed a big improvement in my cognitive abilities.

 

wow,,,there's more of us old timers than i thought!  yeah, me too, improved cognition since reducing from 400 to 75 mg of quetiapine. unfortunatelymy brain wants to stay stuck on the negative memeories right now, but i keep reading that's just a phase and it too shall pass.

 

i just wonder...that Dr Shipko from Mad in America is  saying for people who've been on SSRI's longer than 15 years that he doesn't reccomend that they try to come off because of the protracted withdrawal symptoms which can be permanent.. i wa really depressed reading that, bu i'm gonna try anyways.if i get dementia, parkinson's, tardive dyskinesia or tardive akathisia i'll have to deal with it then. but i gotta try. ; )

[ChessieCat]

30 minutes ago, noearthlyfamily said:

i just wonder...that Dr Shipko from Mad in America is  saying for people who've been on SSRI's longer than 15 years that he doesn't reccomend that they try to come off

 

Please see this discussion recently in a member's topic.  mdwstrx-lexapro-taper-or-not

 

Be sure to read Altostrata's response (Alto is SA's founder):  Alto's response

[noearthlyfamily]

43 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

 

Please see this discussion recently in a member's topic.  mdwstrx-lexapro-taper-or-not

 

Be sure to read Altostrata's response (Alto is SA's founder):  Alto's response

 

thx ChessieCat i read all of the info and responses in those 2 links. : )

 

what concerns me on Dr Shipko's stance, is that because of protracted withdrawal, and tardive dyskinesia or akathisia or other disorders which do not emerge for multiple years AFTER complete discontinuation, even with extremely slow tapering off of the SSRI, or permanent damage to the body and brain that does not ever go away to the point of it being even worse to live with than staying on the SSRI in the first place, for those of us who have multiple decades on it and other polydrug cocktails, in his opinion, he is basically saying don't do it, and even to the point that he has his own patients download read comprehend and sign the consent ebook he wrote so there's no doubt in their mind about the danger of trying it.

 

this, to me, puts it in 2 distinct choices: listen to this dr's warning/advice... or go our own way and take the very real big risk.  i am gonna take the risk. but it is terrifying.

 

he made it very clear the difference between someone who's been on the SSRI for 5 year, or for 10 years, or those with over 15 years. big difference in the amount of damage in those time brackets. if i understood him correctly he is saying that after 15+ years on SSRI's the body is basically irrepairably damaged. that it will be more detrimental to try to live with the damage done to the body in that bracket than to stay on a lower dose of the same SSRI and deal with some less troubling/horrific symptoms. 

 

but to be honest, aren't we all kind of flying by the seat of our pants here? doing the best we can to share our experiences which are all unique (with some similarities), because we can't trust the dr's in the first place? i mean, this place is giving me hope, to go forward despite the terror, but it's plain to see we know more than the dr's about this stuff, and i don't trust any dr's anymore, not even dentists. (that's another story lol) i trust what my body tells me and what you guys, my fellow chemically damaged peers here tell me (with a few exceptions haha i have to use discernment!)

 

i also feel like we are still ongoing guinea pigs, because the first phase of the experiment was the drugging, the second phase was observe the progress and failures during active drugging, and phase 3 is observe the results following removal of the drugs, phase 4 observe results of bodies and minds trying to heal post withdrawal of the drugs and then phase 5...which they haven't had enough time to do yet because many of us have been on the drugs for multiple decades...observe results of bodies/minds after decades of coming off the drugs after having been ON them for the same amount of decades! it's like the Tuskegee Experiments of untreated syphylis on black men in the united states...Miss Ever's Boys a great movie about that. they will use sites like this to continue monitoring us in this last phase, and hopefully use the data to HELP future patients instead of padding their pockets. but let's be real, dr's and Big Pharma will always pad their pockets. it's a business after all. 

 

 

[ChessieCat]

As Altostrata, this site's founder says, if she didn't think that people can get off psychiatric drugs and recover, this website would be closed down.

[noearthlyfamily]

2 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

As Altostrata, this site's founder says, if she didn't think that people can get off psychiatric drugs and recover, this website would be closed down.

 

well AMEN to that! 👍

[Altostrata]

1998 was 20 years ago.

[noearthlyfamily]

20 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

1998 was 20 years ago.

 

2019-1998=21 according to my calculator...

 

but yes, 20 years..what's the point you're getting at?

[Altostrata]

As you get older, you may find you don't remember everything that happened 20 years ago.

[India]

I don’t know if this is the right section.  (Post moved to this topic)  But my friend has just composed a letter emphasising the impact of my memory loss and cognitive functioning to GP. Has anyone gotten any response or any specific help with this symptom? I know there are memory clinics.

 

Edited March 8, 2019 by ChessieCat
added note

[India]

Strategies for healing Memory/Brain Fog/Cognitive Dysfunction?

 

What are people's experiences? What strategies have others adopted? It seems so trial and error. I am back in a wave. I had been trying to push myself to read a paragraph a day, or use the computer. It feels as though it is stressing and hurting my brain and sometimes I get the sense that I should be resting not pushing, then I get the fear I am vegetating and I should be pushing more. I know about luminosity/dual and backh and I used to use duolingo for languages whilst on the SSRI. Now, I am exceedingly slow. I read like a 5 year old now, no joke. I also continually have to re-read the previous sentence as I type ( ob. workng memory). I am taking the fish oils. Berries and Tumeric.

 

I was interested in this:

Though no specific strategies discussed except "brain rest". Essentially to shut off your brain. Maybe this is the strategy. When she speaks she describes all my symptoms except that I do not have a mTBI.

Sometimes I wonder if I should approach it like I have had a stroke? or a TBI? If anyone has any articles, or links please do alert me. I am worried about stagnating but don't want to worry as this is obviously an exacerbating symptom.

 

How many also experience derealization?

I feel frustrated that I cannot read everything on this site. I have to read in very short bursts. Many things are decontextualised.

 

 

[PapayaShake]

Hi @India

I'm currently having issues with my memory. They used to be much worse. I was on 120 mg cymbalta. When I first started I didn't noticed how it was affecting me but my short memory and cognition were affected. I even lost my job because I couldn't keep track of tasks. There were times where I couldn't understand a single phrase and had to read it back like 5 times. I couldn't finish sentences while taking and forgot what I was saying in the middle of a conversation while I was the one talking. Omega 3 helped tons, it was like adding oil to a rusty engine. I have windows and waves of memory, sometimes Im back to having a hard time speaking and reading, sometimes I feel like Im getting closer to what was normal. Sometimes I just pause and stay still with no thoughts and I've had to accept that's ok, that someday I'll be able to use my mind better again. There aren't really any definite remedies, it just takes time, the brain has to heal. I struggle, but compared to 2 years ago I'm a lot better. Acceptance is key to recovery

[dcrmt]

I was extremely bright as a child and in my early teens, drugged on SSRI's since 14 and really badly since 18 (Lexapro) and became irrational and dysfunctional, couldn't concentrate on a task,  was disorganized and couldn't stay on top of things, not to mention the sleep problems.

It's hard to say that I've recovered 100%, since I never got function at my peak in my early 20s but I the way I've been able to perform since going back University, there's just no way there's any "brain injury" level of damage, and that's from more than a decade on SSRI's. I really, really pushed and challenged myself intellectually, maybe that helped. 

The effects these drugs have on our brains can definitely persist well after we stop taking the drugs but I don't think that should be thought of as permanent in the sense of a traumatic brain injury (which even then people can recover from), it may well be that we need to put a lot of effort into pushing ourselves and pushing our brains to re-wire themselves to undo what the drugs have done - but what they've done is changes in brain chemistry that have induced changes in gene expression, density of serotonin receptors or whatever (I don't claim to know exactly), but it's not actual destruction of brain tissue.

Antipsychotics could be another kettle of fish though. 

[RandyJames]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 5:08 AM, India said:

 Now, I am exceedingly slow. I read like a 5 year old now, no joke. I also continually have to re-read the previous sentence as I type ( ob. workng memory). 

 

How many also experience derealization?

I feel frustrated that I cannot read everything on this site. I have to read in very short bursts. Many things are decontextualized.

 

 

I can completely relate.  It certainly isn't fun at all and may be my biggest complaint.  My mind is like mush.  It literally feels physically like mush or fluff.  Today I took the clothes straight out of the dryer and put them into the washing machine.  Memories are blending together in weird ways.  I can't plan or organize.  I forget appointments and important things to do.  It really does feel like brain damage.

 

Derealization goes hand in hand with the brain fog for me.  I think they are part of the same thing.  Everything seems totally dreamlike and like I'm looking through it.  I think it's the same inability to process information that causes me to feel the DP.  I can't think well enough to feel as though I am grounded in my surroundings.  

 

Did these issues begin for you after starting the drugs and before tapering at all?

 

 

[jonathangalack]

It's like i am between dream and reality... reality seems odd... i feel strange and fear to become crazy... alzheimer! i put my into action in order to accomplish a task (go take an object) and then i totally forget what i was going to do and i feel lost... Can somebody reassure me by telling me this is just a question of chemicals and neurotransmitters!

The article "what is happening in your brain" is really cool. Does it exist the equivalent for anti-psychotics?

I would like to be reassured.

I thank you a lot in advance.

Peace

 

[Hopefuly1]

Topoc title:  0 ZERO CONCENTRATION

 

Hi guys , has anyone who quit escitalopram cold turkey had this issue with concentration ? I cannot understand information at all / cant read / watch movies/ it is absolutely a nightmare , i am currently at work and i am having an incredible difficult time because of understanding basic simple things , its like i am mentally retarded. Will this ever go away ? Warm Wishes to everyone out there in suffering.

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by ChessieCat
added topic title

[Dizzy4]

On 8/2/2019 at 9:39 PM, Hopefuly1 said:

 I cannot understand information at all / cant read / watch movies/ it is absolutely a nightmare , i am currently at work and i am having an incredible difficult time because of understanding basic simple things , its like i am mentally retarded. Will this ever go away ? 

 

Yes, after the initial disequilibrium, this was my biggest issue. Yes it will get better. I quit my administrative job 6 months post lexapro cold turkey because I wasn't able to keep up (and looking at multiple computer screens made me want to vomit), I couldn't navigate this site initially, couldn't compose a post and still have to keep it short. At 9 months post I had some "sharper' weeks, and from 12 months I feel like I am clearer in my thinking, I can read now and remember what I've read, feeling a lot more normal (unless I have a brain fog bout) but learning a new task will tax me significantly, I simply cant concentrate for long periods (note - still tapering so it could be that)

 

re the concentration - I feel like I need to tell people that I need to take a break as I'm not able to keep listening anymore and trying to makes me feel really stressed. I had a training day on Tuesday and Friday morning I had to retrieve and apply new information, Friday afternoon I went in to a fog i.e confusion, fuzzy thinking, disorientation, grogginess

Edited August 12, 2019 by Dizzy4
just thouhgt of something

[getofflex]

I've been weaning off Lexapro for 2 years.  I'm still on a low dose, (0.3 mg) and still having issues with insomnia, hot flashes, and other stuff.  However, I was very pleased when I was able to watch a 1 hour news program, and actually follow and comprehend what was going on.  I'm very encouraged to see that my cognitive function is improving!  So please don't give up!  It will be worth it to get off this nasty drug.  

[India]

On 3/26/2019 at 9:45 PM, RandyJames said:

Did these issues begin for you after starting the drugs and before tapering at all?

I did a 6 week taper in July 2017 to 0. Almost Overnight ( 2 weeks)  I lost my cognitive capacities, I could hardly speak, remember the names of any object or even family members. I woke up in a different reality. Literally felt like I had amnesia, which I did. I also couldn’t coordinate or do simple things like pack a suitcase. Still have that. I was derealised . And so on. Lost the ability to read overnight!

9 years on citalopram no problems with cognitive capacities, not in the realm they are now. 18 months later though I can now speak and type a little more, there are many processing problems and I still can’t read more than a paragraph - sometimes less. I feel concussed all the time. 

 

As as I pointed out to my doctor I never had these before the citalopram either. 

[AlaskanGlacier]

Cognitive issues have been one of the largest parts of my w/d's, period on the drugs, etc... and are slowly improving, but still incredibly frustrating to me. They make me feel mentally handicapped, and I struggle with the idea of being imprisoned mentally daily... it has improved much from the days years ago where I could literally not string a sentence together and couldn't come close to communicating well with people, especially in person. It's like there is a large block in my brain that interferes with what I think in my head to what comes out my mouth. Especially lately, I can't remember how many times I've felt that I know EXACTLY what I want to say to someone or about something, and what comes out of my mouth is a garbled excuse for that. I've also had periods of a few hours or day or two where the brain/mouth/communication line seems seamless and I can fully articulate what I'm thinking like it's freaking magic lol. After suffering with this stuff for 14 years since I popped Accutane in my mouth at 19, when I have those periods where the brain and mouth are in sync it literally feels like I have superhuman powers of communication. It's seamless and beautiful, especially for someone who loves talking, socializing, articulating, etc. It will get better I know, but at the moment it's still rough. Very window and wavey, with too many of the wavey lately,... but having been off Prozac for only 7 months, it's not surprising.

[IWantToHeal]

I'm having similar issues that some of you guys have described above.

 

I was scouring my memory for when the issues began as I did get punched in the head about 1.5 years ago. I still don't know what has caused the issues I am having now whether it is that or the anti depressant withdrawal

 

My body has a weird lean to the left which I am sure started before I even started taking the SSRIs. But now 5 months after stopping taking Sertraline I am experiencing severe short term memory issues, problems concentrating, lack of attention when reading. Difficulties finding the right words. Problems understanding speech and difficulties with planning or performing previously easy mental tasks. The scary thing is because my memory is so screwed up I am struggling to pinpoint when these issues actually began. So they could be either from an undiagnosed TBI, or from the anti depressant withdrawal. I don't know which one of these options would be worse.

 

I've came back from China now to the UK because I couldn't perform in my job. My brain just couldn't seem to learn the new tasks that were expected of me and when I was in group meetings I had nothing to say and no ideas were forthcoming. I have now gone to the doctor about this for the first time and I hope that after doing some blood tests they will let me have an MRI which will hopefully get to the bottom of this...

[lithiumnomore]

Struggling with cognitive symptoms here. They vary from day to day, week to week, and typically include trouble concentrating, trouble generating thoughts to speak or write, difficultty with memory, just feeling slow. I have an intellectualy demaing job and he debilitation from these is awful. The scariest part is sever cognitive issues were a halmark of my my depression and so I worry that I'm going back to that. The hopeful part of me says "no" this will pass" but feeling pessimistic right now.

[HopefulDawn]

On 2/25/2019 at 10:15 AM, herod said:

To everyone here: during a window, do your cognitive withdrawal symptoms stop? Or do they stay even if you are in a window?

Mine completely disappear when I am in a window (I have a window every 5 days for 1 day...)

When I feel better my cognitive issues go away

[ChessieCat]

I've posted this in my Intro topic but thought I'd put it here to encourage others:

 

I noticed something this morning.  My memory is improving.  I've been listening to podcasts and audio books for quite a while now and I had been having a lot of difficulty remembering things.

 

Over the last few weeks I've been listening to two books at the same time, one during the day and the other at night in bed.  The first couple of times the books were a bit different.  However, the current ones have very similar voices and this morning I realised that I've been able to keep up with the different stories because I'm able to recall things.