[OliverB]

Probably I am going to be put on
a mood stabilizer.

Has any of you experienced cognitive decline on them or sedation?

[LucyG]

Google Gwen Olsen, former drug company rep and watch the interviews of her on youtube as she gets into how psych meds cause the same type of memory issues as having a stroke.

I was on meds for bipolar 2 for 13+ years, and I went from being very sharp with a great memory to where I have a hard time expressing myself verbally. I do much better writing, but my ability to recount something I've read or seen verbally after taking all those meds is embarrassing.

Stay off meds if you can. There are lots of great alternative treatments such as amino acids that allow the brain to produce the neurotransmitters that keep your mood stable.

Here's a good article on treating depression using alternative treatment.

Treating Depression Naturally Is Possible ? Clean's The New Black

[newtobipolar]

Taking a mood stabilizer has saved my life. I'm sharper, more clear headed and sharp than I've ever been in my life. Lamictal is a wonder drug

[OliverB]

Originally Posted by LucyG

Google Gwen Olsen, former drug company rep and watch the interviews of her on youtube as she gets into how psych meds cause the same type of memory issues as having a stroke.

I was on meds for bipolar 2 for 13+ years, and I went from being very sharp with a great memory to where I have a hard time expressing myself verbally. I do much better writing, but my ability to recount something I've read or seen verbally after taking all those meds is embarrassing.

Stay off meds if you can. There are lots of great alternative treatments such as amino acids that allow the brain to produce the neurotransmitters that keep your mood stable.

Here's a good article on treating depression using alternative treatment.

Treating Depression Naturally Is Possible ? Clean's The New Black

Was lithium what caused you the cognitive decline? I am afraid of it since it easily cause sedation, weight gain, and as far as I know troubles thinking.
I have tryed amino acids but I don't have money enough to buy all of them, they help a bit with mixed stuff but not with depression. Glycine and gaba are keeping me non-irritable most of time, I can handle it with natural treatments until it gets too severe, and since I live alone I have nobody to ask for help in case I have a mental emergency, I just self-hug

I was planning on taking a 'mild' mood stabilizer like lamictal or gabapentin which has few sinde effects for some months until I find the way to deal with the worse of this without anything.

I want to add taurine, glutamine and niacine to my mix. Now I take glycine, gaba, melatonin with tryptophan and other B vitamins, and a multivitamin with coline and inositol. It helps a lot.

Originally Posted by newtobipolar

Taking a mood stabilizer has saved my life. I'm sharper, more clear headed and sharp than I've ever been in my life. Lamictal is a wonder drug

Probably I am going to be given Lamictal.

[LucyG]

[QUOTE=Nocter;5330788]Was lithium what caused you the cognitive decline? I am afraid of it since it easily cause sedation, weight gain, and as far as I know troubles thinking.QUOTE]

That's what started it. I almost flunked a college class that I should have aced blindfolded. It caused such memory loss that I could study for hours and hours, and then go blank when I got the test. It was unreal.

I now take lithium orotate which is a mineral supplement, and I think it's helped my memory and cognition. My cognition hasn't declined any more since I got off meds 9+ years ago. BTW, lithium orotate is incredibly safe as it's more bioavailable and goes straight into the cells. I've been using it to control my hypomania for 4 years now, and done extremely well on it.

Here's a good article on the difference between lithium carbonate, the drug and lithium orotate, the mineral supplement. This is the brand I take. I paid $16.51 for it a couple of weeks ago from Amazon.com.

Natural Treatment for Bipolar Disorder and Alzheimer's Ignored! - Natural Health Blog | Holistic Health Blog

I have a family member who is on an old antidepressant who just got her degree and had to pass a licensing exam to work in her field. She failed it, and claimed it was due to memory loss, and she's only in her mid-twenties, way, way too young to have memory loss except what is caused by meds. She won't admit that's the problem so we'll see if she ever is able to passed her exam and work in her field.

[Theseus]

Originally Posted by LucyG

... I went from being very sharp with a great memory to where I have a hard time expressing myself verbally. I do much better writing, but my ability to recount something I've read or seen verbally after taking all those meds is embarrassing.

Hey, are you talking about me or you!? That describes me to a t.

200 mg Lamictal, and now 10/325 percocet and 350 mg Soma from my lumbar fusion. I fumble for words, hesitate, and downright forget words to the point that people cut me off. I snap "will you let me finish!?" often with a bad word following. In speaking I often feel as dumb as a box of rocks (or a Pop-Tart: fruit filling for brains). But I can write, boy can I write! Though in truth, I often forget what word I want to use when writing.

[~Christina]

Lithium made my IQ drop. 3 months after I stopped my IQ was back to normal.

Having to ask my husband how to spell " what" made the decision to quit easy.

[gina_re]

Lamictal did that to me. Finally off of it.

[Spaceyspace]

No side effects from aed mood stabilizers, but they didn't take away my symptoms. Lithium works for me but I'm a bit foggy some days. Still, since getting back on lithium I have gone back to work, my relationships have improved and I feel better about myself.

I wish supplements worked for me, I was antimed for a while and tried everything natural, nothing worked. I wasted years of my life and so much money.

[BipolaRNurse]

Compared with where I used to be before all this bipolar business started, I'm dumber than a stump. Short-term memory loss, difficulty with word-finding etc. I couldn't even learn my last job as a nursing-home inspector, and it got me fired. But I don't know if it's the meds or if it's brain damage just from being bipolar that does it...probably a combination of the two.

[Rjaye]

I feel like I can function and think rationally. I am on top of things and organized. I also feel like I have the concentration to do my art and write. I don't have problems talking or expressing complicated ideas.

I am on 150 mg Lamictal, 100 sertraline, and 10 mg Ritalin.

This is the best I've felt in forty seven years.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I think I have some. I feel dumb. I take several meds

[OliverB]

Thank you all.

I was given 25mg of Lamictal -lamotrigine-. I have to take that dosage until I see my pdoc next week.

[BastetsMuse]

Originally Posted by Nocter

Probably I am going to be put on
a mood stabilizer.

Has any of you experienced cognitive decline on them or sedation?

The short answer is yes to sedation, but cognitive decline depends on the mood stabilizer and the dosage. Depakote caused me to become a great lump of a person, but Geodon and Topamax didn't cause me any trouble.

Discuss this issue with your pdoc so you can be prescribed one that isn't problematic for you.

[Unrigged64072835]

I had decline on Depakote but not on Lamictal. In fact I felt sharper on Lamictal than anything else. I'm on Latuda now and it's okay.

[Trippin2.0]

Lithium melted my brain.


I hated being apathetic and stupid so much I risked quitting all my meds cold turkey.


It was worth it.


Not against meds though, just never lithium again. Ever.


Some people swear its part of bipolar, but my faculties and feelings returned after I quit that shyt, so it was definitely med related.

Lithium was very bad for me also. My husband says it was my depression causing the decline but I know my body I think and lithium made my brain numb and dumb.