I can relate:
I am no longer on a sedative medication and I still have difficulty focusing. I have to edit everything I write on here. I don't think it's age (54) because I am still active. I also used to have a photographic memory and got A's in school. I used to be both a concrete and abstract thinker. I used to be articulate. I used to be detail oriented, but since taking meds I have major problems with short-term memory. I finish projects at work immediately so I won't forget what I need to do. People are always telling me "you don't have to do it now" yes I do just don't ask me what I did later and to explain it without stuttering.
My reading says that manic episodes kill gray matter, but so do APs. I am thinking about quitting my meds to experiment to see if my cognitive skills would improve without meds. I would welcome hypo-mania if I could control it but don't want to have the gut wrenching depressions. I would like to think it would be enough for me to just have a therapist for support to monitor my symptoms and keep me on track with coping skills. Oddly, my insurance covers my meds but not therapy.
I feel trapped in my current medication therapy, but honestly, I don't know how much of the dumbing down is due to the meds or the natural course of the illness.
Bipolar 1
Latuda
Lamotrigine
Cogentin
Levothyroxine
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Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve ~ Max Planck
Last edited by GALAXYGAL; Nov 19, 2014 at 03:39 PM.
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