Bipolar and memory/concentration problems?

Yes, these are good tips! Writing things down or recording notes! At work I set up my e-mail calendar to flash at me with reminders. Or I set my phone to vibrate when it is time to do things.

Actually I just found this. It is directly related to bipolar and memory loss. I relate to this entire article, including the part at the bottom about "rages" or emotional events and then having no memory of them, and being accused of using memory loss as a way to avoid responsibility.

http://www.kristen-mcclure-therapist...emoryloss.html

That's really fascinating. Thanks for sharing!

I suppose the seizure-like quality of the "rages" would make sense given that many people with bipolar respond well to anticonvulsants. A bipolar girlfriend of mine once explained that her mood episodes feel like little seizures (emotionally/mentally but not physically) so she thought it quite sensible that Lamictal made an enormous difference for her.

Because I seem to have mixed mania or disphoric mania, my mania doesn't cause elation. It does give me the physical sensation of feeling speeded up, and it does give me the physical sensation that my bones are trying to claw there way out of my skin, so it does make sense to me that when I have a rage episode it is something like a seizure.

Thanks for the article, dark heart X! I have been using some techniques to try to boost my attention and memory, but sometimes things do still fall between the cracks.

Darn it, I do wish I could copy the article. That's not fair! (And somehow ironic....)

I am glad I'm not alone, but at the same time, I feel for you folks, too.

Somebody mentioned about movies. I'll tell people, "I think I've seen this movie before, but I'm not sure. But if (whatever) happens at the end, then I have seen it." And sure enough, I'll watch the movie all the way through, not remembering any of it, and that event happens at the end!

I can't remember details of books I read either. I have to take notes on the books for my book-club meetings.

On the other hand, like older people, I can often remember the past. And I still play a pretty mean game of Scrabble! But I am pitiful with many other details of life. For example, I told somebody my son's car is "beige." I had seen it the day before and many times before that. My husband reminded me that it is "silver." But I still keep picturing it as beige.

I now ask my husband to go with me into doctor's appointments and other important places.

Like somebody said, it's like we're aging early. I will be 57 next month. Last year I told a number of people I was 57. I guess they will wonder how I can be the same age two years in a row. Maybe, like Jack Benny, I should just stick with 30 from now on. (I think I have this story right!)

Whoa, this is weird. I've done the exact same thing this year. I've told people several times that I'm 34, but I don't turn that age until late March! I just totally forgot my own age and miscalculated or something. When I realized I had been doing it, I couldn't figure out why for the life of me.

Thanks for the article, dark heart x... interesting. Could relate to so much. I think the thing about rages sometimes being seizure-like is especially interesting. I have always sighed at "count to 10" advice. It's hard to explain to those that haven't experienced it, that it's just not like that. It's like being hit by a bolt of lightning. I don't choose it. It lasts in duration till it's over. I can't just choose to stop it. There's a certain feeling of exhaustion when it's over, and though I can remember some, it's certainly not all.

Interestingly enough, AniManiac, I take Lamictal, and they seem to have been less frequent and of shorter duration since then. Hmmm.

Heheh, it was me on the movie thing, Payne1. And it turns out we are a decade apart in age, so don't feel bad, I'm already there(!)

(And... on the "what age I am" thing? Here too. I remembered the right number just now specially for you, Payne1! Lol.)

(Oh! And because I could really go off on a tangent, and don't want to hijack focus from the memory aspect, I hope you all don't mind if I bring this seizure-like/ACs/rage thing onto a new thread.)

When I was 38 I thought I was 39. So I've been 39 twice. And I may be 39 three times.

Wow - since my meds my concentration and memory has gotten worse, but I must say, the biggest decline came when I started Lithium about 2 months ago...
Not enjoying the Lithium side-effects AT ALL!!!!
I have to stop mid-sentence regularly, as I really get tongue-twisted...

I think it is being bipolar, I was having a horrible time before Lithium. Now I am good, as long as I take it!

Yes...this is a horrible problem. I need to be "with it" for my job and that has become increasingly difficult over the past couple of years. I think it is both the disease and the meds. Can't change either, though....

I am new here and BP I, so Hi, everyone. There have been studies showing progressive cognitive decline in BP people related to the number of episodes (I believe). I don't recall how many I looked at that followed subjects who were and weren't medicated, though, but I just searched on the net. I have been taking Lithium, Seroquel, and Lamictal for 6 years - since my last psychotic mania, and like most others have been on tons of meds since I was first diagnosed as a teen (almost 30 yrs ago, yikes!). Since my last manic episode I've been pretty stable and able to work full-time.
I definitely feel "dumber" than before my first manic episode. I feel I was sharper/more creative and my memory is worse. I know many creative people don't stay on Li because they say their creativity is blunted, but my episodes are so awful that I don't care about that.
So, I guess my point is that I've had some of these problems but I also don't know if it's the "chicken" or the "egg." But I still suffer depression and am sometimes suicidal, which is the main reason I wanted to join this community. And I also have used a lot of strategies to stay functioning for work, etc. so I hope maybe I can help someone else here.

My memory and concentration are mainly affected when I'm depressed, and that was before meds. Seems like it's gotten slowly worse over the fifteen or so years I've had this problem, so I don't feel this is something I can blame on pills.

Wow - thank you for bringing up this subject. i'm recently dx'd with adhd and bipolar within past couple years.

Long before i tried any medication i did start having memory problems in my 20's. i also had children in my 20's.

Before this i could memorize anything. I should be honest and say i did smoke a lot of pot in my teens, thinking it calmed me down. I cant stand pot now, throws me too off balance.

This has to be part of the illness. Maybe we take in so much information and come up with so many ideas that there are not enough folders in the brain. (they say this about adhd).

Maybe this is grandiose thinking - i'm still learning about bipolar - but i think about such far out stuff like energy work, quantum physics, multiple dimensions. I used to feel really smart and brainy, but lately it's all overwhelm, probably because i'm almost 40 and have lived with bipolar and adhd without learning many coping skills.

I think i really digressed, but there has to be a link with the memory issues and bipolar. I want to find out more about it. Maybe supplements like gingko biloba would help us.

My memory problems started long before the meds and I know I was beginning to think that I was loosing it. Not sure if my BP meds will help it or not, but I write everything down now, I call myself and leave messages with things I need to remember I even e-mail myself things I need to remember.
I would be interested to know if being manic messes with your brain somehow. I know for me mania must be total overload. Thought processes going 100 mph, no sleep. It has to have an effect.

I believe it is both like others have said. Personally, I have a very selective memory in general and it was like this before I was put on medication. It's like there are certain memories from my past that I can experience just as if I were there, but at the same time, there's a fog smothering other memories.

I will say that my memory was "sharper" before being medicated but that also came with more chaos.

Thank you DarkHeart, this article was so helpful to me. And in reading through her whole website, i found info about child bipolar that i've been needing to help me with my kids.

The night terrors that my son used to have were horrible, but he'd have no memory of them (relating again to memory loss). Of course, as mom, I would be shaken all day about the night terrors and detailed horrors he'd tell me, with his eyes wide open but still in the dream, from the night before. But night terrors are a whole nother subject.

Just want to say I got a lot from this entire thread and this posted article.
thanks.

Since I went manic a couple of weeks ago and my meds have been changed around all over the place my already screwed up memory has gone down hill rapidly.

It helps alot to read all the shares that I am not alone with this. I can't track a conversation. I am unable to remember commitments. I can't keep track of what day, hour, or month it is.

Right now the whole thing is very frustrating. Reading the article was helpful and hearing what everybody said helps too.

I am so glad this forum exists. Eventually I will figure out how to use the Quote section.