Quote:
Originally Posted by dark_heart_x
Sometimes I get freaked out, though, with my cognitive problems. It's like watching sand in a hourglass, slipping away. I hate having things like thought blocking, forgetting, can't read, can't think, confusion. I really see why some people feel like thoughts are being stolen right out of their heads. It happens to me more and more. And, that's when I get scared.
 I don't want to fade away, but that's what feels like is happening when it gets bad.
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You and me both!!! I used to have such a good mind---I read voraciously, had thoughtful discussions with people at all levels of intelligence, and had the memory of an elephant. Now I'd literally forget my head if it weren't attached to my shoulders. I have the attention span of a toddler. I haven't read a book in two years. I even forget sometimes where my hands are supposed to go on the computer keyboard, and then get pissed when I type a bunch of gobbledygook.
I also lose track of days/dates. It scares me when I get in the car and briefly can't remember where I'm going or why. I have NO short-term memory to speak of and there are sticky notes
everywhere. Then I forget to look at the sticky notes. ARRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!
My pdoc has assured me that I don't have dementia, but I wonder sometimes. I've worked with the frail elderly throughout most of my nursing career and I KNOW that a lot of what I experience is eerily similar to dementing diseases like Alzheimer's. I'm only 54 but it's not unheard-of even at my age. But between the bipolar itself and the medications I take for it, it's probably enough to screw with my head without it being due to an organic brain disorder. I hope.
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DX: Bipolar 1
Anxiety
Tardive dyskinesia
Mild cognitive impairment
RX: Celexa 20 mg
Gabapentin 1200 mg
Geodon 40 mg AM, 60 mg PM
Klonopin 0.5 mg PRN
Lamictal 500 mg
Levothyroxine 125 mcg (rx'd for depression)
Trazodone 150 mg
Zyprexa 7.5 mg
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