Memory

I was wondering if any of you have memory problems while in an "episode" of BP ? When I am "normal" I don't have the best memory but I can atleast remember the date! What's weird though, my short term memory is absolutely shot, while my long term memory is excellent. I will start remembering facts from college or high school, yet I can't remember if I freaking ate or showered 30 minutes ago!

Is it just me? I know there is a sort of fog that comes with BP, may e this is just part of mine.

I think some of it is medication. With the reduction in the meds I'm taking, my short term memory is getting better.

I can't say for sure what causes memory loss in any individual's situation, but I'm taking only lithium which does not impair memory. Still, I suffer periodic "dissociative amnesia" during episodes. My psychiatrist says it's related to the horrific traumas I've suffered. Therapy and time will heal most of it, but there are portions that will never return.

I once thought it was meds but I'm not on any.

I had a memory black-out during my worst depressive episode. I was on no meds at the time, so it was purely do to the BP. My memory is usually very good and the black-out was part of what convinced me to go on meds, since it's so far outside my usual experience.

Crazy I've been doing this too right now!!! Remembering things long past, but the stuff that's important for my damned life right now I am having horrible problems with. The cognitive effects of this episode are making me crazy. I feel for you and can relate. It must be from the BP.

If I am severely depressed I have memory problems. I have since I was ten years old. It's like the days all run together and I have no concept of time so I can't tell if something happens a week ago or two months ago. I can't remember any details from my day. And worst part is I don't know it's happening at the time...I just "wake up"'one day and all of a sudden it's a month or two later and I have no idea what I did or how I functioned. Happened to me in the fall from October 7 until November 12. I clearly remember the date because I took note of the fact that I "woke up" and had to turn In report cards in two days...when I didn't even know what assignments I had given the students. No good.

I find that both my long term and short term take turns with missing pieces.

Same as TXB.

Sometimes it feels like someone is playing tricks on me.

hmmm, I knew I put my keys here
hmmm, I put my book here
...maybe

I had a lot of memory problems when i was taking epival, seroquel, and clonazepam together. I was really unstable then. I would forget entire periods of time - spend time with people, and not remember it at all. A lot of my memory of the time is foggy.

I have been told that poor memory of episodes of psychosis is a positive progonostic indicator. But i'm not sure if it's the same for mood episodes without psychosis.

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Yep me too. I'm not sure but I think mine could be med related or concentration or something.

Tig

When I have hypomanic insomnia, I then do not recall part of what I was thinking through sleepless nights. Actually, most of it.

I have terrible memory problems. I can't remember names of people I've worked with for 9 years. And the whole, "did I take my meds yet?" or "did I just have a smoke" thing is terrible. I adopted patterns for some of those things, like leaving my bathroom mirror cracked when I've taken them so I'll remember not to take them again. That sort of thing can help, leaving yourself clues... In terms of long-term memory, I'm excellent at remembering the bad stuff.. It's the good that's gotten lost along the way..

Oh same here! It really really messes with me when I'm super manic or in a state of psychosis. I will either cry or be thinking they were moved on me. There are days where I'm walking in circles looking for ****, getting nothing accomplished because of it! It can be real horrible!

Yep! I have had to have my husband help me record when I'm taking my meds. I have actually thought some events that actually happened were dreams. Not sure if that is memory or not!?

I will forget entire conversations. As far as long periods of time I'm sure it's happened- I just don't remember right now lol! I'm getting tired its hard to think!

My short-term memory s*** the bed a long time ago. I can tell you about the time my seat-mate peed her pants 50 years ago when we were in kindergarten, but not what I had for dinner two hours ago or even whether I took my meds two minutes ago. (Thank God for med minders.)

It's even worse when I'm manic. I get these blackouts, almost like the ones I had way back in my drinking days. I've heard they're not the least bit unusual though, so I don't feel as bad about them as I used to. I even asked my pdoc once if I could be developing Alzheimer's or some other type of dementia, but he didn't think so---he told me that 'brain fog' is common in BP, especially when the patient takes a slew of medications (well, 'slew' is my term for it anyway). I didn't know whether to be happy that I'm apparently NOT demented, or upset because bipolar brain-fade makes me LOOK like I'm demented!

I have horrible memory problems but they are not related directly to any episodes. I also have PTSD and spent a lot of my childhood in a state of dissociation. But my memory got noticeably worse after the BP was diagnosed, related? I don't know. I'm not on anything right now except thyroid meds.
I have a place I hang my keys, a pill box, and tons of cute note paper and stickys around so I can write down anything I might need to remember, but....then the problem is where did I put that important note with the date and time??? They always seem to end up inside of a book.

I switched to using a weekly medication tray. It has 4 slots for each day of the week. I only use 3 slots - morning, lunch, and bedtime. Not only does using the tray solve the issue you are describing, but also it uncluttered my kitchen counters - I no longer have bottles of medications sitting on my kitchen counters. Oh, and supplements. I got a basket at Target, put all my bottles there and store the basket inside a cupboard. Once a week I take the basket out of the cupboard, open the bottles, put pills and capsules inside the tray, and return the basket to the cupboard. I cannot imagine going back to having bottles in plain view all day long.

Memory sure can be elusive. I lose vocabulary in the middle of a sentence. The working of the brain is so complex, not even the most informed scientists fully understand how it works. I have memory problems every time I have episodes from my bipolar gift. Personally, I think that the areas of the brain that control memory are inter-connected to the areas that cause depression and mania (not a scientific fact).

My memory is horrible. I my pdoc started asking age, age of siblings, last boyfriend, etc and I really struggled with these answers and some i later realized were wrong.

Same here! I keep my weekly tray (with 7 little boxes) in my fridge because that helps maintain the potency of supplements like fish oil.

I have had significant memory problems. I could not remember significant events in my past, my vocabulary in conversations was quite limited to simple words, and I spent allot of time finding the right word that only stood there on the tip of my tounge which stopped me in the middle of sentences. I often could not tell you what I did earlier in the day. I have been this way for several years!

I am on a different med cocktail now. I remember words like "instigate" and use it properly in a sentence at the moment I need it. I know what I did earlier in the day and even the day before this one. I am beginning to remember the specifics of events that happened in my life many years ago. And I can think through things of simple to moderate complexity.

What happened? I do not know! But it may have been the combination of medications that I had been on, or the result of a mind that was "disturbed" with mood swings and the associated cognitive deficits.

What do all of you think?

I think it's very possible.

I didn't realize that but it makes perfect sense. I will store mine in the fridge, too.