Convinced that 12 years of APs are frying my brain.

I'm starting to get worried here. Now I do want to say that my anxiety IS really bad lately and I tend to get paranoid like this so please speak up if I'm just being silly about nothing here. No offense will be taken!

Well I've been on seroquel for insomnia for 12 freaking years ranging from 100-600mg a night. Well for the life of me I cannot remember ****. I repeat myself countless times because I'd forget I said it. I talked to a good friend for most of yesterday on fb and I swear I can't even tell you exactly what we talked about. My bf is always saying "how do you not remember this when I told you 3 times yesterday?" Quite frankly it's getting to the point it's embarrassing. No I'm not just old. Unless you call 29 elderly, which isn't totally a stretch based on my motivation lately lol. But yea. I feel so stupid. Everyday at least one person tells me that "I told you this" or "yea you said that yesterday". Like wtf is happening to me?!

aniexty = no memory , at least for me ... I think it so fills my little brain that nothing else can get in there ...I am having trouble typing this right now ... been off the xanex ... starting back tonight ... stress kills my short term memory and effects all kinds of physical issues with me ...

holidays are super stressors for me ... hope not for you ... anyway best wishes .. don't give up ... have a wonderful (relaxed) holidays if possible ..... ... Tigger

Yes I think the reason my anxiety has been crippling is because of the holidays. I'm really considering faking sick because I'm so stressed that I'm afraid of how I'll react if I'm triggered.

Its probably med related.
Every time I've been ip they've changed my meds.

I think it makes a difference whether you have always had the memory issues associated with taking the meds, or if the memory loss comes and goes as your symptoms get worse and improve. I normally remember things others tend not to, but severe episodes compromise my memory. It puts stress on your brain.

It could possibly be meds yes. But it's more likely related to anxiety and stress. For the record I've been like that all my life way before I went on meds. My friends called me the absent minded scientist. I'll be talking about black holes or the chemistry behind food additives, but I can't tell what I had for breakfast or what my phone number is.

I feel as if something has hit my cognitive abilities. I'm trying to learn stuff and it doesn't stick to my brain. It may be the meds or just age.

Rx queen
What other prescription drugs are you taking?

Seroquel 300-450mg at night. Geodon 80mg PRN (I just switched to PRN a few days ago because it was causing anger), I just quit my gabapentin because it was a tick tack as far as heping my anxiety, and i just started lithium orotate on Sunday. (Not RX lithium), oh and restoril 15mg PRN.

I may add that my seroquel was greatly increased about this past fall and that seems to be when the memory issue got really bad.

Now I don't even have to be blacked out drunk to forget what i did the night before lol.

It could be the seroquel. I don't know.

I forget everything too. I'm an airhead. I lose everything too. I'm never thinking. Or maybe I'm thinking too much and always lost in my own head and that's why I'm an airhead. I can't remember what I called myself one time, something a long the lines of airhead, and my husband agreed with me. lol.

I was driving tonight and saw two flashing red lightsin front of me. I thought they were a traffic light. My daughter said something at the last second because I wasn't slowing down. It was the back of a UPS truck! I almost hit it!

Abuse of alcohol and stimulates are probably a bigger factor than APs used as directed

I drink once every month or two and I haven't taken a stimulant in a year. But ok.

antipsychotics, new and old, are not good for your brain. The older ones are supposed to be more toxic to the brain than the newer ones, but even then its really about your long term level of exposure.

I'm not trying to scare you. I take 30mgs Abilify, so we're in the same boat. I am, however, trying to be honest with you. This is one reason I take so many antioxidants and b-vitamins. Its an effort to protect my brain and the rest of my body from the tranquilizer and other prescribed drugs.

Yea this is what i figured. Damn. I didn't have this until my dose went above 450mg, so somewhat recently. And I don't know what to do because without seroquel, I'd be up for days or sleeping maybe 2 hrs here or there which drives me insane and makes me dysphoric. The only thing I've been doing now is taking as little as needed. I take 450mg and if I'm not asleep within an hour I know I have to take another 150mg (pdoc gives me 300mg tabs so I can do this up to 600mg).

ive been on large doses of AP for 14 years.. i am not sure about how it affects my memory. i used to be a drug addict, and i cant say if my memory lapses are because of the drug use or the long term use of psychotropic meds. it would be hard to tell. ive read that youve struggled with addiction as well, so that could be a factor. abusing/becoming dependent on mind altering substances definitely changes the brain

Yes I understand how addiction can effect it. But I'm not currently abusing anything. Not since August and the issues started way after. I detoxed from alcohol may 2015 and my memory wasn't effected at all. Not since my seroquel got increased in the last few months.

I've long had memory problems, but I think my meds and the stresses of repeated bipolar episodes have made me dumber than a stump. Hell, I can forget what I'm doing when I'm actually doing it! I can't remember a magazine article two minutes after I've read it, phone numbers, conversations. IOW, my short-term memory is crap. I do much better with long-term memory---I can recall what I was doing and where I was doing it when Elvis Presley died, for example. But as far as what I ate for dinner last night or where I left my keys, I'm SOL.

I've been a long time reader since the 6th grade reading Harry Potter books lol. I'll stay up till 3am if it's a good book. It was an escape and a huge passion. I tried to read a book about a month ago and kept having to re-read stuff over and over. I finally gave up and it's stuffed in my nightstand drawer. There goes my escape. That's a real bummer for me.

I do the same thing... and I've been on that garbage just as long. imo its all garbage that does next to nothing to even curb symptoms. I'M FED UP! and my intelligence is the only thing I really like about myself, and the meds just **** it sideways and make me feel dumbed out.